When your kids begin breaking toys and tell you, “I wanted to see how strong it is.” You can only blame yourself.

The only reason Matthias has a Kreg Hole jig is just to rip on how much he hates pocket holes.

Somewhere in Matthias' autobiography is a chapter on Pocket Holes and the reason why he hates them so much...

I had a good laugh when you screwed it to the table saw. 😂

Looking at the video two times just to be sure of what I saw, I noticed two issues. 1) As was previously mentioned, in the two screw tests, you stood on one foot at point of failure but for the tenon test, you stood on two feet. The net weight distribution therefore was shifted about 10 cm to the left making the strength of the John Heisz design much closer to the two tenon design. 2) For the pocket hole test, the positioning of the screws was sub-optimal. Placing them in a staggered layout (on the left 3/4 inch from top and 1 1/2 inch from the top and on the right 1 1/4 inch from the top and 2 inches from the top would spread out the load. Thanks for doing the work and making the videos. All three designs showed that they were adequate for the task at hand.

Clearly this was not a John Heisz Method - there was no construction adhesive involved :)

"What are you doing daddy?" "IMPORTANT SCIENCE THINGS" *snap, thunk*

Nice test! You forgot the PL on mine, though :) Important for people to remember that the single bracket strength is important, but since you will always use more than one, the weight each one carries is greatly reduced.

Strength vs effort(or speed) ratio goes to the 2 screws in the back for the win. If i needed some shelves up and wasn't planning on hanging my brick collection on them that is what i would go for. (Also cause i don't have skills for tenons..)

I miss my kids asking "why?" all of the time. Now they're at the time of life when they know "everything" :D

When using screws, I recommend drilling pilot holes, just to keep the wood from splitting along its grain. I think the pocket hole would have done better, if the wood wasn't split by the displacement of so many screws, in such a small area. Pilot holes would have reduced that displacement, by making "room" for the screws. No matter what, ANY of those joints would be more than adequate for any thing you're likely to set on the shelves supported by 2 or more of those brackets, including a real life "Elf on the Shelf"!

I absolutely love the strength test videos, it's the nerves when you hear the first creaks and cracks!

Thank you! More real information in less time than most test type videos. Logical and effective test set up. A person brand new to wood working and building things may not yet understand the value of this but for my part having some knowledge of these things a get to the point video like this is pure gold. I can (with what I already know) extrapolate upon the data you just provided. Ex. Same test done with straight grain hardwood, glue etc. Knowing what I already know this (simple?) and logical test gives me a place to start from as regards the potential strength of the various bracket designs. Brilliant! And straight to the point. Thank you.

Videos where you test things like this are the best ones. Take it to the extreme, and see how it goes. Great videos.

These results make me feel alot better about having jointed my shelf brackets with just screws from the back either. I was - and still am- kinda worried it will just collapse at some point. Put this has put at least 15% more faith in it for me :D Thanks Matthias!

Like every tool and fastener in a well-equipped shop, pocket holes have their purpose. They can be a clever solution to many solutions. Thinking they will serve as heavy-duty shelving fasteners is not the fairest of tests. That's not their purpose. But I enjoyed the video. Mortise and tenon once again prove their strength as one of the better woodworking joints there are. Thank you Matthias! Quality content as always!

Frankly pocket holes exceeded my expectations here. Ironically, you gave them a boost! Thanks for a fun video and a glimpse of your cute kids.

The horizontal 2x4 in the screwed version appeared to be punky. I appreciate this test and it clearly demonstrated the strength of both types of joinery. Thank you.

Thanks for all your experiments, they are really enjoying!

Your still one of my favourite swearers on the toob. Keep trucking bro.

I’ve never seen someone struggle so hard to screw in pocket screws

It's super reassuring to see how slowly and how much warning you get as screws fail! (My worst crash on a bike was from a cheap Aluminum handlebar snapping off suddenly!) I could watch hours of variations on this test but thank you for reinforcing my unwillingness to setup and wait for glue to dry! XD

This vid makes feel better about me being clumsy and hurting myself at times. Thank you.

Your use of pocket holes in the video was strictly user error. You had a stripped out bit, used an impact driver, and used too long of screws. Also theres a place and time to use them vs when not to.

You and the pocket holes. Happy 2022 to you and your family.

Your kids are adorable! Thanks for sharing a moment of them with us.

Really enjoy these break tests.

i have never seen someone struggle with pocket hole before......

I was laughing so much at you struggling with the pocket holes.

I never comment but when you drilled that pocket hole bracket to the table saw, I literally laughed out loud. That's me all day long. Thanks for that Matthias!

i have been searching for u and now it was on my "homepage" I always wondered which one to do , and now I see actually I can do with screws simple coffee table, thank you

Love your work and presentation. You are one of the coolest guys on the planet.

