On 04/09/2014 08:32, James Harris wrote:
As per a recent thread, there are lots of negative comments about cheaper
biscuit jointers and the so-called good ones are too expensive for
occasional use. But I just noticed there are biscuit-cutter bits for routers
so wonder how they compare with the lower end of the biscuit cutter range.

As an example of a cutter for a router there is this at £7.49

http://www.screwfix.com/p/biscuit-jo...hank-4mm/91402

Are such cutter bits OK, at least where the cuts which have to be made are
parallel to a surface?

I had a decent Trend made one of those, and flogged it on ebay after
getting the dedicated machine...

While it worked, I found there were a number of operational problems
with it that made it less than ideal

Such bits all seem to be too small to cut out the crescent shape of a
biscuit slot. How are they used in order to get the slot the right shape?

Yup that is the first problem - you need to plunge it in, then slide the
work/router to the side to make a wide enough slot.

Is
there some sort of template? If not enough wood is removed the biscuit won't
fit. If too much material is taken away the joint would be weakened. Surely
it's not supposed to be done by hand.

Its about the only way you can do it. Even when the right width the
radius of the ends will not match the biscuit that well IME. You cna
mark the edges of the travel required on the work, but its more time and
effort.

Other limitations - they are much easier (and safer) to use in a table
than handheld. Used handheld they are a liability (to you and the work)
since they need to be plunged and locked into position *below* the base
of the router. You then need to position the router on the edge of its
base plate such that you can then plunge the cutter sideways - if you
try to move the router into position in the normal way then you will
damage the work with the cutter. On several occasions I ended up tacking
a chunk out of the edge of my work getting the cutter into an out of
position. You also have the risk of an unguarded cutter hanging out the
router that you may not be able to withdraw back into the machine.

A low-price biscuit jointer at £33.50 is

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-S.../dp/B0021L95X4

Showing up at £45 here...

Would it be fair to say that the lower-priced ones may have various issues
but are all of similar quality, all having usability issues that the owner
can work around? There are some at around £65 but I wonder if they would be
much different from the Silverline one (especially as it has been reduced).

Only way to tell really is to buy it and see. My own experience with the
cheap SF "Ferm" one was there were certainly manufacturing quality
issues - I had to return my first one. The second was better but not
perfect, but it was good enough you can make allowances for its
shortcomings in setup.


--
Cheers,

John.

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