"robgraham" wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, September 2, 2014 3:09:19 AM UTC+1, RJH wrote:
On 01/09/2014 15:00, newshound wrote:

....

Aldi do them from time to time. Picked one up in the reduced bin - seems
fine to my untrained eye.

+1 - possibly worth a punt. It does depend on how much the OP foresees
using it and perhaps the quality of the work he is doing. I find mine
perfectly adequate.

I/we just missed out on a much-reduced biscuit jointer from Screwfix. I saw
the ad on their web site this morning: an Erbauer (which I think is
Screwfix's own brand) ERB900 for £15.00! Their product ID was 65190.
Unfortunately, it is a stock clearance item and there is no stock in my area
or the area where a relative lives or he could have picked one up for me.

I've such a machine, and do just wonder a little at some of the comments
above about parallelism - am I reading that to mean that the slot cut is
accurately parallel with the top surface of the work? If so I question
that as the accuracy of the two joining faces is far more critical -
totally square and totally flat along the length; the biscuits are a snug
fit in the slots but there's enough flex there while the glue is wet to
give a flat top surface as long as the joining faces are really true.

Are there different biscuit thicknesses? I believe the standard for no 20
biscuits, say, is 4mm thick but I read one review of a machine which had a
3.5mm blade and the reviewer said that standard biscuits would not fit the
slots it made. I have seen other specs where the cutter is 3.8mm. Is that
the more-accurate size for a 4mm slot.

As a converse situation, I watched one video where the presenter showed the
pre-glued joint was actually loose! That's not sideways/laterally but up and
down, i.e. in from face to face. Surely that's not right. Maybe 3.5mm
biscuits in a slot made for 4mm biscuits?

The real problem I find with a biscuit jointer, and I think this is my
irregular use rather than the machine, is operating it such that each cut
is accurately spaced from the working surface - now I can't see how that
can vary from a cheap machine to an expensive one as that does seem to be
operator controlled.

Is that with the fence resting on the registration surface? From fence to
blade should be a consistent distance.

James