Pocket holes for woodworking

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I am trying to create pocket holes for woodworking, and I am finding it very difficult.

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I have created a construction plane by sketching a line at an angle in the front view and made the plane perpendicular to the end of the line. If I then sketch a hole on that plane I can “drill” into the body. This takes a lot of time and seems very hard to repeat. Is there a better way to do this?

Bonus question: do this with two concentric circles at different depths (offsets) and draft an angle between them to form a cone shape joining the two different depth holes.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

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Here’s a way.

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@TigerMike Thanks! that seems more easily repeatable. Basically make a “drill bit” and use it to subtract from the body.

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Great to hear. BTW, what is the angle of the pocket hole?
I used 20° in my example.

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My jig is 15 which is likely standard. Lower is better for strength.

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@Oregonerd yes, 15 deg. is the standard for pocket holes. The other constraint I am using with the sketch line is to anchor it on the midpoint of the end face, so the screw would exit the body at that point.

Edit: playing with this technique more, using the copy/offset method you get evenly spaced holes that you “drill” all at once. Which just tickles me. I am a simple person.

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Thanks for the video TigerMike. I too was trying to perfrom this very same task on my woodworking project.
Question: If I want to move the center of the drill body at the 15 deg angle to the midplane of the block body using snap points, i.e. midpoint, endpoint, etc., how would I go about this?
A video would be most helpful!
Thanks.
Bob

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Additional question on pocket holes: Once I have designed a geometry that I’m happy with, how would I measure the center to edge and center to center distance of my 3 pockets that are now at a 15 deg angle to the side face? I have tried everything to measure these holes relative to each other and one of the faces and I can’t get any measurements whatsoever??? (see attached sketch)

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Hey @bobsammer,
Please check my video, it could point you in the right direction.
The hole is distorted on the face, so the center (of the created ellipse) is not exactly measurable relative to the side face.

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This is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks very much for the video and the fast response H_Daniel !!!
I was not aware I had to first pin the circle while in measure command before selecting another circle or an edge. Where would I find this in the manual?

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Hey @bobsammer,
Sorry for the late answer, you’re welcome :blush: Here is the chapter in the manual you’re looking for: https://support.shapr3d.com/hc/en-us/articles/7874465678236-Measure#view-measurements