Castle Pocket Hole opinions?

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LB75

Moderator
George
Does anyone here use the Castle pocket hole machines? Just curious if the 6 degree angle of the pocket really makes that big of a difference keeping things aligned during assembly compared to the 15 degree hole that the Kreg setup drills.

I'm about to embark on our kitchen cabinet build which will be followed by cabinet builds for 3 bathrooms. The thought of drilling that many pocket holes with a drill and Kreg jig has my wrists and elbows screaming in protest already. The wife has approved the purchase of a benchtop machine and I'm liking what I'm seeing from the Castle machine, just not sure it's worth the extra cost over the Kreg Foreman machine.
 

Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
Yes it makes a huge difference. Plus the Castle machine will stand up to the work load.
 

Skymaster

New User
Jack
Castle is THE pocket hole God. However if you are not going full time into building cabs etc, the foreman is well worth it. I have the foreman cause I cant afford a Castle, BUT foreman is very very good. I use the heck out of it building cabinets,the urns, etc
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I put biscuits between the pocket screws on a cabinet for my bathroom and it really helped keep the joint aligned at assembly. Probably not reasonably possible for face frames and possibly not for doors but on a cabinet I think it's a good idea.
 

AllanD

Allan
Corporate Member
I have the Castle TSM-22 and it is tremendously fast. I am in process still of building a lot of shop cabinets so it gets used regularly. I like the more vertical angle. On the other hand I like the flat surface for the screw head on the Kreg and the Kreg is more easily adjusted for different thicknesses of material. You are welcome to come look at the machine if you get to that point.
 

Skymaster

New User
Jack
ALLAN MERRY CHRISTMAS I luv the castle pocket but kreg is almost 800 dollars cheaper, the other thing i noticed, i think the Kreg, which i own, is a tad faster. Castle has 2 moves per pocket while kreg has 1. IF I had my druthers, a foot operated Castle would be under my xmas tree :gar-La;
 

LB75

Moderator
George
I have the Castle TSM-22 and it is tremendously fast. I am in process still of building a lot of shop cabinets so it gets used regularly. I like the more vertical angle. On the other hand I like the flat surface for the screw head on the Kreg and the Kreg is more easily adjusted for different thicknesses of material. You are welcome to come look at the machine if you get to that point.

Thank you Allan, I would love to take you up that offer. I'm very interested in seeing what you mean about preferring the flat surface for the screw head from the Kreg over the Castle.
 

ashley_phil

Phil Ashley
Corporate Member
in a commercial setting the castle set up will be seen 10 - 1 times more than the Kreg

the routed pocket then drilled pilot hole are generally viewed as more professional looking and easier to install

if you can swing the money the castle is how i'd suggest you go, but in end both are tools that accomplish the same thing.

if you have the space and took that extra money to invest in a used frame table clamp if you could find one that would be the better use of your money imho
 
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