When adjusted properly, the biscuit joiner will cut a slot 1/32″ deeper than half the width of your biscuit. As you begin to setup for your cut, start by carefully positioning the biscuit joiner to align with your biscuit placement mark. Once you get solid placement of the biscuit joiner and fence, find the detent on your biscuit joiner’s fence, place your thumb firmly on the detent, and let go of the handle to allow the biscuit joiner to “Bottom out” on the work piece.
“The slot for a #0 biscuit measures about 21⁄8” wide, so you can’t hide a biscuit joint in stock narrower than this. Even a well-tuned biscuit joiner can sometimes cut slots that result in a non-flush-fitting joint. Cutting the spline slots on your tablesaw requires a tall jig, but you can cut them easily and quickly with your biscuit joiner and the attached fence jig, see drawing below.
what to use a biscuit joiner for Related Question:
What can you make with a biscuit joiner?
I find a biscuit joint to be great for boxes, drawers, cabinet carcasses, face frames, miters, edge banding, and as a lightweight substitute for mortise and tenon joinery. Nothing beats biscuit joinery when it comes to quick and simple woodworking joints.
Is a biscuit joiner necessary?
Biscuits can be used to join the ends of boards to edge or face grain. 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.
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.