Undoing pocket screw joints

[Michal Moczulski]

I'm a total amateur, in the middle of quite ambitious dining table build (red oak, 12x4 ft)... My 'shop' is very limited (I do most of the work with hand-held power tools), therefore I opted for using Kreg pocket screws and wood glue for the tabletop joints. I'll cut rabbets in the longitudinal boards (8/4 thick), to join the ends of 4/4 thick cross-boards during the final glue-up (see attached pictures). I was thinking about joining the cross-boards temporarily with screws only, cutting the ends to size against the straight edge, undoing the joints and join them again with glue and screws in the final assembly. My question is: would this affect strength/quality of the joint? Any input would be much appreciated, thanks!

[George Bokros]

I use pocket hole screw many times on on structural sub frames and even on cabinet construction as long as they will not be seen. I have taken them apart many times without issue. I do not however use them with glue as I believe it isn't necessary.

[Ben Rivel]

Yea as long as they arent glued, shouldnt be any problem unscrewing them and then screwing them back later.

[Edwin Santos]

Like the other responses, I think you'll be fine.
I see you have five pocket screws across each cross board. If it were me, I would only drive two of them per board for the first phase because it will be enough to hold things together for your cut. Then when you undo it and move on to the final phase, the majority of your pocket screws will be driven only once if that makes sense. Hope this is helpful.

[Jerry Miner]

1. Pocket screws can work as clamps to bring glue joints together.

2. Pocket screws can be removed and replaced (at least a few times) and maintain their strength. (but I'm not understanding why you want to assemble the panel dry first, then glue up later).

3. I hope you have some unseen method for dealing with wood movement in your table. From the pic.s, it looks like you are about to create a "panel of doom" with a long cross-grain joint between the short "transverse" boards and the long "longitudinal" boards.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Welcome Michal,
This is not really what you asked, but thought I'd point it out - - you should consider movement in the wood used for your top. There is a decent calculator here.

For red oak, assuming a 5% change in %MC, will mean the top changes in length (the 12' dimension) by something on the order of 2.6" (if I am seeing the grain direction correctly). Even at half that amount, the joint between the field planks and long rails will be under enormous stress - whether glue, screwed, or both. I'm not sure what to suggest as an alternative, but certainly suggest you look how to deal with this.

And it looks like this will be epic result.

[Michal Moczulski]

Thank you for all responses. Oh lawd, panel of doom it is! Embarrassed to say, but I did not consider that in my design. Glad you guys pointed it out, I live in Houston TX, so humidity is definitely a factor. Oh well, back to the drawing board...