Makita PJ7000 Biscuit/Plate Joiner

[stewart59]

My old Ryobi Biscuit Joiner finally gave up the ghost. To its credit, it had cut a lot of biscuits. The Makita PJ7000 had very good reviews on Amazon and is reasonably priced, so I bought one.
I've tried it out on some old hard bluegum boards I'm joining up for a bench top. What a difference from the Ryobi! chalk and cheese. The Ryobi needed a ton of force to overcome the resistance of the spring when making a cut, which made it hard to keep square to the edge at the same time. The Makita glides easily into the cut and as the barrel is thinner and easier to grasp, it adds up to much better control. Also, the Ryobi was always a bit dodgy when it came to holding the depth of the cut below the surface of the board consistently, which is the whole point of a biscuit joiner. Toward the end of its life, the nut which was supposed to do this became impossible to tighten adequately.The Makita has a cam lever arrangement which tightens very securely. I also like the bright red guidelines which indicate not only the centre of the cut, but also the edges, so you won't make the mistake of cutting too close to the end of your board and exposing the biscuit. Whoops! I made that blunder a couple of times with the Ryobi.

And now, as a bonus, how about this? Bunnings advertises the PJ7000 for $249, while Sydney Tools has it for $220. So, off to the big green shed with a copy of the Sydney Tools ad. Now about that line we've heard a million times: "if you find the same item at a cheaper price, we'll beat it by ten percent". True to their word, Bunnings gave me 10% off the Sydney Tools price, ie $198! So if you're in the market for a biscuit joiner, now's the time, before Bunnings changes their price.

[KJ401]

Thanks for the review, just about to pick one from Combined Electrical. Somebody else may be able to comment on this, but I had a conversation with a sparkie re Bunnings and their Makita stock. He reckons that all of the Makita products in Bunnings are specifically made for them on a separate assembly line in China, and that they have cheaper motors, brushes, bushes, switches etc than the equivalent non-Bunnings Makita model. He's not talking about Maktec, but the blue livery Makita sold in Bunnings. Personally, he won't buy Makita from Bunnings, unless he intends to treat the tool as a single job throwaway.

Now he's a tradie and works tools harder than someone using something occassionally but his view was that the $20 or $40 you 'saved' by bargaining at Bunnings would turn out not to be much of a bargain at all. I've since checked model numbers on Makita stock in Bunnings and it is different than either the Austalian Makita website or other resellers.

Which might also explain why the other chain - Masters - doesn't stock Makita at all. Anyway I'm following his advice and buying from a non-chain vendor whose staff know what they're talking about.

[The Hun]

Thanks for the review, just about to pick one from Combined Electrical. Somebody else may be able to comment on this, but I had a conversation with a sparkie re Bunnings and their Makita stock. He reckons that all of the Makita products in Bunnings are specifically made for them on a separate assembly line in China, and that they have cheaper motors, brushes, bushes, switches etc than the equivalent non-Bunnings Makita model. He's not talking about Maktec, but the blue livery Makita sold in Bunnings. Personally, he won't buy Makita from Bunnings, unless he intends to treat the tool as a single job throwaway.

Now he's a tradie and works tools harder than someone using something occassionally but his view was that the $20 or $40 you 'saved' by bargaining at Bunnings would turn out not to be much of a bargain at all. I've since checked model numbers on Makita stock in Bunnings and it is different than either the Austalian Makita website or other resellers.

Which might also explain why the other chain - Masters - doesn't stock Makita at all. Anyway I'm following his advice and buying from a non-chain vendor whose staff know what they're talking about.

I have nothing to do with Bunnings other than being a regular customer BUT the concept that Bunnings would have a separate assembly line is somewhat far fetched - perhaps it could be considered more politely as an urban myth. They might, and IMO, a big might, have separate production runs but the same product and assembly processes etc to facilitate distribution and logistics. I have a moderate amount of experience in China going back to 1983/84 and up to 2011 covering a range of projects and industries - the largest being a $2 billion train project.

Regards

Peter

[stewart59]

I have nothing to do with Bunnings other than being a regular customer BUT the concept that Bunnings would have a separate assembly line is somewhat far fetched - perhaps it could be considered more politely as an urban myth. They might, and IMO, a big might, have separate production runs but the same product and assembly processes etc to facilitate distribution and logistics. I have a moderate amount of experience in China going back to 1983/84 and up to 2011 covering a range of projects and industries - the largest being a $2 billion train project.

Regards

Peter

Others on the forums have commented that Bunnings tools sometimes have unique model numbers, perhaps differing by one digit. In that case, it might be reasonable to act as if they are a different product. But I agree with The Hun-going to all the trouble and expense of setting up a separate production process in order to deceive customers sounds fanciful.
Best

[KJ401]

Others on the forums have commented that Bunnings tools sometimes have unique model numbers, perhaps differing by one digit. In that case, it might be reasonable to act as if they are a different product. But I agree with The Hun-going to all the trouble and expense of setting up a separate production process in order to deceive customers sounds fanciful.
Best

I don't think Bunnings nor Makita could be accused by anyone of deception. Bunnings do not state that a Makita product sold in their store is the same as that which may be purchased from another retailer. But a call to Makita does clarify things. According to Makita Australia's own customer service line, some Makita tools do differ between the model sold by Bunnings and the model sold at other retailers. The unique Bunnings tool will have different specs from the standard model and it will display a different model number on the unit.

