The cool thing about biscuit joinery is that the biscuit is made from compressed wood. Biscuit joinery may not be for the DIYer who’s just building one cabinet, but if you have a lot of cabinets in your future, a biscuit joiner is a great tool to own. The Family Handyman editor, Ken Collier, shows you how to glue and clamp biscuit joints for a strong and nearly invisible joint.
Because biscuit joints are easy to mark out and quick to cut, using one almost seems like cheating. The safest way to cut biscuit slots is with a biscuit joiner. The oversized slot lets the biscuit move slightly, enabling you to tweak parts into perfect alignment.
Properly-cut biscuit joints are strong and accurate, particularly when cutting slots with a woodworking tool called a biscuit joiner. When glued into slots precisely cut by the biscuit cutter, and the moisture from the glue causes the biscuit to swell and tighten the joint. As a general rule, try to use the largest size biscuit possible, as this will provide the greatest amount of strength to the joint.
For tabletops, biscuit joints between boards are much faster than milling tongue-and-groove joints on a router table. Biscuit joints get a bit of criticism for their strength, but there are quite a few applications where biscuit joints are ideal. Biscuit joints can also strengthen an end-to-end butt joint, giving the glue in the joint something more than just the end grain to adhere to.
how to do a biscuit joint Related Question:
Are biscuit joints easy?
Biscuit Basics His kitchen cabinets are all held together with biscuit joints. It’s easy to fall in love with biscuit joints—they’re so fast and easy. At least they are when you get the hang of them. If you’re new to biscuit joinery, you can learn here how to do the four basic woodworking joints.