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Chose pocket screws over floating tenons on a white oak bench, and 6 months in I'm still not sure
Had a client in Boise who wanted a white oak entry bench, and I went back and forth for a week between pocket screws and floating tenons before picking screws because I only had 3 days. The joints have held fine so far, no wiggle, but I keep wondering if I cheated a piece that should've outlived me. Anyone else skip the nicer joint under a deadline and regret it later?
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riley4328d ago
Made the same call on a cherry hall table last spring and felt guilty about it for weeks, so at least we can be ashamed together. Here's the thing though, pocket screws have been holding furniture together for decades and half the stuff in your house was built with them. If the bench isn't wiggling after six months in Boise where the humidity swings like crazy, that's not luck, that's a joint that works. The real question is whether you drilled the pilot holes right and whether that white oak was dry when you built it. Wood moves, screws hold, and your client probably cares way more about whether the bench looks good than what's hidden inside the joint. You didn't cheat anything, you made a call under a deadline like every woodworker who ever lived.
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