Let me first say that like the K3 idea and I’ve had a K2000 for years and loved it. I like the idea of a single tool being utilized in two holders for both benchtop and portable work. It’s also great that you can choose board thickness by just by a simple adjustment without having to remove or add parts.
Now, what I didn’t care for was that the new benchtop system doesn’t hold stock near as firmly as the K2000. This is true because I still have a 2000 and I’ve tested it because I thought it was odd that I could rock the material in the new K3 system benchtop system. The same stock (especially 1/2″ material) was rock solid in the K2000. It’s not enough to make the K3 unworkable, however it is enough that I noticed it right away. I wrote Kreg and they admitted that it doesn’t hold the stock as firm but feel the other benefits outweight it. I’m glad I kept the old K2000 for benchtop work and use the K3 system like I did my old Rocket. In looking at the system, it became obvious to me why it doesn’t hold stock quite as well – there is no lower support for the board and the face of the jig is now a polished aluminum instead of the glass re-inforced plastic which provides more friction. Additionally, the K2000 has a single ram which doesn’t allow the clamp portion to move from side to side, where the K3 system does give a little.
I’m not down on the new tool, however this is a review of my experience and it defeats the purpose if I don’t call it like I see it. If I had it to do again, I’d have remained perfectly happy with the K2000 and then just bought the K3 standard pack.
Edit as of 03-10: I stand by my review but will admit that I have used it a great deal – I simply hold narrow pieces with my left hand while drilling with my right. I was at a woodworking show and a Kreg rep was there. I posed the question as to why the Kreg K3MS K3 jig does not hold material as solid and while they did admit that this is the case, my reasoning may be flawed. He said that it is due to the “spring” built into the K3 that allows for small thicknesses of wood without having to readjust the clamp. That makes sense to me, it’s just too bad because the forward features of the jig such as that are certainly worthwhile, it just has this little side effect. If you never had a K2000 or earlier model, you would never notice it.






