On 04/09/2014 08:46, harryagain wrote:
"James Harris" wrote in message
...
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?

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?
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.

A low-price biscuit jointer at £33.50 is


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

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).

James

As usual harry demonstrates his lack of knowledge on woodwork, however
lets clear up some of the misinformation.

There's nothing you can't do much cheaper using dowels that a biscuit
jointer does.

Firstly, dowels are not a replacement for biscuit joints - each have
pros and cons, but they have different applications.

The main difference is that dowels require precise alignment in two
axis, while biscuits allow a little latitude in one which makes assembly
and glue up far easier in many cases.

While its possible to do a dowel joint with nothing more than a brad
point bit and careful layout (or a spiked marking dowel), they are
generally best done with a proper jig if you need to do any number. The
commercial jigs are relatively expensive for a decent one. They are
relatively slow to cut, but produce a fairly strong joint that resists
loads in most directions (so long as you use at least a pair of them per
joint).

Biscuits produce a joint that is stronger in shear than dowels, but
generally weaker in other directions.

And quicker. With tools most people have to hand

No, very very much slower and that is the key difference.

For applications like fixing the alignment of edge joints, you can sink
five pairs of biscuit slots in about 40 secs the lot with the dedicated
machine.

Waste of space.

Harry's new sig?


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/