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Biscuit joiners

Porter-Cable or Dewalt, Lamello is out of the question?

What say the wizards of woodworking?

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk
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I went with the Porter-Cable 557 as it comes with the 2" blade allowing use of the "FF" biscuits.

Reply to
Nova

DeWalt is acceptable, the PC just a tad nicer and can take the FF biscuit. I had my DeWalt stolen and just replaced it with a PC, but I've not used it yet.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I bought a Lamello (Now called the Top) in the '80's as there was nothing else around at that time. That one was stolen. Later I ended up with a PC 557 (Type3) and a Lamello Classic. I have used other ones and they all do the job to a certain extent. Awesome as the Lamello is, it just isn't worth the money as the PC 557 is all *I* ever needed. I did not like the ELU or the DeWalt (don't know anything about the latest incarnation), the Craftsman and Ryobi and many HF-like are usually sloppy in the cradle, awful motors, inferior blades and noisy. So... after all that, buy the PC, you'll be happy.

Reply to
Robatoy

-------------------------------------- I started with a slot cutter and my router and just never got around to getting a biscuit joiner.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Butt joints in the middle of a panel are a bit more difficult. Edge to edge, no prob.... but then you might as well run a full spline.

Reply to
Robatoy

I'm no wizard but I vote for the PC 557.

Max

Reply to
Max

----- Original Message -----

You might consider going to the Festool Owners Group and advertise in the classified section for a used biscuit joiner. The people who have bought a Domino will have no more use for their biscuit joiners. You'd get a good price on a joiner and might even snag a Lamello. Who knows?

I've got a Freud joiner and a box of 2000 biscuits. I'll be selling them off

Reply to
Upscale

I considered a domino as well and it would be a good purchase for me, but I have outstripped my tool budget and have to concentrate on making a few bucks before I go down that road.

I hadn't considered your suggestion but it makes sense, I'll look into the forums and see if anything comes up.

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk

That was my first choice as well, PC it is.

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk

Thanks,

I'm going to go with the PC.

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk

I was talking to a guy at woodcraft who does a combination. He routes a full length groove and spaces out biscuits in the groove.

Reply to
-MIKE-

In news: snipped-for-privacy@40tude.net, basilisk spewed forth:

I have both, but i like my PC better because it has an additional plastic plate that allows you to stack(double) biscuit without changing yer settings Pretty handy

Reply to
ChairMan

Works fine for me. On the other hand if you really need small biscuits Ryobi used to make one for biscuits about half the size of an FF. I think I got one of the last ones a few years back though.

Reply to
J. Clarke

I find that a PITA. Take the board (shelf?) clamp it on the gable and up/down the biscuit cutter. Never fails, fast. By the time you change bits, I'm done. Yes you CAN do it with a router, but the room for error multiplies by a factor of eleventeen.

Reply to
Robatoy

I bought one from HFT or similar outlet. Cheap model. The kerf of the blade (thickness of cut) seems too wide and biscuits do not fit tightly into the slots as (I) expected.

Are they supposed to fit tightly into the biscuit slots? Or are they supposed to swell up after gluing?

If I took the blade to a sharpener fellow, might he reduce the kerf by grinding down the teeth?

Reply to
Hoosierpopi

Yeah, you could have that done. Also, look at the play in the shaft which allows the blade to move up and down. Shimming with very thin washers is the fix. I should do that to mine HF bisquicker, too.

-- You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.? -- Ronald Reagan

Reply to
Larry Jaques

I have the DeWalt. It came out long ago when Porter Cable had its original biscuit joiner that Norm used. The one with the upright handle in back. After the DeWalt ate PC's lunch in biscuit joiners, PC decided to copy everything about the DeWalt joiner. And finally came out with the 557 model. Based on pictures it appears as if the PC 557 is a good biscuit joiner. And it should be since its a 100% copy of the very good DeWalt biscuit joiner.

If I had to do it over again, I might not get a biscuit joiner. I use it sometimes and its handy sometimes. But I could live without it. With the Festool Domino out, I'd look at it. Its about 4 times more expensive than a good biscuit joiner, but might be 4 times more useful too.

Reply to
russellseaton1

I have had a DeWalt for 10 years or more. Good machine

Reply to
RonB

Thanks,

I've already ordered the PC, seems the consensus is that the PC is a good machine, the tipping point for me was the ability to use the ff biscuit out of the box.

Have you used your PB series planer yet? I purchased one of these as well, still sitting in the crate on my porch :(

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk

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