Hello sir im from philippines,started watching your video since 2013.one of your project ive made like home made bandsaw i used it up to now for my small furniture business.i try also make video for my new channel about wood,im always watching your videos very interesting, i learned a lot of it.thank you for sharing your skills and talent.

A straight grained 2x4? Good Luck finding that

Love that the kids are asking what you are doing and why.

Good video sir . I like the tests you perform, that I can make better decisions on my projects. Thank you sir.

That's the kind of matthias wandel content I always loved.

“But I still don’t like pocket holes!” 😂 👍 still appreciate you experimenting with them and giving an honest review. Highly enjoyed the whole experimentation. 💖👍

Very interesting. Lately we've been making brackets with some purchase area to clamp on during assembly. Reminded me of that seeing you try to get those pocket hole screws in.

Always looking forward for your "stress tests" Matthias

I love watching your test vids.

Thanks for the test. It further confirms my feelings. For those brackets M&T is by far the best way, but maybe a bit larger. I use pocket holes to hold things together while the glue dries, but I will use clamps instead, if the pocket holes will be seen in the final assembly. I hate the look of the pockets, even when plugged, and I have never trusted their strength in situations like this. Good enough to use instead of clamps for faster gluing assembly though.

I think the important take away is that all three methods held sufficiently for the length of a single shelf. More supports across the length of a shelf would increase the maximum weight the shelf will support. Also, 155 lbs at the tip is not the same as a load distributed across the depth of the shelf. I've been planning on organizing the garage this year and have already started off with about an 8 foot width of shelving. Compared to the work done in this video, I think I over engineered my shelves like a fart to a volcano eruption! I think I'll scale back a bit and save a lot of time and money ! I have a lot more shelves to go. I like the tenon method the most, get to use more tools, augg, augg me use tools (Tim the Toolman) !!! Thank you :)

Several commenters have suggested that you make the joint stronger by doubling up on the fasteners - like running a screw through the tenons from the side. You pointed out how this particular process would just weaken the tenons, right where one of them cracked before. But if you were to use the tenons AND drive in a screw from behind, on center, above the tenons, it would provide extra strength without breaking wood near the tenons. How does that sound?

You make my day. Good experiment.

If strength is what you're after, each method could easily be modified to achieve your desired goal, or pretty close to it. - For the mortise and tenon method drill, glue and insert appropriate sized dowels perpendicular to the tenons. Use wood glue on the M&T joint and the dowel pins. - For the screwed in butt joint, use button head screws (that are countersunk) in vertical base. Place them vertically equidistant from all four sides and themselves but offset a few mm's from the centerline of the base. In addition, use wood glue. - For the Kreg screw method, forego Kreg's Robertson screws, and use Torx/Star drive button head screws (Milescraft Brand or similar). Only use three screws, two on one side and one on the others. All equidistant from each other and the edges. In addition, use wood glue between the joints

In this episode of Canada vs Canada.....

Thank you for using screws versus wood tenons.

Allways nice to see those tests! :-)

Mama Wandel is a great seamstress! Those bucket hats on the kids were super cute!!

Too many screws weaken the wood.

Thanks for leaving the part where you screwed it to your table in there. That gave me a good laugh since that's exactly what I would have done

Cool vid! Good tip for my bench build

Very enjoyable video. Thank you

Your results are exactly what I would have expected. Definite advantages of one method over the other, but in reality, a shelf with a depth of 12" to 18" with 2 or 4 brackets per shelf run would support a 100 pound load using any one of the three methods. I assume the tenons had glue, but the screw methods did not, so the addition of screws & glue would provide a little extra support. Always great to see the simple things, that we all have opinions about, actually put to the test. Use "the right tool for the right job", so pocket holes do have value in my shop.

LOL every time I see Steve use pocket holes I think of you, and every time you use them I think of Steve and your very serious YT drama Good to see you Matthias, and that your family is well :)

Bad luck Brian: Finally tries pocket holes Screws the piece to the table saw...

Classic Matthias. Needed that.

love your tests

Big uncle Steve will be along to teach you those advanced pocket hole techniques. 😁 Seriously though, destruction tests and comparisons like this are both fascinating and tremendously valuable, thank you and more please.

Thanks! I’m building some shelves right now and was wondering if I should buy brackets or build some simple ones like this. I feel much better using some homemade ones knowing it’ll hold more than enough.

In conclusion, all these three methods a more than enough to hold anything you put on the shelf. screw win because its faster for me. double tenon is cooler for sure! For pocket hole, I think that two screws are probably better than four. Most of the time, when you drive a screw in a 2x4 the wood split, it affect the structure. For all these scenarios, a small plywood triangle can be put on the side of the structure(mount and shelf). It could probably double the strength. Great demonstration @matthias Wandel !

It's fun to see another bumbler in his shop. Thumbs up!

Finally, the newest chapter in the pocket hole saga. I love this show, its why I use glue all the time.

