A biscuit joint can be helpful to align long edge to edge joints, as well as strengthen weaker joints that use glue such as butt and miter joints. In general, you should be able to use a biscuit joiner on an edge-to-edge joint, a T joint, an edge miter joint, a corner joint, an offset joint, and a frame joint. Making a biscuit joint requires using a biscuit joiner tool.
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.
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.
In order to make a biscuit joint, it’s imperative that your biscuit jointer is set to the correct size of biscuit you’ll be inserting into the slot. Equally, setting up the biscuit jointer to the correct height for the cut is important. A good quality biscuit jointer will provide you with a clear line of sight for your cut, per the Makita PJ7000.
what is a biscuit joint used for Related Question:
Why are biscuit joints used?
A biscuit jointer, sometimes referred to as a biscuit joiner, cuts notches in both pieces of wood you wish to join, into which you insert and glue a biscuit. The resultant joints are strong and reliable, preventing any lateral movement in your workpiece.
Are biscuit joints 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 advantages and disadvantages of a biscuit joint?
Biscuits do help with a good alignment, but only if you’ve measured carefully. The biscuit joiner cuts need to be precise for that to happen. Pocket screw joinery does not require such measurement precision for a good alignment result, and like biscuit joinery, it is also invisible in the finished joint.
What is the name of the joint that uses biscuits?
A biscuit joint is also known as a plate joint. It is a somewhat older method of joining wood together and in the 1900s plenty of woodworkers had a biscuit joiner tool handy.