On Sat, 8 Oct 2005 23:54:42 -0500, "Eric & Crystal"
wrote:

So i am starting on making some chairs, the normal st down to dinner type
chairs. Now the plan calls for using dowels to attache the sides and the
front and back boards. Now i am sure this is all very strong and nice and
old school. So my question is can i use pocket holes instead of dowels. I
am thinking they will be stron enough to hold what ever weight is put on
them in shear. And i don;t think they will pull out very easily. What is
your thinking on the matter.

thanks in advance, eric


There are a lot of poorly designed chairs that eventually end up a
loose tenons. There are a lot various angled stresses on a chair.
Personally, I use wedged through-tenons, often using a contrasting
color wood for the wedges. A web clamp is very handy at glue-up time.