On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 07:27:50 -0700, Bruce wrote:

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 21:47:08 -0700, GerryG wrote
(in article ):

Agreed, Bruce. Every book, guide and tutorial I've seen stresses that you
should use a brush, stick or other implement to spread the glue on the sides
of the slot. It's one of the basics of using the tool. When you said "equal
amounts on each side" I couldn't see how you could do that with a narrow
slot,
so assumed you must be talking about the biscuit, but perhaps not.

Yep, the biscuit. My procedure is to squirt a daub of glue in the slot,
spread it around with an acid (flux) brush, then brush on a thin layer of
glue to the sides of the biscuit. The error can come (in the extreme case) by
not spreading the glue in the slot and only placing glue on one side of the
biscuit.

When I first started with biscuits, I cut open some joints to see just how
well it was bonded, under different conditions. It's not difficult (or
expensive) to quickly try a dozen variations on a single piece of scrap. I
tried different amounts of glue and how well it was spread. Found the right
amount of glue and such gives a solid joint with little squeeze-out. As
expected, found MDF, particle board and such absorbs more glue. You either
apply a bit more or, like when gluing end grain, put on a thin coat then add
more a few minutes later. Now, the reason for expounding on this: if you add
glue to the biscuit, you're then very limited on time, and I don't see any
advantage. I build carcasses with shelves and such that may need several dozen
biscuits applied at once. With clamps and all laid in position, I take a bag
of biscuits and a small rubber mallet. Each biscuit is pushed in, then 2
hammer taps, then the next. It makes for very neat and quick construction.

As to using the fence or the table as a reference, like everything else it
depends on the particular case. For instance, a small, flat board will be
easier with a base reference against the table, and the board itself may not
be large enough to securely set the fence. OTOH, a shelf or carcass with its
larger size may well be not exactly flat against the table, and a fence
reference will often workmuch better.

I think the biggest source of accumulated error when referencing off the
table is when slotting warped stock.
My point was that a sizeable sheet may be well flat enough for the project,
but still have enough gap to the table to produce an error. It's a matter of
paying close attention to the details. I've seen as many errors with the
fence, where the torque from starting the motor jars your hold on the fence
against the piece. Seen many people starting to plunge before starting the
joiner which makes this easy to happen.
GerryG
-Bruce

GerryG