Following on from an earlier message thread, can anyone recommend a
good biscuit jointer?

For the task in hand, I just need to be able to joint boards edge to
edge which means I think all I need is a jointer that will reliable cut
a slot that is
- parallel to the top surface (or square to the edge)
- a consistent distance from the top surface

Any other features that are likely to be of use?
Any features that just get in the way and waste money?
Best value for money?

Martin Bonner wrote:
Following on from an earlier message thread, can anyone recommend a
good biscuit jointer?

For the task in hand, I just need to be able to joint boards edge to
edge which means I think all I need is a jointer that will reliable
cut a slot that is
- parallel to the top surface (or square to the edge)
- a consistent distance from the top surface

Any other features that are likely to be of use?
Any features that just get in the way and waste money?
Best value for money?

I bought a Ferm one from Screwfix about 18 month ago. Don't use it that
much TBH but it seems fine to me - similar aplication to yours.


--
Dave
The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

On 2006-10-27 22:13:34 +0100, "Martin Bonner" said:

Following on from an earlier message thread, can anyone recommend a
good biscuit jointer?

For the task in hand, I just need to be able to joint boards edge to
edge which means I think all I need is a jointer that will reliable cut
a slot that is
- parallel to the top surface (or square to the edge)
- a consistent distance from the top surface

Any other features that are likely to be of use?
Any features that just get in the way and waste money?
Best value for money?

What kind of price point do you have in mind?

Lamello arguably make the best biscuit jointers on the market and
invented the technology originally. Their products are precise and a
delight to use, but they are not low in price.

Makita and Bosch make good products in the £150-200 range. At one
point I had a DeWalt in this price range and returned it because of a
design fault associated with one of the settings.

There are then a few in the £80-100 range such as the Axminster one and
finally the outlet own brand ones such as Draper, Clark, Erbauer etc.
in the £45-55 range.

You make the point that for edge jointing to get vertical alignment
accurate, consistency, parallelism are important, and this is true.
The high end jointers are precision made and have features such as fine
blade height adjustment, soft start to reduce the tool jerking, a means
to prevent it sliding sideways on starting and running, click stop
adjustments for the typical angles used and so on.

So for example, you can take a Lamello out of its box, set it to the
same click stop settings as the last use and it will be consistently
right to a fraction of a millimetre.

Some of these features won't be present on the £80 - midrange machines
but they can certainly do a good job. Typically more set-up time and
trial cuts are needed and one has to hold the tool very firmly in some
cases to avoid it moving undesirably.

If you only think you are going to want to do edge jointing, then there
is not a lot of criticality in terms of the jointer moving horizontally
during operation, so even one of the entry level jointers should do the
job. It would be a case of taking time and care and regularly checking
the settings during a jointing session.

If you anticipate wanting to joint boxes and the like and especially
items at an angle, then it is worth investing in something better than
entry level in order to get consistency, ease of use and time taken.

Certainly it's worth going to a specialist tool store if you can to
make some comparisons.

The Medway Handyman wrote:

I bought a Ferm one from Screwfix about 18 month ago. Don't use it that
much TBH but it seems fine to me - similar aplication to yours.

I also bought a Ferm one for occational use. Had to send the first one
back because the cut was not parallel to the edge of the board. The
second one is better, but you need to take care when tightening the
fence otherwise you can still pull it out of square. On the plus side it
is reasonably adjustable in both fence angle and height.

So all in all it is at best "OK". Although If I were buying another, I
would get a better one.

--
Cheers,

John.

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On 2006-10-28 10:32:09 +0100, John Rumm said:

The Medway Handyman wrote:

I bought a Ferm one from Screwfix about 18 month ago. Don't use it
that much TBH but it seems fine to me - similar aplication to yours.

I also bought a Ferm one for occational use. Had to send the first one
back because the cut was not parallel to the edge of the board. The
second one is better, but you need to take care when tightening the
fence otherwise you can still pull it out of square. On the plus side
it is reasonably adjustable in both fence angle and height.

So all in all it is at best "OK". Although If I were buying another, I
would get a better one.

Certainly there isn't quite the contrast between entry level and mid
price/high end as there is with jigsaws in that a reasonable job can be
done with an entry level biscuit jointer given care over setups and
testing of these and then holding the tool very firmly. The main
benefits of the better ones are ease and speed of use and repeatability
using the settings rather than the need to do so many test cuts.

Andy Hall wrote:

Certainly there isn't quite the contrast between entry level and mid
price/high end as there is with jigsaws in that a reasonable job can be
done with an entry level biscuit jointer given care over setups and
testing of these and then holding the tool very firmly. The main
benefits of the better ones are ease and speed of use and repeatability
using the settings rather than the need to do so many test cuts.

For edge jointing I find you can do away with any test cuts so long as
you cut both matching slots at the same time. The Ferm one has
reasonable control over the offset from the edge of a board using the
fence, and the fence stays in place once set. However there are no
presets on the fence setting, so going back to a previous depth is not
as easy[1]. For other jointing operations it would be better with decent
pre-sets.

Latteral positioning on it works well though - it is easy to align with
you cut line, and does not tend to slip sideways.

[1] If you need to mimic an existing cut depth for edge jointing
purposes, the quickest way is to plunge the blade (with the machine
*off*), and insert the blade into the cut slot. Now wind down the fence
to meet the top surface of the wood and lock in place.

--
Cheers,

John.

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| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
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