Recently while building several small boxes with decorative splines in the corners, it occurred to me that my biscuit joiner would do an excellent job of making the spline slots. In the case of my jig, the spline slots are 1″ apart. The blade of the biscuit joiner creates the slot for the spline.
Miter joints are some of the weakest in woodworking because of poor end-grain to end-grain gluing. That’s why I always reinforce my miter joints with a decorative spline. By adding hardboard plates to the jointer’s fence, where shown, the slot is automatically centered on the joint.
This is how I started Building My Biscuit jointer Jig. Once I got the to the same width as The Biscuit Jointer I then Proceeded to the next stage…. I used My Scroll saw to cut out the Beak from The Foot Plate and The Optional clamp. The Optional clamp Is used Only for complete Square boxes and Picture frames and the T-Slot Clamp is used for the oblong type boxes and Picture frames.
Well, when you make mitered corners for any sort of box, the corner ends up becoming two pieces of end grain that are joined together. For a picture frame or small box, you can accomplish easy splines by creating a sled for your miter saw that you set the frame in which will cut a slot perpendicular to the miter. Use a flush cut saw to cut off the excess, sand, and finish!
biscuit joiner spline jig Related Question:
Can you biscuit joint a 45 degree angle?
Mark the center lines for each biscuit to align with the biscuit joiner. Most biscuit joiners have a variety of fence positions; on a 45-degree miter, the fence should be on the 45-degree setting. After test cuts, it is a very fast operation!
What is the difference between a biscuit joiner and a Domino joiner?
While a biscuit joiner will AT MOST go 1/2″ into each side of the wood, a domino joiner will go almost 3″ into each side (remember, 1/2″ the tenon length goes into each piece). Which means a domino joiner will assist with both alignment AND structural rigidity of the joints.
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.
What makes a biscuit joint so strong?
They are more for alignment, where the dowels will add a good deal of strength. In my use of biscuits they are designed to keep joints from pulling apart. The clearances the cutter makes to insert the biscuit allows for enough movement that alignment is not guaranteed.
Are splines strong?
Splines for strength When used on a miter joint, the spline adds extra strength to an otherwise delicate joint. The spline is also useful because it helps to align the two joining parts during assembly and glue-up. For extra strength, the grain direction of the spline can run at 90° to the grain of the boards.
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Are Dominos stronger than screws?
I was surprised to find that while the Domino did double the strength of the joint compared to just a butt joint, the pocket screws were 50% stronger than the Domino. One commenter did point out that if strength was a major concern a longer Domino could be used, and that’s a good point.
What wood is used for splines?
The spline itself can be made from plywood, hardwood or the same material as the joint being strengthened. For the ultimate in strength, the grain of natural woods should be oriented so that it’s running across the joint in the workpiece.
Are biscuit joiners worth it?
They will definitely provide more strength than glue alone, but not a lot. If your boards are too narrow, you can reinforce the joint by adding the biscuit on the back side of the face. But again, I would prefer to just use pocket screws, dados, or rabbets.
What is a rabbet joint?
A rabbet is basically just a groove or a dado on the edge of your wood piece that creates a lip. That lip can then fit snuggly into a groove. The rabbet joint is incredibly useful for furniture construction that uses panels, such as a small dresser. It’s also very useful for cabinet construction.
Can you join plywood with biscuits?
However, with a biscuit joiner, clean, unobtrusive joints can be made in plywood, with no visible hardware and clean edges coming together. Whether joined together at 0 degrees, 45 degrees or 90 degrees, all joints are clean and tight, as well as being strong.
Which is stronger dowels or pocket holes?
The dowel joints were 1.5x stronger than the pocket hole joints. I could have made the dowel joints stronger by using four dowels instead of two. Earlier tests indicate that such a joint should be nearly as strong as a mortise and tenon joint.
How deep should splines be?
The most common seems to be using a spline thickness equal to 1/3 of the thickness of the wood into which it will go. For example, when joining ¾”-thick pieces, a spline ¼”-thick is about right. The depth on the spline into each of the pieces being joined is generally 2/3 of the thickness of the pieces being joined.
How thick should splines be?
-thick material, a bit that cuts 1/8-in. -wide slots is ideal. Splines don’t need to be thicker than this to offer plenty of strength.
What material is used for splines?
Softwoods are not good candidates for spline material, but dense woods like walnut, hard maple and many exotic species work well.