Woodworker's Journal 2008-32-1, страница 43

SHORTEST

The Essence of Practical Joinery

One reason that interest in biscuit joinery is increasing is because it is a very practical system. Miss your mark? Not a problem with biscuit joiners. Side-to-side alignment is very forgiving.

A biscuit joiner is the perfect tool for aligning solid wood edging with plywood. The biscuit provides excellent registration between the part surfaces, reducing the risk of sanding through the veneer later.

Use a biscuit joiner in a mitered joint to spline the two joint halves together. It will align the parts during clamping and strengthen the joint considerably.

problems. If the solid ends up higher than the veneer, you've got lots of sanding to do. A biscuit joiner can virtually guarantee perfect alignment.

Miter joints are another ideal place for biscuits. By themselves, there isn't any mechanical connection between the two halves of the joint. There also isn't much surface area for glue. And, in solid wood, you're gluing end grain to end grain, which doesn't provide the best bond. Using a biscuit joiner on mitered parts is a great way to solve all three problems. The biscuits add strength to the joint and prevent the two halves from slipping past each other as you apply clamp pressure.

I've got a toolbox I use when teaching away from my own school that's full of nooks, crannies and cubbies. When I built it 15 years ago, I butt joined all the pieces and used biscuits to hold them together. Today, with lots of miles on the toolbox, every joint is still rock-solid, thanks to the 75 biscuits that hold the box together. Butt joints (see photo on page 78), where you can't or don't want to cut dadoes, are a great application for biscuits. Keep in mind, though, that a biscuit joint isn't quite as strong as a dado or rabbet joint.

How about cutting in a patch using your biscuit joiner? Although the special blade required for this only works on Lamello joiners, it's so cool I had to show it to you in a photo (see page 78). Say you get a sand-through on veneered material. Simply place centering marks over the bad spot, install the blade in the machine, and plunge the cut. Patch material that perfectly fits into the cut is available in a variety of wood species. Since we're talking about

Shop Test continues on page 78...

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February 2008 Woodworker's Journal