Ozito biscuit joiner - which biscuits?

[jim47]

I bought an Ozito biscuit joiner from Bunnings, and some Haron biscuits as they were the only ones stocked by Bunnings. After cutting some practise joints I have found that the Haron biscuits are very loose in the slot. Can anyone help me with my problem please?:?

[NCArcher]

The biscuits will swell when glue is applied. Make sure you have the joiner set for the size biscuit you are using 0, 1 or 2.

[codeMunk3y]

As above, I thought they seemed a bit loose when I put them in too.

If you're going to be joining long boards, don't make the mistake I did and only glue around the biscuits, glue the whole length of the board as well as the biscuits. My table is now splitting due because I didn't. :(

[old pete]

Hi Jim 47,

I think the effect you describe of biscuits being loose in slots is pretty typical with biscuit joinery certainly it's my experience. Yes the biscuits do swell when a water based glue is added and pretty quickly too and they pull in pretty tight. What they don't do very well is to register the surfaces of the boards to be joined accurately so you still have to get around the job with the old hammer and block to get everything to a plane surface before the biscuits seize up as they swell.

The Domino by comparison has practically zero clearance between the tenon and the slot and registers the surfaces just about perfectly in relation to each other. I use an epoxy glue with Dominoes because its all to easy to have the joints seize up before you can get the parts cramped together if you arer using a wate rbased glue on a biggish panel glue up.

old pete



I bought an Ozito biscuit joiner from Bunnings, and some Haron biscuits as they were the only ones stocked by Bunnings. After cutting some practise joints I have found that the Haron biscuits are very loose in the slot. Can anyone help me with my problem please?:?

[jim47]

As I am new to the forum, I don't know if this comment will appear in the right place.

Thank you all for your prompt response, very much appreciated.
Yesterday evening, I glued up a test piece.
Checked it this morning, and it turned out fine, a nice flat square joint.

[NCArcher]

:2tsup:

[rod1949]

Why not use some plywood of the appropriate thickness? As a biscuit joint is just a lot of mini feathered joints that are non continous, like the continous ply feather joint in this picture.

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f187/166799d1302415192-jarrah-dining-table-wip-dsc00013.jpg

[old pete]

Hi Rod,


There's no reason why plywood cannot be used instead of biscuits for panel joining. Indeed full length plywood splines stopping short of the ends by 50mm was the popular norm for edge jointing in panels for many years. There's a fair bit more work forming the grooves for the ply that's all plus the technique is much less adaptable to other forms of joints.

Cheers Old Pete



Why not use some plywood of the appropriate thickness?

[nrb]

If the slots seem too big just make sure that you check that you hold the guide plate flat on the board you are cutting into,if you tilt even a little bit the slot will be wider.
The biscuits are compressed a lot and swell with glue,I think they are much better than ply.:2tsup::2tsup:

[anythingbutpine]

All depends on the size of the job being joined. Another easy way for table tops as above is to cut near full length slots with a table saw then just insert biscuits at regular spacings, say 300mm and glue the while lot shut.