Thread: using a biscuit joiner

Bob,
I think your problem may be that you are not holding the tool steady enough when you make your cut. You have to ensure that the angle of entry is the same as your angle of exit ( usually 90 Degrees) otherwise the cutter will widen the slot. I only have a cheapie Ryobi but the fit is firm when you get it right. Maybe there's play in your fence, or it's not been tightened enough, but my money is you not keeping the tool steady.

I've noticed that there are lot of cheapies around the $100-$150 mark and then a huge jump up to $500 plus for anything with supposed quality but there doesn't seem to be any difference in the basic functionality of these things so if you get it wrong with your Ozito I don't think a Makita will solve your problem


Ian

Got a Dewalt joiner at work that used to be quite sloppy but that got fixed with a new box of bix; same brand, same everything else. Go figure.

Hi Ian,

I think most people have experienced your alignment problems with Biscuit Jointers.

A couple of suggestions

Make the cut gently and in a couple or three passes so the blade doesn't wobble under stress and widen the cut in the process.

Make absolutely certain that the fence is set at rightangles to the faces of the boards to be joined and that there is no crud building up beneath the sole of the machine and the surface of the board.

If the biscuits are a bit loose and this is common then set them out in an ice cream container in the workshop to take up a little moisture and swell. If you do this you will have to work smart when performing the join as you don't have a lot of time before they seize up if using a water based glue. Alternative that i adopted was to use a marine epoxy with stacks of open time for manipulating the joint to get things into alignment.

I haven't used my Bosch for several years as i got frustrated with Biscuit joins and went to Domino. It's a bit pricey for hobby work I know but the standard of joint registration is just mind blowing particularly for table tops.

Happy joining!!

Old Pete

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. I'll work on my techniques as it was a bit heavy handed. I don't want to spend money I don't need to if the machine is fine. I did see in other reviews of the GMC BJ that the fence does tend to move and it's difficult to lock in place but that just accounts for the poor alignment, not the wide cuts. At least now that I know that they should be a firm fit tho, I can start to work out why it's happening. Mind you buying new power tools is exciting, whether they're absolutely necessary or not . (Hope the finance minister never reads my posts )

Tx again
Bob

I used to use a GMC joiner and I can confidently say that my machine is not accurate. I have since bought a Porter Cable Biscuit Joiner from the USA ( from Tool King for $224 which included a free Porter Cable ROS). I did a lot of research and the Porter Cable unit is a real quality item with a comprehensive one piece fence that does not need to be changed when you are doing right angle cuts.

The superior accuracy from this tool means that I can get perfect results without having to work at painstakingly slow speeds so as to constantly check the joiner's accuracy and to ensure it maintains proper alignment.

Originally Posted by TP1

I have since bought a Porter Cable Biscuit Joiner from the USA ( from Tool King for $224 which included a free Porter Cable ROS).

How did you go purchasing from the states? I had considered this but thought they were 110 volts?
Bob

Originally Posted by notenoughtoys

How did you go purchasing from the states? I had considered this but thought they were 110 volts?
Bob

Yes they are 110 volts and you need a transformer. But once you do get the transformer, a whole new world of well priced tools open up.

I bought a transformer recently from this outfit. The quality is excellent - good service and prices too:


eBay Seller: transformers-r-us1: Electronics items on eBay Australia

I have the Makita - contrary to what appears above [mind you we all work the way it suits ourselves] My information was to always keep the biscuits as dry as possible [I keep mine in a sealed container and only take out as needed] - the biscuits are manufactured out of compressed timber and are designed to be a slip in fit and to swell with the glue to form a tight fit when assembled. If you think about it, if they were a tight fit prior to the glue then it would be difficult to assemble your panel/joint.

Try wetting one and inserting it into a slot after waiting a while and you'll see what I mean. Because of this swelling you also need to take care so as not to have your slots too close to an edge or surface as this swelling can cause a bump in the surface if your slots are too close to the surface. I have done an experiment ages ago when I first got mine - cutting some slots in scrap, wetting a couple of biscuits and clamping the couple of scraps together [no glue], left overnight, next day tried to pull them apart and actually broke the biscuits rather than have them pull out.

The above, of course, applies to the manufactured biscuits - if you make your own as I believe some do then it would not work as above.

Clean blades and correctly adjusted fences etc as mentioned in previous posts are all valid to ensure good joins.

Hope it helps you out.

Regards,
Bob

Originally Posted by TP1

I bought a transformer recently from this outfit. The quality is excellent - good service and prices too:


eBay Seller: transformers-r-us1: Electronics items on eBay Australia

I'm interested in this but if I understand his advice on how to calculate the necessary sized transformer, (V x A = Watts - 120 x 7 = 840Watts) I'd require the 1,000W transformer @ $137 plus postage which then takes any saving away unless I was to continue to purchase my tools from USA????? Seems like a bit of a gamble to take??

Cheers
Bob

The only time it would not be worth it is if you only ever bought one tool. Apart from the biscuit joiner ( which really covered the cost of a transformer) I have bought quite a few others- For example:

Bosch 2 1/4 HP Router with it's own built in Router lift for $179. Saved big bucks on the router plus even bigger bucks on not having to buy a router lift.

Panasonic EY7960LN2S cordless hammer drill ( use transformer to charge batteries). These have an RRP of $799 in Australia and I paid US $232.00 plus postage.

Bosch Jig saw GST135BCE (Equivalent US Model) $146.26 + postage . They are $450 + here.

I have also bought certain Festool tools at less than half price as well as others.

I go for the best possible tools and pay Ozito and Ryobi prices. I don't see the risk in that.

Yeah thanks for that, I'm tempted and the Aus $$$ is good at the moment (mind you it seems to be slipping daily). Postage is significant so I'll give it some thought, might wait till the Sydney WWW show first and see how good the deals are.

Cheers
Bob

ahhhh "he who hesitates" as they say. By the time I made my mind that purchasing on line was the way to go, 12% has been added to the cost of purchase (and freight) thanks to the sliding dollar which takes the gloss off it a bit.

I have a GMC biscuiter, one of the original ones (that was a copy of the deWalt). The fence screw would be difficult to tighten and, as a result the fence moved slightly. This was an easy fix with a new fence screw (butterfly).

It is a decent machine and has been reliable for several years (but note that it only gets pulled out a few times each year).

Regards from Perth

Derek