Popular Woodworking 2001-10 № 124, страница 18

biscuitjoiners

Love 'em or leave 'em, biscuit joiners are here to stay. It's hard not to sell the heck out of something that's so fast.

Whether you consider them cheating, or just taking advantage of technology, it's hard to argue that the biscuit joiner hasn't made a dramatic impact on woodworking joinery.

Offering quick, simple and generally reliable joints for a wide range of applications, this descendant of an angle grinder has made it possible for a woodworker of almost any skill level to build strong furniture with one simple joinery machine.

The Fence

The basic machine is a modified angle grinder with a blade and a

fence. The fence is the key feature to evaluate. Its complexity can vary from the simple plastic job on the Craftsman17501, to the sophisticated highly refined fence on the Porter Cable 557. Fences on the basic models will let you cut a joint at 0° and 45°. Move up the feature scale and you get continuous adjustment from 0° to 45° to 135°. Look for a fence that's easy to adjust and accurate. It should stay put when locked down. The fence should lock parallel to the blade, otherwise the parts being joined will not align across the joint.

The ease of adjusting the fence and the depth stop is also a major

for biscuit joiners

> Make sure you buy a machine with an accurate and versatile fence. Otherwise, save your money until you can afford to buy a better machine.

> Don't sweat the motor. We've used all these machines, and the motors work well.

> We prefer anti-kickback technology on the blades. Kickbacks are rare; let's keep them that way.

> Buy some decent biscuits. We tested all the major brands and prefer Porter-Cable, Lamello and Kaiser.

The Freud JS100 (left) is a few-frills tool that has remained popular for decades. The Craftsman biscuit joiner (right) is an in-line machine, with the motor directly over the blade.

consideration. Check the knobs to see if they're easy to turn. Make sure they stay set when tightened. If you can't get the fence and depth stop to adjust correctly, the tool might as well be a paperweight. Also check out the size of the fence. Large fences make it easy to make an accurate cut.

The last thing to consider on the fence is the way the blade opening is held firm against your work as you plunge. Here are your options: two tiny pins that make small holes in your work, which are covered up when the joint is glued together. Or there are rubber nibs or a material like sandpaper to accomplish the same goal. We're partial to the rubber and abrasive faces.

Blades

Most biscuit joiners are equipped with an anti-kickback blade. These are desirable, though biscuit joiners rarely kick.

Also critical is the blade's runout on the arbor. The less runout, the better the fit of the biscuit and the stronger the joint. Check out our chart on the next page for the measured runout of all the major brands.

Finally, check to see how easy it is to change the blade. This can vary from simple to major surgery. We found the blade on the Makita 3901 the easiest to change.

Biscuit Sizes

The work you do determines the kind of biscuit you will use. If you build a lot of face-frame cabinets, there is a special biscuit for you. If you do picture frames, you need a tool that cuts slots for "mini biscuits." For joining flat surfaces like table

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10 Popular Woodworking October 2001