High-end biscuit joiner vs low-end

Just to stir up the pot a little bit.

I don't do enough biscuit work to justify the expense of a dedicated biscuit joiner.

Solution:

A router, a slot cutter bit, and a straight bit for "T" joints.

WFM

YMMV

Definitely a lot less money.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett
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So dedicate a slot cutter to one of your routers and test it out.

Might be surprised with the results.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

-Chef Juke "EVERYbody Eats when they come to MY house!"

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Reply to
Chef Juke

Fair enough...but my situation is....I *DO* expect to be doing more biscuit work in the not too distant future and would like to have a decent joiner to use for it. Like one of the earlier posters, I have a Ryobi that has been a bit frustrating in that it does not seem to be as accurate as I would like (and expected...seems like a repeatable 90 degree slot should be the main function of a BJ) and I have had to deal with some less than adequate joints because of it.

While I do have routers and a slot cutter bit might be able to create the slots needed, I don't think it will come near the ease of use of a decent biscuit joiner.

-Chef Juke "EVERYbody Eats when they come to MY house!"

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Reply to
Chef Juke

basis for comparison.

I really liked my Delta stationary (most probably don't know it existed) but I shared one with a colleague and he took it to Jackson, TN, when he moved. And it was discontinued long ago. It was not good for long stock, but for average length boards was more accurate and stable than the portables. To be really good, it needed the clamps to be both quick adjust and lever quick clamp. Rather than make that improvement, it was discontinued.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Boettcher

Is the Lamello that expensive? I bought a Makita (very happy with it, by the way, solid and accurate little machine) and found out a month later that I could've bought a Lamello at the same price (~$280 US),albeit on a special, at a different store. That was years ago, mind.

Festool, here, doesn't even start at twice that money.

-Peter

Reply to
Peter Huebner

Good for you.

1 - I reckon I'm nowhere near good enough with a router to do that; plus routers scare the shit out of me. 2 - I use the bisquit joiner a LOT. And once you get really used to the little beastie and develop procedures, it's just so damn fast, and safe with it ... put it down anywhere immediately you finish the cuts without thinkig about spinning bits. I like that ;-D

-P.

Reply to
Peter Huebner

Yes, 50 Hz.

-P.

Reply to
Peter Huebner

For the bare bones model it is cheap but IIRC several years ago the "regular" Lamello was north of $600.

Reply to
Leon

need a Plate Joiner over the router and slot cutter bit. Think shelves being attached to the sides of a cabinet.

Reply to
Leon

I was almost going to add that but regardless of the technology of the Plate joiner, you still have to use biscuits as the fastener. The Domino's are superior. Now if Lamello develops something better than the Domino, that would be a way to go.

Reply to
Leon

I am not going to guess at what Lamello is considering. It takes a particular kind of company to innovate, particularly in today's market. It must be fustrating for them. They were considered top of the line for so many years. And this upstart Festool comes along and just blows them out of the water in a catagory not known before.

If I was Lamello, I would be looking at alternatives to the generic biscut. And like you mentioned, I would target the Domino as the machine to compete with. If they came up with a machine that could do a little more than the domino at a good price point, that would a good start.

One problem with trying to compete with Festool is that they don't just make one tool. They have a whole family of tools. And that family just gets bigger and bigger. And we all know how hard it is to compete with families.

Soooooo....., even if Lamello did make a good alternative to a biscut joiner, a lot of folks would end up going with Festool because of their complete line. After all, when you get to this level, you aren't just competeing on price anymore. (Besides, they wouldn't have a systainer!)

Reply to
Lee Michaels

Festool has been around since 1925, Lamello 1944, I think Festool is due. ;~)

Reply to
Leon

On Jun 2, 3:56 pm, "Dave in Houston" wrote: > > have gotten the high- end tool. Or maybe I just feel bad for spending > > that much money? Sigh. > $700-800 Festool or a $700-800 Lamello. > > Dave in Houston

I bought one from HFT for $30 or so - or maybe it was from one of thse traveling tool sale things.

Its basically a 4.5: grinder with a biscuit tool thing out of plastic. In theory, it does the job. In practice, I find it cuts a wider slot than the Porter Cable biscuits and can take two of the cheap biscuits that came with it. Hence, it does not help with the alignment of the piece as I'd hoped.

Not sure if the blade has too large a kerf or the blade is eccentric and wobbles. I am looking for a replacement blade with a thinner kerf. One of these days I may buy a higher-end machine and try it - but for now (and the past five years or so) I'll make do. (Or doo doo)

Reply to
Hoosierpopi

2" blade for the smaller face frame biscuits. The DeWalt DW682 has the 4" blade only.
Reply to
Nova

The straight bit solves that problem.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Sounds like a personal problem to me.

No question about it, unless you dedicate a router /w/ a slot cutter to a set-up, it can be a PITA to set up for a couple of biscuits.

It becomes a matter of convenience.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

I bought the Dewalt about 2 months ago. I've used it twice so far to cut a dozen slots. It seems to be a solid, well made tool. The settings make sense and are easy to understand.

The first time I used it was for a face frame. I had some trouble with the slots being aligned. I ended up measuring them and found they were off by about 1mm. I did use the same reference face by the way. I recut the slots with more attention to how I was holding the tool and managed to get them aligned OK.

The second time I used it was for edge banding around a plywood top. The edge banding was around 2 1/4" wide. This time I did a lot better but still had 1 slot that didn't align quite right. After a lot of measuring it turned out that the slot was fine but the piece had managed to warp itself overnight.

I probably need some more experience with the tool in order to judge consistency. I don't have a proper bench yet so I had to adapt a bit. I didn't use the top handle of the tool. Instead I used my free hand to hold the fence down onto the work... I also noticed that it's fairly easy to tilt the tool after you place it on the piece you're cutting. This causes the blade to cut at an angle and then the biscuit doesn't align right. Trying different biscuits in the same slots also seems to make a difference.

I could really use some tips on getting slots cut correctly the first time.

Reply to
dayvo

I can warn you of one problem that most every one experiences. If cutting slots in the edge or end of a board "do not" use the surface of the bench as the reference for the plate joiner if your good surface is not on the up side. Use the fence on the tool for reference and be sure that the material being cut overhangs the end of the work bench so that the plate joiner dies not accidentally come in contact with bench top.

Reply to
Leon

Why? I don't see what the problem would be.

-dickm

Reply to
dicko

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