Appreciation post: switching from pocket screws to dowels on face frames

After 6 months of fighting gaps on maple frames with my Kreg jig, I tried a $30 doweling kit from the local Rockler in Portland and the joints come out cleaner every single time, has anyone else made the jump and never looked back?

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lisa_bennett15d ago

every single time" is the kicker for me, and I get why you're happy. But here's something nobody brings up: dowels hide your mistakes, while screws let you fix them later. Six months from now when that maple frame moves or a customer drops it, you're drilling out a glued dowel or rebuilding the whole joint. With pocket screws you can often clamp and re-drive. Not saying dowels are wrong, just that you're betting on the wood never changing on you, and maple loves to prove people wrong.