"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

On Tuesday, September 2, 2014 11:45:56 AM UTC+1, James Harris wrote:
"robgraham" wrote in message

I have a Ferm one that was bought on offer at Screwfix several years ago and, for the limited use it gets, it's been fine.

I think there are only very limited circumstances where selling a kidney to buy a Lamello would be the sensible course of action.

On 03/09/2014 10:03, mike wrote:
On Tuesday, September 2, 2014 11:45:56 AM UTC+1, James Harris wrote:
"robgraham" wrote in message

I have a Ferm one that was bought on offer at Screwfix several years
ago and, for the limited use it gets, it's been fine.

I sent my first one back as it was impossible to get the blade parallel
to the fence. The second one I can get it parallel, but you need to lock
down one side while holding the fence in position, and then lock the
other - so its not as quick or repeatable as it should be.

I think there are only very limited circumstances where selling a
kidney to buy a Lamello would be the sensible course of action.



--
Cheers,

John.

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

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 03/09/2014 10:03, mike wrote:
On Tuesday, September 2, 2014 11:45:56 AM UTC+1, James Harris wrote:
"robgraham" wrote in message

I have a Ferm one that was bought on offer at Screwfix several years
ago and, for the limited use it gets, it's been fine.

I sent my first one back as it was impossible to get the blade parallel to
the fence. The second one I can get it parallel, but you need to lock down
one side while holding the fence in position, and then lock the other - so
its not as quick or repeatable as it should be.

I've seen similar comments. Buying a biscuit jointer seems a bit of a
nightmare. The good ones are way too expensive for the use I would get from
it. The affordable ones just don't seem to be manufactured very well, either
having uncorrectable faults or needing a lot of careful manual adjustment.

One customer comment on this Silverline unit seems excellent where the user
explains his adjustments.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/silverli...w/212-2600.prd

Incidentally, at £33.50 its the cheapest I have seen to be available and the
same price is available from Amazon.

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

If I were going to buy one of those I would buy from Amazon. IME if you have
to take something back Tesco's so-called "customer services" can be
extremely unhelpful whereas Amazon's response to issues has always been
excellent.

You can tell that Tesco have little idea about what makes a good tool when,
in order to describe it the web site says:

"This 900W biscuit jointer from Silverline is a blue and black biscuit
jointer...."

Ah, a blue and black one....

James

On 04/09/2014 08:07, James Harris wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 03/09/2014 10:03, mike wrote:
On Tuesday, September 2, 2014 11:45:56 AM UTC+1, James Harris wrote:
"robgraham" wrote in message

I have a Ferm one that was bought on offer at Screwfix several years
ago and, for the limited use it gets, it's been fine.

I sent my first one back as it was impossible to get the blade parallel to
the fence. The second one I can get it parallel, but you need to lock down
one side while holding the fence in position, and then lock the other - so
its not as quick or repeatable as it should be.

I've seen similar comments. Buying a biscuit jointer seems a bit of a
nightmare. The good ones are way too expensive for the use I would get from
it. The affordable ones just don't seem to be manufactured very well, either
having uncorrectable faults or needing a lot of careful manual adjustment.

Such is the problem with budget power tools in general. However for
many (sanders, drills etc), some slight sloppiness in manufacture /
quality control etc does not render the end result unusable - just less
pleasant to use than a "better" one.

However when tools need precision to work properly (e.g. biscuit
jointers, routers etc[1]) there comes a point where there is only
limited value in the cheap ones.

[1] I would also include jigsaws in there, but most people have such low
expectations of what a jigsaw should be able to do, they don't
appreciate just how crap most of the budget ones are!


You can tell that Tesco have little idea about what makes a good tool when,
in order to describe it the web site says:

"This 900W biscuit jointer from Silverline is a blue and black biscuit
jointer...."

Ah, a blue and black one....

Oh, now they are getting technical ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

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

On Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:35:42 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

You can tell that Tesco have little idea about what makes a good tool when,
in order to describe it the web site says:

"This 900W biscuit jointer from Silverline is a blue and black biscuit
jointer...."

Ah, a blue and black one....

Oh, now they are getting technical ;-)

It's to mirror the colours of the user after things go badly wrong...
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway