Biscuit Joiner question

[JulietDelta]

I recently used a Triton biscuit joiner at the Triton weekend workshop at Holmesglen and was impressed with it's accuracy over my cheap hand held joiner but I can't recall if there is a limit to the length of timber that can be joined. I want to join some lengths about 1.5 metres to make a bench top.

Is this possible with the Triton?

Any advice would be really apreciated.

Thanks

John

[Barry_White]

Thats not a problem John. Just remove the 45° stop and then you can do it as long as you like.

[JulietDelta]

Thanks again Bazza - I think I'll save my pennies and buy the Triton biscuit joiner before I start this little project.

John

[Gumby]

Bazza is correct. Lay the 2 boards down and butt them up against each other the same way as if they were joined. Put a pencil mark across each of the 2 boards at the points where you want the biscuits to go. Then just place those marks on the centre of the guide mark on the biscuit joiner and cut away. The beauty of the biscuits is the couple of mm 'slip' it gives you when fitting the boards back together again. You don't need to be that accurate - not like a dowell joint requires, which is what I used on my bench top. With this in mind, however, and a s good as the Triton is, your hand held should be fine for the job.

[barnsey]

I've got an el cheapo biscuit jointer from Bunnies and the accuracy is dodgy at best but have never had a failure although on occasion I've had to re-cut a couple to get the tolerance to get a good line up. This method is far more forgiving than dowels or mortice & tenons. Each with their own strengths but where it's viable biscuits are an option.

Jamie

[lesmeyer]

Hi,
just my tuppence worth on this subject. I have used the Triton BJ with excellent results joing boards 1.8m in length. The beauty about this tool is that the height of the cut in each board is exact. This sideways tolerance is useful. But the height is important to get exact alignment. I have noticed that some of the cheaper BJ's at Bunnies have a lot of vertical play in the mechanism when pushing forward. If you have the Triton RT then go the Triton BJ route.
Regards
Les

[JulietDelta]

Thanks for the advice. I have experienced some difficulty in getting the cut at right angles to the face of the pieces being joined when they are not very thick with the result that the two faces only meet on one side of the join and there is a gap on the other. The way the Triton works would seem to eliminate that problem and give a much flatter surface.

I'll have a look at the Woodworking show next week and see if I can get a good deal.

Cheers

John