Hi there,
I just purchased my first biscuit joiner, and went by a recommendation from AWR last year, a Ryobi EBJ720. No I know its not a top of the market job, but over twice the price of their entry level ones, and I got it for last years price, $165. The review admitted it wasn't the best, but good value for money.
Had my first play with it just now, on some offcuts before attacking the job I'd bought it for...and I hate to say it, but pretty abysmal really.:(( The actual adjustments, fence etc and motor seem pretty good, but there is so much slop in the plastic tracks that the body slides along!:oo: And I don't just mean side to side play (which it has), wouldn't really matter, but also slop up and down. I tried to just apply pressure to keep it in one plane, but still moves about. The first biscuit (supplied with the machine) I got a tight fit, even used pliers to remove it, but from then on all the biscuits were sloppy, and the resulting joint, with double biscuits, was not secure. At first I thought the plastic slides were actually getting worse the more cuts I made, but then measured the biscuits themselves. You guessed it, huge variation in them, 4.15mm to 3.70mm!
Regardless of the biscuit though, I'm not impressed with the build quality and will seek repair/replacement from Ryobi. Surely there is something adjustable with the plastic track? Shame I'm in the middle of a bl**dy job with it!
I should have had a good play with it in the shop, but had the young fella with me, pulling stuff of shelves...and I blindly went by the review!:(
Cheers,