Years ago, back in the 1990s and early 2000s, a biscuit joiner became a very popular woodworking tool. Well, as much as I admire Norm Abram, a biscuit joiner may be one of the most useless power tools you can own. If you’re new to woodworking, or if you’re a maker, you may not even know what a biscuit joiner is.
I enjoy and appreciate the things you create on this subreddit, but don’t partake. I’ve been looking at a few glue-up tutorials/posts and I’ve noticed a lot of people are split down the middle about biscuit joints. Any advice on whether or not it’s a necessary purchase for an amateur would be very much appreciated!
Biscuits used to join pieces of wood are oval-shaped, thin, dried, and compressed bits of wood or wood shavings, often made with beech wood. A tool known as a biscuit joiner cuts a slot into each of the two pieces of wood to be joined, adds glue to the slots, inserts the biscuit into one and then the other to join the pieces together. The biscuit joiner aligns the slots precisely so that when the two pieces of wood are clamped together, the edges align perfectly, and the wood’s plane is maintained.
What We Hear Most & Agree With Is This …. Biscuits joints serve best as a quick and easy way to keep glue-up parts in alignment, and that they add appreciable pull-apart to strength joints that would be otherwise too weak to stand on their own – like butt joints and miter joints. We’re guessing that most woodworkers will find more use for a biscuit joiner, with its ability to invisibly align and secure joints so quickly. Doweling also makes for a stronger joint, and if you own a drill, it’s less of an initial investment: You just need a doweling jig and a few drill bits.
A great many people seem to think that biscuit joinery is primarily intended to aid alignment and strength in edge to edge joints such as panel glue-ups. 10-10-2018, 6:58 AM #14 My understanding like similar to Edward’s, biscuit joinery was intended primarily for sheet goods. There’s a technique issue that can affect the fit of biscuit joints, particularly edge to edge.
is a biscuit joiner necessary Related Question:
Are biscuit joiners worth it?
Biscuits joints serve best as a quick and easy way to keep glue-up parts in alignment, and that they add appreciable pull-apart to strength joints that would be otherwise too weak to stand on their own – like butt joints and miter joints.
What can I use instead of a biscuit joiner?
Some tests suggest a dowel joint will provide stronger joinery than biscuits. Tests also indicate that dowel joints are not as strong as tenon joints or dovetail joints. They do make solid and accurate joints, though. A dowel joint will be a better method than nails or screws and are much less susceptible to breakage.
What are the disadvantages of a biscuit joint?
Biscuit joints do not stand up well against other joinery methods. We won’t spend any time comparing with mortise and tenon joints because all other joinery methods pale in comparison when measuring strength. But, as an example, the use of dowels as opposed to biscuits is a step up in strength.
When would you use a biscuit joiner?
A biscuit joiner or biscuit jointer (or sometimes plate joiner) is a woodworking tool used to join two pieces of wood together. A biscuit joiner uses a small circular saw blade to cut a crescent-shaped hole (called the mouth) in the opposite edges of two pieces of wood or wood composite panels.