Makita could not provide a list of those tools, but were happy to answer any queries as to model differences by calling their customer service line on 1300 361 690 and providing the model number of the tools in question.

The example given by Makita of possible differences between the unique Bunnings model and the standard might that the Bunnings unit will not have a deadman's switch, but to stress again that, according to Makita, the differences vary between each product and not all products have a unique Bunnings model available. Bunnings do apparently directly import those models that are unique to their inventory from the manufacturer having had them made specifically for Bunnings.

It may well be that the biscuit joiner that stewart59 bought from Bunnings is exactly the same as you'd buy from another retailer if Bunnings don't directly import their own version. The model number listed on the Makita website is PJ7000 which is the same model number that Bunnings are showing on their webpage here. There is one small problem though - not one of the Bunnings stores in Canberra carry the tool and let's just say they're not too keen on special ordering anything either.

[stewart59]

I don't think Bunnings nor Makita could be accused by anyone of deception. Bunnings do not state that a Makita product sold in their store is the same as that which may be purchased from another retailer. But a call to Makita does clarify things. According to Makita Australia's own customer service line, some Makita tools do differ between the model sold by Bunnings and the model sold at other retailers. The unique Bunnings tool will have different specs from the standard model and it will display a different model number on the unit.

Makita could not provide a list of those tools, but were happy to answer any queries as to model differences by calling their customer service line on 1300 361 690 and providing the model number of the tools in question.

The example given by Makita of possible differences between the unique Bunnings model and the standard might that the Bunnings unit will not have a deadman's switch, but to stress again that, according to Makita, the differences vary between each product and not all products have a unique Bunnings model available. Bunnings do apparently directly import those models that are unique to their inventory from the manufacturer having had them made specifically for Bunnings.

It may well be that the biscuit joiner that stewart59 bought from Bunnings is exactly the same as you'd buy from another retailer if Bunnings don't directly import their own version. The model number listed on the Makita website is PJ7000 which is the same model number that Bunnings are showing on their webpage here. There is one small problem though - not one of the Bunnings stores in Canberra carry the tool and let's just say they're not too keen on special ordering anything either.

Thanks for your contribution to this discussion KJ, and your enquiries. Given this issue is much wider than just the particular item I bought, does anyone know how we can move the discussion to the general forum, with a new title perhaps?

[Retiring]

I am so glad I had a look at the Forum. I have read a number of positive reviews on the Makita PJ7000 and have been looking for the best price. I saw the add for $220 and when I went to Bunnings I thought it strange that they had it for $249.00. I have quite a few Makita power tools so had a look at the Makita on display at Bunnings. I was surprised that the plate could not be set at 90 degrees. It stopped at 85 and no amount of pushing against it could move the plate further. I thought well if that's the accuracy of the tool then I will look for something else. Now I can understand why when the information is that they source theirs from China. Looks like it is off to my local supplier or Sydney Tools on EBay. Thanks for the information on where Bunnings get theirs from.

[Damienol]

Wow, you did well. When I was looking 18 months ago ST was selling them for ~$450 so I decided to buy the 120v version from Amazon for half the price

[Damienol]

What I worked out years ago was that most of the Makita models Bunnings sell are specific to them making it very difficult to do cost comparison.

while you initially think the Bunnings version is cheaper a closer look at the specs and a comparison with an ST stocked item you will often find the ST version to be more expensive but much better bang for buck.

[rod1949]

I just recently became interested in biscuit jointers and after reading a review in an American woodworking magazine my two choices were the Dewalt DX682K and the Makita PJ7000.

Toolmart have the Dewalt advertised for $315.00 and Bunnings have then for $525.00 so my intent was to get it from Bunnings with the 10% cheaper bit, but I discovered here WA no Bunnings stores stock them its a special order, so that buggered that idea.

Yesterday I went to the local Toolmart shop and they had the Dewalt on the shelf with a price of $285.00 so even cheaper than advertised and up until this time I'd never seen the Dewalt unit. The Dewalt didn't impress me, I didn't like the openness of the plate and the depth of cut seemed small in comparison to the Makita unit so this is the one I brought for $225.

Stewart it was good to read your comments, thanks

[stewart59]

I just recently became interested in biscuit jointers and after reading a review in an American woodworking magazine my two choices were the Dewalt DX682K and the Makita PJ7000.

Toolmart have the Dewalt advertised for $315.00 and Bunnings have then for $525.00 so my intent was to get it from Bunnings with the 10% cheaper bit, but I discovered here WA no Bunnings stores stock them its a special order, so that buggered that idea.

Yesterday I went to the local Toolmart shop and they had the Dewalt on the shelf with a price of $285.00 so even cheaper than advertised and up until this time I'd never seen the Dewalt unit. The Dewalt didn't impress me, I didn't like the openness of the plate and the depth of cut seemed small in comparison to the Makita unit so this is the one I brought for $225.

Stewart it was good to read your comments, thanks

Not sure which one you ended up with, but I've been happy with the Makita. Glad the comments helped.
Cheers