I am about to buy a biscuit jointer and wondered if anyone had any
experience of these two?

http://tinyurl.com/3xryl
http://tinyurl.com/yq8yg

I would just go for the Makita as all their other tools i have seem to
be brilliant...

On 4 Feb 2004 05:28:13 -0800, (Reader) wrote:

I am about to buy a biscuit jointer and wondered if anyone had any
experience of these two?

http://tinyurl.com/3xryl
http://tinyurl.com/yq8yg

I would just go for the Makita as all their other tools i have seem to
be brilliant...

Of the two I would go for the Makita. I've used one and found it
pretty good. It has been reviewed well in the woodworking magazines.

There are several factors in a biscuit jointer that are important, but
IMO the plunge action, the fence setting accuracy and the anti-slide
arrangement are the most important.

I had a DeWalt for a while, but ultimately returned it because the
fence setting was innaccurate - design defect.

If you use biscuit jointing a fair bit then the Lamello Classic is
even better at about £220. Lamello invented the technology and their
machines are really nice.

I have one of their TOP20 machines which has numerous additional
capabilities - for example blade height adjustment. It's a real
pleasure to use - absolutely bang on accurate and mechanism as smooth
as silk.

I've always had good success with Makita products such as drills and I
have one of their sliding mitre saws also a nice product to use.




..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On 4 Feb 2004 05:28:13 -0800, (Reader) wrote:

I am about to buy a biscuit jointer and wondered if anyone had any
experience of these two?

I haven't used a brand-named biscuit jointer, but I bought and have
used the £35 version available from Screwfix - the brand names can be
10 times as expensive.

I suppose my lack of experience with other jointers gives me less
clout in terms of recommendations, obviously, but I have to say that
the Screwfix jointer does the business for me.

PoP

Sending email to my published email address isn't
guaranteed to reach me.

"PoP" wrote in message
...
On 4 Feb 2004 05:28:13 -0800, (Reader) wrote:

I am about to buy a biscuit jointer and wondered if anyone had any
experience of these two?

I haven't used a brand-named biscuit jointer, but I bought and have
used the £35 version available from Screwfix - the brand names can be
10 times as expensive.

I suppose my lack of experience with other jointers gives me less
clout in terms of recommendations, obviously, but I have to say that
the Screwfix jointer does the business for me.

PoP
et moi aussi

I found the screwfix one so good, I can't imagine what extra you get for all the extra cash.

One problem I did find, was that it works much better, for doing a large number of cuts non stop, if you put a vac onto the machine to suck the bits out the cut.

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 16:36:46 +0000, PoP wrote:
On 4 Feb 2004 05:28:13 -0800, (Reader) wrote:

I am about to buy a biscuit jointer and wondered if anyone had any
experience of these two?

I haven't used a brand-named biscuit jointer, but I bought and have
used the £35 version available from Screwfix - the brand names can be
10 times as expensive.

I suppose my lack of experience with other jointers gives me less
clout in terms of recommendations, obviously, but I have to say that
the Screwfix jointer does the business for me.

PoP

Sending email to my published email address isn't
guaranteed to reach me.

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 20:43:51 GMT, Rick Dipper
wrote:

I found the screwfix one so good, I can't imagine what extra you get for all the extra cash.

Possibly not, but there is. It really depends on the type of work
that you want to do, the materials and the accuracy that you want to
achieve.

If you tried one of the Lamello, Porter Cable or Makita machines on
accurate work, you would notice the difference.

Some of the aspects are similar to those of a router, but while I feel
that a sub £100 1/2" router is generically worthless, I think that you
can get worthwhile results for a lot of jobs from a sub £100 biscuit
jointer.



One problem I did find, was that it works much better, for doing a large number of cuts non stop, if you put a vac onto the machine to suck the bits out the cut.

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 16:36:46 +0000, PoP wrote:
On 4 Feb 2004 05:28:13 -0800, (Reader) wrote:

I am about to buy a biscuit jointer and wondered if anyone had any
experience of these two?

I haven't used a brand-named biscuit jointer, but I bought and have
used the £35 version available from Screwfix - the brand names can be
10 times as expensive.

I suppose my lack of experience with other jointers gives me less
clout in terms of recommendations, obviously, but I have to say that
the Screwfix jointer does the business for me.

PoP

Sending email to my published email address isn't
guaranteed to reach me.



..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 20:43:51 GMT, Rick Dipper
wrote:

I found the screwfix one so good, I can't imagine what extra you get for all the extra cash.

