ARMOR TOOLMini-Jig Pocket Hole System

To be honest I already have one of the first pocket hole jigs that I bought over 20 years ago. I’ve read about the Armor Tool auto setup system in woodworking magazines and I wanted to give it go. My old jig needed to be setup manually and the directions even stated to use a nickel to help in adjusting the collar stop on the drill bit. I didn’t need a nickel for the Armor Tool jig.Setup was a snap. You push the center button in and adjust the calipers for the thickness of your wood. The scale tells you the size of screw to use. The best part is that the drill bit collar adjusts automatically and you just need to tighten the set screw on the collar with the provided hex key. Of course you need to loosen the set screw on the collar prior to gauging your wood.I guess you could hold the jig in place while using it, but I had a locking C clamp with pads that fit the clamp pad. I was also surprised when I used my C clamp and discovered the clamp pad is magnetic, nice touch. BTW, a locking C clamp does not come with this kit.In the attached photos I’m making a very quick 2-step stool for my daughter’s 36” high bed at college and for the kitchen cabinets. I only had 2 days to make it, so one day to make and sand it, and then the second day to apply 3 coats of varnish. I finished the project in time and it’s strong enough to support my 200 pounds.On the back of the cardboard cover it states that there’s 100 color coat screws, but there’s only 50 screws just like the webpage description states.The case is convenient to hold the Armor Tool jig and accessories. Unfortunately one plastic peg came broken that holds the jig in place. Hopefully a little epoxy will fix it.Overall I really like the Armor Tool easy setup system for this jig. It’s easy to use and does a good job for quick jobs, although I’ll still make mortise and tenon joints for my fine furniture.

Build quality is good, But couldn’t use it have to buys screws. Because the didn’t with it.

The ‘narrowest’ thickness of this jig would work is 0.56" / 14+mm; thus, this would probably not work (very well) for those of us who make small boxes or drawers or jigs using ½" material. I suppose one could back off the “depth collar” on the bit a little, but still… It is almost shameful Amor Tools does not disclose this for pre-purchase info. If one looks at a ‘magnified’ part of the device, the shortest screw is for ¾" wood. Kreg and Massca disclose the “useable” thicknesses of wood. I am getting rid of my Kreg pocket hole jigs for a more sturdy and better-designed (solid metal) Massca jig.Additionally, the on-jig drill bit storage and removal (after setting the collar) is terrible. A new bit looks pretty sharp, but I will only wear leather when removing it, which is a rather difficult. One has to pry it out of the drill-holding plastic part of the jig and use some force. Drill bit removal is oddly difficult, with the drill being at an acute angle when removing it, such that the bottom part of the plastic ‘clamping holder’ is cut / shaved-off with the drill’s sharp cutting edge. Putting it back in require loosening the collar, pushing hard to squeeze between the plastic ‘arms’ that hold the bit in the jig: ugh! The bottom of the bit could just as easily be held in place with a magnet. As should the skinny, 3mm Allen tools used to tighten the depth collar. Again, a magnet hold-down technique to preclude the very tight plastic clamping that is currently use: it is just a bit harder to remove the skinny allen wrench — but it also makes it harder for fall out and get lost. The size of this allen wrench should be disclosed in the ‘manual’ so when the wrench is lost, it is easy to know what size to use.The jig has a round magnet at its base to assist with clamping with the “vice-grip-like” clamp. Interestingly, this round metal magnet has a hole complete thru the device; the hole also has a “counter-sunk” depressional dip in the metal. Armor does not disclose the reason for the hole, but it seems pretty clear this is / could be a means to know the length of the screw (the thread part screwing into the ‘receiving’ wood) longer than ¾", the base height of the device. No mention is noted in the bare-minimum ‘manual.’ Additionally, the drilling guide / wood stop at the base of the jig was rather hard to turn, initially, and appeared to only rotate CW and more difficult CCW. I suspect this is just a tight-fitting new tool. This seems like another area that needs to be improved.The jig fits very snuggle in the (almost) well designed plastic carrying case. It seems the jig should lay flat—until one realizes it is “suppose” to set upside down in the case. It fits ‘right’ side up, but too weirdly snug and does not lay flat on the bottom of the case. I suppose having the jig “upside” down might make sense because that is the hinged base of the case: it just looks / appears weird to me.The case closing clasps are a bit cheap. After unclasping the case, one clasp came off. However, like most plastic storage totes with clasping levers to hole the lid on, the jigs’ clasps are very easy to ‘reinstall:’ they are not broken.Finally, the manual… The drawings are all accurate line drawings, but really hard to make sense of a wire-frame drawing. When I first grabbed to the jig, it is obvious what to do, but, for me, not how to do it. There is a central button that is pretty clearly meant to be pushed in to ‘unlock’ the depth setting. However, I was pushing the unclasping button against itself, rather than the red frame of the jig. It would have been helpful it the manual could shade the part that is supposed to move rather than scratching one’s head for several minutes wondering what else is stuck. One thing that could cause the sliding part to appear stuck is the collar: if it is tightened on the bit, the sliding part cannot move. Once I figured out the collar was loose and HOW to slide the middle part up, the collar ‘flew’ off: the central device cannot slide up if the bit’s collar is tightened. The collar has to / should be tightened after the width of the wood has been determined—as long as the width is more than about ⅝" thick.Overall, the collar depth notion / strategy is a good one. I just wished it work more easily and accommodate wood slightly less than ¼".

I have another adjustable pocket hole jig and while it does the job I found it tended to change distance or spacing on me while making holes. Other than adjustable hole spacing which this jig does not have, this jig is better in just about every other way with features that make it stand out from the competition.First, the depth control has metal detents with a spring loaded pushbutton release that holds your setting solidly while you're drilling.Second, adjusting workpiece depth is trivial using the built-in calipers. If you're workpiece doesn't exactly match the detents just move the setting to the next smaller detent to avoid over-drilling your workpiece.Third, while this jig uses the same drill collar stop as other jigs the drill collar position is set automatically when you set your workpiece thickness. This saves a step during setup and gets it right each and every time. All you need to do is tighten the collar using the allen key that's stored right on the jig. Easy peasy!Other nice features are the large integrated magnetic clamp pad, a well marked and color coded screw length gauge, an easily reversible metal edge guide, and integral holders for the drill bit and allen key for the collar. It also comes with a hard-case for storage, a selection of pocket screws to get you started and a long driver bit for the screws, and a very well designed instruction guide that you honestly won't need after using it a couple of times.The only thing that isn't included is a clamp to hold your work. This jig is a bit more expensive than some cheaper options but in my opinion the extra little features are more than worth the small bit of extra cost.Highly recommended!

Unfortunately I was unable to use this jig until after its return deadline, otherwise I'd have returned it. While the design looks sound, the jig itself is far too lightweight and flimsy. Worst of all, the drill bit for boring the pocket holes turns out to be bent! This makes it impossible to drill accurate holes as it wobbles way to much, making holes too wide. It also wears down on the metal drill guides due to the wobble. I would NOT recommend this jig...stick with a better recognized brand.