What length pocket hole screw for 3/4" stock?
Three-quarter-inch material takes a 1 1/4" pocket screw — coarse thread in plywood and softwood, fine in hardwood. Lengths for every thickness from 1/2" to 2".
3/4" stock takes a 1 1/4" pocket screw.
Coarse thread in plywood, MDF and softwood; fine thread in hardwood. The jig collar and the drill stop both set to 3/4" as well — the screw length is only right if the hole is drilled to match.
How that is worked out
- A pocket screw enters at a shallow angle and has to end up in the middle of the second piece — not short of it, and not out the far face.
- That fixes the length once the thickness is known, which is why the table below is a lookup rather than a calculation. It is the jig maker's table and every jig ships with a version of it.
- Thread choice is about the material, not the length: coarse threads hold in open, soft material, fine threads in dense hardwood that a coarse thread would split.
Pocket screw length by material thickness
| Material thickness | Screw length | Thread in plywood or softwood | Thread in hardwood |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2" – 5/8" | 1" | coarse | fine |
| 5/8" – 7/8" | 1 1/4" | coarse | fine |
| 7/8" – 1 1/4" | 1 1/2" | coarse | fine |
| 1 1/4" – 1 3/4" | 2" | coarse | fine |
| 1 3/4" – 2 1/4" | 2 1/2" | coarse | fine |
Worth knowing
- Set the jig collar and the drill stop to the material thickness, not to the screw. The screw length in the table assumes the hole was drilled where that thickness puts it.
- In a joint between two different thicknesses, the hole is drilled in the thinner piece and the screw is chosen for that thickness.
- Outdoors, or anywhere damp, the screw needs to be rated for it and the joint needs to be glued and sealed. A pocket hole is an open end-grain pocket pointing the wrong way, and it holds water.
Work out your own numbers
- Pocket hole screw calculator
Screw length and thread by material thickness, and how far apart to space the holes along an edge joint.
- Panel glue-up calculator
How many boards it takes to glue up a target panel width, and how much wider to glue up so the rip lands clean.
Related questions
- What size pocket hole screw for 1/2 inch plywood?
- A 1" coarse-thread screw, with the jig and the drill stop both set to 1/2". Half-inch material is at the bottom of what a pocket hole works in — there is not much meat around the pocket, and the joint depends on glue at least as much as on the screw.
- Coarse or fine thread pocket screws?
- Coarse for plywood, MDF, particleboard and softwood — the wide threads grip open material that a fine thread would strip. Fine for hardwood, where a coarse thread acts as a wedge and splits it. If you only keep one box, coarse covers more of what most people build.
- How far apart should pocket holes be?
- Two per joint on a rail or a stile, set in from each edge. Along a long edge-to-edge glue-up, about every 8" is the usual rule, and the joint is really being held by the glue — the screws are clamps that stay in. The pocket hole calculator lays out the spacing evenly over whatever length you actually have.