That was really my take as well. I guess one day I will find out, but
until then I'm a happy bunny having spent £35 for something that gets
used occasionally, leaving money in the kitty to buy other tools.

PoP

Sending email to my published email address isn't
guaranteed to reach me.

On 4 Feb 2004 05:28:13 -0800, (Reader) wrote:

I am about to buy a biscuit jointer and wondered if anyone had any
experience of these two?

http://tinyurl.com/3xryl
http://tinyurl.com/yq8yg

I would just go for the Makita as all their other tools i have seem to
be brilliant...

I don't know what other tools you've got in your collection but I use
a biscuit joiner attachment for my router. A lot cheaper and takes up
less space.

One of these in fact...
http://tinyurl.com/28t76
...

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.

Lurch wrote:

I don't know what other tools you've got in your collection but I use
a biscuit joiner attachment for my router. A lot cheaper and takes up
less space.

Yup - tried that - but I found it is just not the same as the real
thing. There are several pitfalls using the router cutter I found:

1) The biggest limitation is that the diameter of the cutter is too
small to cut the right size rebate for the biscuit in one hit. Hence you
have plunge into the work and then slide the router to elongate the slot
to the right size for the biscuit which is a bit hit and miss compared
to the ability to set the biscuit size on the dial and then "plunge in"
and "move on" like you can with the jointer.

2) The elongated slot cut with a router has a flat back to it which does
not match the profile of the biscuit - so you don't get the joint as
well located.

3) You are more likely to damage the work because you always have to
remember that the cutter is exposed - hence you need to position the
router ready to be slid into the edge of the work making sure that you
do not try and pass through anything solid on the way to the starting
position! (not a problem if used on a table rather than hand-held however)

4) Using the router is slower (because of above)

5) Accuracy is poorer with the router cutter - the fence design on a
jointer makes it simple to get opposing biscuit cuts in perfect
alignment - draw a pencil line across the joint where you want a biscuit
- then line it up with the centre mark on the jointer fence and plunge
once - repeat the other side - perfectly matched and aligned cuts.

Hence because of above I bought one of the cheapie Ferm ones. The first
one went back because when you locked the fence at the require depth it
pulled itself a little bit non square - hence you got biscuit slots at a
slight angle (approx 0.5mm lower at one end than the other). The
replacement seems much better although the switch design can be a bit
sticky! As other have said the use of dust extraction is very worth while.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 13:57:38 +0000, John Rumm
wrote:

Lurch wrote:

I don't know what other tools you've got in your collection but I use
a biscuit joiner attachment for my router. A lot cheaper and takes up
less space.

Yup - tried that - but I found it is just not the same as the real
thing. There are several pitfalls using the router cutter I found:

1) The biggest limitation is that the diameter of the cutter is too
small to cut the right size rebate for the biscuit in one hit. Hence you
have plunge into the work and then slide the router to elongate the slot
to the right size for the biscuit which is a bit hit and miss compared
to the ability to set the biscuit size on the dial and then "plunge in"
and "move on" like you can with the jointer.

True, if I used biscuits more often then I'd go for a seperate
machine.

2) The elongated slot cut with a router has a flat back to it which does
not match the profile of the biscuit - so you don't get the joint as
well located.

Never really thought of that. I don't find it a real problem though,
as long as the biscuit fits, it'll hold when the glue dries!

3) You are more likely to damage the work because you always have to
remember that the cutter is exposed - hence you need to position the
router ready to be slid into the edge of the work making sure that you
do not try and pass through anything solid on the way to the starting
position! (not a problem if used on a table rather than hand-held however)

True, see response to 1)

4) Using the router is slower (because of above)

5) Accuracy is poorer with the router cutter - the fence design on a
jointer makes it simple to get opposing biscuit cuts in perfect
alignment - draw a pencil line across the joint where you want a biscuit
- then line it up with the centre mark on the jointer fence and plunge
once - repeat the other side - perfectly matched and aligned cuts.

I haven't had a problem with lining up biscuit slots.

Hence because of above I bought one of the cheapie Ferm ones. The first
one went back because when you locked the fence at the require depth it
pulled itself a little bit non square - hence you got biscuit slots at a
slight angle (approx 0.5mm lower at one end than the other). The
replacement seems much better although the switch design can be a bit
sticky! As other have said the use of dust extraction is very worth while.

That's one reason I haven't bought a seperate cutter, if I'm going to
buy one I would rather spend the money on a decent machine. Personally
I quite like Makita stuff, I've got a van and a garage full of the
stuff with the odd DeWalt thrown in here and there!
It was just a thought, obviously not particularly applicable in this
instance. ;-)
...

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd.