Thread: Biscuit Joiner which is the best

Originally Posted by justonething

Great. I must be dumb... The only thing I got was it was crappy and gave you grief.

Sorry my bad the fench doesn't lock down it's a plastic nut that's itself, the depth screw moves other than that she turns on and works but it's not for me. When I get a new I will put this one up on the forum for sale $20. You know I could replace the plastic nut with a metal one but still I rather a proper joiner again it won't see much use but atleast it won't let me down when I do need it.

3901 from $550 to $595 I really didn't expect it to be that much aparently there's a newer model pj7000 or pj 700 one of the other but this one costs $220 but it's made in China while the 3901 is made in Japan.

Originally Posted by section1

Sorry my bad the fench doesn't lock down it's a plastic nut that's itself, the depth screw moves other than that she turns on and works but it's not for me. When I get a new I will put this one up on the forum for sale $20. You know I could replace the plastic nut with a metal one but still I rather a proper joiner again it won't see much use but atleast it won't let me down when I do need it.

Thanks again. The reason I asked is that I bought a Ryobi some 15 years ago when I had a job to raise my daughters junior bunk bed when she kept bumping her head. I haven't used it since and can't recall much about it. I think I will check my Ryobi against what you have just told me next time I go into the shed.

$488 + delivery if you are happy to shop on line.
Makita 3901 Biscuit Joiner 590Watt Inc Case | Get Tools Direct

Please note that this is not a recommendation, just a random price found on the internet.

Originally Posted by section1

Lamello $1350 carbide cutter and $1850 with a diamond cutter way toooooooooo much for me, hopefully the Makita won't be anywhere a over priced.

warned you the price would make your eyes water

I knew I could count on all of you and as always it's great to hear from you Ian but I have made up my mind today and bit the bullet so to speak. The 3901 my preferred choice today ended up being way over budget, if I were to use it all day everyday or even once or more a week then fair enough give em their $600 and be done with it. But I'm not because using biscuits isn't my primary choice of joinery and obviously I didn't go for the Lamello and even if I had a mountain worth of work load how can I justify spending that sort of money. So which one did I go for it is the latest PJ7000 now before you all jump down my throat I know it's China made and obviously doesn't compare to the 3901 Jap made but I thought I would give it a go and see what happens and if it's no good I can always return.

Just tonight after much anticipiation I couldn't wait to get home and give it a try, I cut two mitres trued them up on my shooting board and wow what a beautiful piece of machinery, effortlessly it cut a slot without any exertion on my behalf. The fence locks in at 45 and 90° and the lever just like in the 3901 locks in tight and they are accurate at those angles not even a smidgen of light shines through. Tomorrow morning I'm going to try some butt joints and edge panelling and see just how well or poorly it performs. Oh I forgot to mention the motor is quiet not whispering quiet but just right so this means I can work late at night if I wanted too without disturbing the neighbours. Ok how much did I pay $219 I thought well that's a good compromise and it won't be noticed by the wife well I hope not anyway.

I'll post you an update on how it all went but before I go I would like to ask how do I work what size biscuit do I need to use for various thickness timbers. There is no guide out there and the manual doesn't state anything about this.

Great. Enjoy it.

If I could make a suggestion - the only modification I made to mine was to remove the bag and attach the shop vac hose. When using the machine to do a heap of cuts it saves having to empty the bag and the vacuum overcomes any potential blockages in the collection tube as the bag fills up. The vac hose I simply sling over my shoulder and it has never been a problem getting in the way.

I use the biggest biscuit I can which will not break out of the timber I'm joining. Any thicknesses over 25-30 mm I sometimes stack the biscuits in pairs depending on what I'm doing. Keep your biscuits in an airtight container as they will absorb moisture in humid weather and then they will do exactly what they are designed to do and that is to swell.

Hope it helps.

biscuit sizes

IIRC, biscuits come in 3 sizes -- #0, #10, #20

for most manufactured board, #20 biscuits are used

#0 and #10 are used with butt joints in thinner boards -- the key is that the slot (= half the biscuit width + a bit) is no more than about 3/4 the board thickness

the key is that the slot (= half the biscuit width + a bit) is no more than about 3/4 the board thickness

I didn't understand that bit Ian may be cause it's midnight.



Bob that is a good idea the bag is a little annoying as it swivels freely.

Wow it has surpassed my every expectation this is bloody addictive it does 45's flawlessly 125 which is what I'm currently working on flawlessly I mean I am bewildered that a china made product works so well. The only bad thing was when I tried a utt joint if I flipped the around yes it was a flush joint but the other way wasn't so I'm not quite sure what went wrong. Panelling worked great as well but there is one more thing I would like to try is what I saw the lamello do cut a continous groove for a spline.

I'm biscuit addicted just before I go last night I biscuited a 45 joint this morning I wanted to see how strong it was using hand pressure sure enough it snapped easily but not the biscuit itself I was very surprised to see that.

That's it I'm all biscuitted out lol I did forget to do a spline groove but having two rubber mounts which is a great idea I might add on the bottom plate would provide friction and I wouldn't want to damage them. I did figure out why the butt joints aren't flush because the groove isn't dead centred and that's pretty darn hard to do because the markings are a little off and that's China's trademark without a digital display I would spend a lot of test cuts to get it perfect but doesn't matter anyway I wouldn't choose biscuits for butt joints anyway and I never use chipboard I will leave that for the mass producers. There is a plastic plate which attaches some where surprisingly I cannot find it in the manual, a nice addition would be if the plate could move forwards and backwards for angles greater 45° a good substitute is using shims, I think with the lamello you can do that.

For $220 I'm pretty happy

If anyone has anything to add, good tips and ideas please do so

I can vouch for the lemello machines. We have a few at work and they are great. Fast to set and they stay set, we use them in ply and teak and they are great machines.i would recommend them, not sure on the cost but a great machine.

I've seen the demo on them on youtube and the lamello looks great but at $1800 it's pretty hard to justify the cost considering I don't work with ply much at all but I'm real happly with the makita I bought. I played with it all day and it's been back in its case since, I know I will need it again in the near future. Btw I'll call your brother in the morning.

Just looking to purchase a Biscuit joiner myself, and there doesn't seem to be a huge range available in the below $600 market. Ozito (nah!!) Ryobi, or 2 Makita models.