Biscuit jointer?

[jonnorris03]

Is the Triton biscit jointer a good investement or would I do better to buy the real thing?
Any thoughts guys?

Cheers

Jon

[MtnWood]

Hi Jon,

The Triton biscuit joiner is a handy tool and provides for accurate alignment of the slots without the need to measure and mark both pieces of wood. Unlike hand held biscuit joiners it allows both sides of the joint to be cut at the same time.

It does have one limitation - it can't form biscuit slots more than 25mm away from the edge of the workpiece. However this limitation can be overcome by using a router with a 4mm straight cutter to make the required recess.

Should you choose to go with the Triton way, I have a BJA300 for sale here -

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=87163

It was bought as part of a package deal with a router table and stand, but does not get used.

[davmar]

I have a Triton Biscuit joiner and also a GMC hand held biscuit joiner. In my experience the hand held is far superior. You probably wont be able to find the GMC brand, but there are a number of other brands available.
The main limitation of the Triton is that it has to be fitted to the work centre and as we all realise that it is a pain in the proverbial particularly if you happen to miss one on the first go and have to set it all up again to do just one more cut.

regards
Davmar

[Ian Smith]

I use both, but I prefer the Triton when I can use it.
The main drawback of the Triton setup is, as Mtnwood says, you cannot use it to place biscuits on a face.
The thing with the Triton is that you must ensure though is the work is held flat on the table at the cutter end otherwise you will obviously lose accuracy. Easy enough with narrow stock but a bit more of a challenge if you fail to notice any cupping in a board
One slightly left of field advantage of the Triton biscuit is it's shape. The slot is only 45 mm wide as compared to a #20 biscuit which is 70mm so you can use the Triton to joint much narrower stock.
I know you can probably use #0 biscuits in the handheld but I prefer the deeper profile of the Triton biscuit.

Ian

[hap97]

I have both, the hand held is used a lot more as it is quicker to set up.
When I purchased the biscuit jointer, I did not intend to use it a lot so bough a cheap OZITO brand. Now I wish I had bought a good quality machine, as it is used a lot.
Hilton

[Superbunny]

I have both also. In my view for what the triton does for edge or near edge joining you cannot beat it and it's not really a problem setting up. You would spend just as much time setting a hand held if you want accurately placed biscuts. I keep the hand held for other needs that the triton cannot do.

SB

[jonnorris03]

Thanx guys

Well as I probably already knew the answer was that you really can never have to many tools.
I think the advise to get quality tools against crap tools also holds well.
I have been setting up a workshop here in New Zealand for the last few months and buying tools based on price as I am exspecting the work front to be at best dire, for the next 18 months at least.
So far I have bought an old Elu drop saw, minus it's guard, A Triton Workcentre MarkIII
which did have a very nice Makita 210mm circular saw and the router base with it.
I have a big old Elu router with a few tatty old bits bought from Trade Me and my big investment is just about to be A Kity Thicknesser/planer, second hand but in very good nick.
With all this tatty old junk I hope to make a liveing.
Will be interesting to see how this all goes together, watch this space.

kind regards to you all and thankyou vey much for your help.

Jon