Mounted biscuit jointer

[JR]

I just bought a DeWalt buscuit joiner to do some corner joints in drawers.

Never having used one before, I found the process a bit awkward trying to hold the jointer just right and hold or clamp down the material.

I noticed that there was a hole on either side of the jointer sole plate. Using them, I fastened the jointer to a piece of plywood which I fastened to my bench. I then screwed a piece of 1x to the board in front of and to the side of the jointer to use as a fence. As this fence was aligned to center the material to the jointer face, I was able to cut all of the biscuit slots for 3 drawers without center marks. For 3 deeper drawers, I moved the fence and cut them the same way.

Is this a common (or even a proper) way to use a biscuit jointer? I didn't see any reference to it in the manual and I don't know enough about other folks' methods of work to have heard of this before.

The big question, is there anything potentially dangerous about using a biscuit jointer that way?

-JR

[George M. Kazaka]

Jr It just takes a little practice to hold the biscuit cutter and use the machine after a while you will get the hang of it practice when you can on some scrap pieces

What you did is okay and is no way a safety problem, actually it is better for small pieces but when you have some big piece to use you will find the conventional method a bit easier

[nospam]

my biscuit jointer is an early freud. it doesn't have mounting holes like yours does, but I made a table fixture for it where the body of the jointer is wedged in place. it definitely helps for repeatability and production efficiency to be able to use stops instead of measuring, marking, line up the cutter...

no problem with safety. as always be aware of what direction the tool wants to push the wood and make sure your stops are on that side. if you can't do that, clamp.

Bridger

[David Babcock]

While using a biscuit cutter can be awkward at times, like most things the more you use it the easier it becomes. When possible I will take the extra time to clamp the piece that I am working on, although some larger pieces a near impossible to clamp. When that happens I try to do a couple things, I put a holding pad under the piece (actually I use the stuff used to hold rugs in place on a hardwood floor, it works better than the pad you buy at woodworking stores), and try to lean it against something that won't move. ie: the wall, a cabinet, even the floor at times. You might also try using a bench hook, if you can still find them, or make one to suit your needs. I have a couple made up of 2x4's and a 1x12x4 ft piece of pine. It holds the wood in place enough to cut biscuits.

Dave