Consider how much rental would be and for how long. Most of the time, you
could just buy one for about as much as you could rent one from Orange.

You could get a cheapy from HF for $40 ($60 with a tilting fence). Even if
it just lasted through that one job, it's probably cheaper than renting one.
And if it survives, it's all cheddar.

Or you can buy a really good new (Porter-Cable or DeWalt) biscuit joiner for
about $180.

Case in point, I did a big Pergo job (the glue-up kind). Needed to rent the
strap kit for installation for about 4 days. It was a mess. Straps caked
with old glue from God only knows how many previous renters. Cost about
$100. The day I returned it, they had a brand new, unopended kit for sale
for only $80. Total screw job.

Now, I never even consider renting first. Well, unless it's something like a
Bobcat.


codepath



"Pefferie" wrote in message
...
Mike,
thank you very much for your reply!

By solid cherry panel I mean "glued up boards cherry panel".
I do not have a biscuit joiner, but I guess I could rent one at
HomeDepot...
although it seems simpler to just rout a groove in both the panel and the
border and glue a spline around the perimiter and in the miter.
Something I am worried about is that if I rout a groove at the mid-depth
of
the board, it would be half in the wood, half in MDF. It that a problem?
BTW, should I use MDF or plywood?

Thanks,
iouri

"Mike G" wrote in message
...
First important question to be answered is, what do you mean by solid
cherry
panel? Cherry plywood panel or glued up boards cherry panel? That is
going
to be a major factor in answering several of your questions.

For the best appearance the ends of the border should be mitered. I'd
probably use FF biscuits but you have to have a biscuits jointer that is
adjustable to the irregular angles. Splines would work well as will
dowels
if you can drill the holes at the proper angle. A lot depends on what
tools
you have to work with and how good you are with them.

Generally you'd want to be easing edges and such after the piece is all
glued up and the glue has cured.
.



--
Mike G.

Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Pefferie" wrote in message
om...
Hi,
I want to make a countertop for a kitchen island that would create a
separation between the kitchen and the living room. In a building
materials salvage store, I bought:

A solid cherry panel (3/4" thick)
Mahogany boards (1.5" thick)

My plan is to glue another panel to the underside of the cherry one to
make it thicker and make a ~ 1.5" mahogany border around the
perimiter.

The project is complicated by the fact that the island is an irregular
hexagone.

As I have very little experience with woodworking, I would appreciate
any constructive advice, especially:

1. What should I glue to the board's underside - MDF or plywood? What
gue should I use?
2. How do I attach the border - just glue, glue + tongue-and-groove,
biscuits?
How do I join the ends of the border segments - miter or rabbet
with dowels, or? If the segments are just glued together, is there a
risk that they could separate due to the board's shrinkage and
swelling (even if it is glued to MDF)? What kind of glue?
3. Routing the outer edge of the border - should I glue the border and
then rout it, or rout the segments before gluing on a router table?

Thanks,
iouri