Kreg Pocket Hole Jigs

I love being in a position where I get to see new tools come into the marketplace. Yep, I’m a tool geek. Pocket holes are immensely popular, and very useful to woodworkers. Kreg has done a really good job with the features on a couple of their new pocket hole jigs.

The 500 Series
Their 500 series jigs adjust to the thickness of your material with a mechanism that’s very similar to the way a caulk gun works. Squeeze a handle to advance it, push a release to back it off. The handle pivots so you can get it in any position that’s handy for the work you’re doing. The drill guide can be swapped out for a guide that accepts smaller diameter bits, great for thinner stock.

The 700 Series
My favorite feature of the 720 Pro jig? It auto adjusts to the thickness of your stock. 1-½”, 3/4“, 1/2“…. All you have to do is clamp the wood. No adjustments required. It’s got support wings that help stabilize your material, and the wings include stops that’ll help with repetitive set ups. The dust port works great at grabbing shavings as they come off the drill bit. The 700 series accepts the Micro-Pocket Drill Guide for thinner stock, and the Plug Cutter Drill Guide.

Setting the drill bit
Kreg has really simplified setting the stop collar in the right position on their drill bit. A window in the stop collar gets positioned over the thickness of stock you’re using. Lock it and go.

[pgoessnitzer]

Great review! I have one of the very early Kreg pocket hole jigs, it still works great. However, after watching this, I may upgrade to one of the two options. Thanks!

[jeffreycanfora]

Very Nice 👍🏼!
Very happy with my 520. It’s helpful to pull out the drill guide in between uses to clean out the dust and I even apply a very thin layer of wood wax. The drill guide can get stuck in the 1/2” position making it impossible to get the guide back up to 3/4 or 1-1/2”.
I got a great deal on my 520 and between that and the added benefits of the 720, it nearly justifies having both… at least for me. I didn’t know about the 700’s plug cutting.
Great overview! Thanks.

[johnslaughter]

I have the K-5 jig. It's mounted to a board and I just clamp the board to something. In my case, it's usually the wing of my table saw. This thing still works so well that Kreg is really, really going to have to come up with something vastly superior before I'll upgrade. This does not include the Foreman Pocket Hole Machine.