Gave me some good ideas on how to better engineer for strength. Thanks.

Love watching shop guys fumble with drills and drivers lol

Nice test!!! 👍

You're awesome. Thank you for doing this.

It would be interesting to see the "overbuilt" joints. Like glue, tenon, and screws to see if there is any benefit in trying to get more strength, or if the material simply has a limit.

I wonder if the screw or nail hole in the side of the end of the board with the screws (4:17) could have weakened it. It looks like the failure goes right through that screw hole. But it looks like there were also some screw or nail holes in the end of the mortise board as well. I love when Matthias does these tests and makes us think. Excellent info Matthias! Thank you for posting.

Surprisingly decent performance for the screws

Matthias hi you are so Genius but i like the way you are testing your own work carry on boy you are on the right way we love you

“Damn it, I just screwed it to my table saw. I hate pocket screws!” 😂

"Ow, shit!" will be engraved on my tombstone.

Great test!

I've done some roofing using 120mm lag screws, 8mm diameter with a big flat head, torx drive. Awesome holding power. After about 30 screws my makita impact was almost too hot to touch, was fine though.

Matthias, apparently pocket holes don't like you either. They even tried to draw blood from you, when that failed, they tried to break and drop you on the ground. I love that although you are not a fan, you are still willing to test them fairly and acknowledge them when the work well. A true scientific approach to not let your own biases stop you. Keep up the great videos. Also, OMG the kids are getting so big. Wasn't it just last week that you were making a self rocking rocker for your baby girl.

Wow time flies I remember when your children were so young I feel old myself

He doesn't like pocket holes, but I surely do. Amazing how strong they are for building face frames and such. And with glue added, I never worry about any pocket hole attachment coming loose, also quicker then tenons too...

Excellent. I was searching for this exact comparison and found this demo. I was wondering why in some applications pocket screws are used when simple screws with a large head are much simpler. Specifically, a structural screw with a large washer head would probably work best and require no jig. Fastenmaster HeadLok or Simpson Strong-Tie screws would seem ideal. Both have built in washer heads, have a Star drive to prevent cam out, and can be used w/o pre-drilling on softer woods, though wouldn’t hurt to pre-drill here. The Headloks are rated to replace 3/8” lag screws but much smaller, have grippy threads, and come in 2 7/8”, 4”, 6” etc length. Handy to have a bucket of these screws around for home projects.

Nice test made well

Thanks for a new lesson.

Another alternative to fasten the shelf bracket to the wall bracket is to use bolts in the same manner that wooden bed frame rails are some tim fastened to bed posts. Drill a 1/2" diameter hole in the side of the shelf bracket that can be used to house a 1/4" nut.

Pocket screws part just cracks me up!

Boooa noite meu amigo Mathias... espetacular seus projetos, principalmente aquele da sirene de aviso ataque aéreo.... ainda não consegui realizar por ser complexo, mas ainda vou conseguir.... PARABÉNS

yes i wanted it to break why ? (cause they were pocket holes) lol

I'd just like to admire the simple "floor jack" using a two 2x4's to lift the work table onto the floor dollies. :)

It would be more than strong enough to climb on them, BUT i still don’t like pocket holes. This is enough for Matthias to get an audience burst into laughter!

I think wood contains an amazing safety feature in itself. Where steel would snap with a loud bang at some point without a warning wood is kind enough to tell everyone (who is willing to listen) that it might fail soon if you force it any more!

That you had so much issues with pocketholes is hilarious.

I tried this myself, made some damn sturdy brackets! Can’t say much about the rest of my home though…

It's interesting to compare this to your cantilevered work table which seemed to hold your weight on the end way better. I'm guessing the bridal joints plus the better wood made those joints much stronger than what you used in this video.

Ooo this was good! What about a large lag bolt with a decent-sized washer? Also, I wonder what role glue plays in all this (since the double tenon was glued). Would be interesting to try to expose the wood to watered-down wood glue, let it soak in, and then let it dry overnight.

5:57 That's Funny! Great Video as always!

I started laughing when your drill slipped and you swore. Then you screwed that to the table and really made me laugh. VERY ENTERTAINING! and no i was not really laughing at you. Just tge fact it is so relatable. I could totally see myself doing all that. Thanks for the video !

Those pocket holes did better than I would have thought. I do hate the square drive on pocket hole screws though. They always have a bad tendency to cam out, unlike torx screws that don't do that.

Diss tracks are getting weird

Noooooo! You actually acquired a pocket hole jig! I actually thought about getting one and mailing it to you as a joke... But thought better of that. Still an entertaining video. Thanks for the content!

I know someone who perforated his left hand just like that at 5:40 A long PH2 bit, an impact driver and some slippage. The bit went all the way through the hand, he has scars to prove it.

You should do more strength tests! Maybe try a wedge tenon and traditional dowels as well?