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essentials:
You
will find if you buy a good biscuit joiner you will
use it alot more than if you get a retrofit router one.
I'm speaking from experience, I bought a cheap retrofit
and while I liked the result I didn't like the process.
Now that I have a good one I find myself using it on
a regular basis. Look at it this way tools are an investment
if you get good ones you can always sell them if the
need arises but if you buy cheap they will be hard to
sell if the time comes .
- gary
Is
a biscuit cutter a necessity? No. But what these machines
really do for you is speed the assembly process and
give you a strong joint at the same time. These are
great in applications like face frames, small boxes,
picture frames etc. They are a pleasure to use. There
are quite a few out there. The biggest difference is
the fence accuracy and ease of setup.
- Ron
If you need to churn out some household projects quickly
so you can justify your woodworking hobby to your wife
a biscuit jointer is an absolute necessity. I bought
the DeWalt
biscuit jointer, and it has been absolute simplicity
to use. It's also a very safe way to work, since correct
operation puts both of your hands safely out of the
way of the blade. I've sliced my index finger with a
handsaw more than I care to admit, so I think it even
beats a lot of hand tools for safety.
- NRB
For
years, I used a dowel guide and pins for gluing up panels.
Then I switched to the biscuit cutter, a DeWalt,
and the time savings was incredible. The machine works
well. I attended a seminar at the "American Woodworker's
Show" where the instructor made the statement that with
the quality of glues today, biscuits are only used for
alignment purposes. I don't know; but, he is right about
one thing, it does aid in alignment of the panels when
gluing up.
- Wally
Biscuits make fast, strong joints. I have copy of article
from Fine Woodworking on my web page where the stress
tested biscuits and found them STRONGER than mortise
& tenon or dowels! Some will argue with validity of
test, but point is they're damn strong and so fast to
install that you'll find 101 places to use 'em. For
a summary see my
web page, there is a link on that page to scan of
actual article.
- MadMark
I bought a biscuit cutting blade and adapter kit for
my Craftsman router and it works like a breeze. I would
prefer an actual biscuit cutter, but the wife screams
bloody murder when I buy more tools. While I’m not particularly
happy with the Craftsman tablesaw I bought, I can't
complain about the router or cutting biscuits. It is
by far the easiest way for making joints.
- matt