Suggestion for Joiner?

I like the Porter Cable. The Ryobi springs seemed a bit tight for me. And the ergonomics were not what I liked.

So, anyone with any thoughts as to other preferences? Did Milwaukee make one?

The Craftsman looks ok too.

Thanks in advance.

Reply to
EC II
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For affordable the PC has been the front runner. Up from there is the Lamelo considered the Cadillac or the Festool Domino to step it up a couple of notches.

Reply to
Leon

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

I'll second this. First time I cranked it up, I thought it was broken, it was grinding so much. The thing that bothers me most is that since I use it lefthanded, the motor fan blows the sawdust up, directly into my face. That being said, the only step ups I would consider would be a Lamelo ($$$WOW$$$) or a Festool Domino. If I went the domino route, I doubt I'd even get rid of the DeWalt since they are different animals.

Reply to
Joe

I have the Porter Cable. I found an adapter for the dust outlet and I use a small Ridgid shop vac that does a *fine* job. It's no Lamelleo but then I don't use it enough to justify the cost of the Lamello.

Max

Reply to
Max

I'll second that. I use a PC 39332 vac hose on my 557. It's much smaller in diameter than my regular vac hose and is much easier to move around with. Art

Reply to
Artemus

I have an older DeWalt but it looks pretty much like the newer ones, Been very satisfied,

RonB

Reply to
RonB

I guess you mean biscuit or plate Joiner. I have a Dewalt. It looks nice but I don't like it. Really stiff, noisey and just sounds bad like grinding metal. I've almost sold it a time or two via craigs or eBay but feel guilty. I use it so infrequently that I just keep keeping it.

--------------------------------------- Never bothered to get a biscuit joiner, just use a slot cutter and a straight bit of the proper size in a basic router.

Works for me and saves a few $$$..

YMMV

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Same with my PC. It sounds like a coffee grinder full of 1/4-20 nuts. For the $230 I spent on it, I'm certainly not impressed with either the quality of the machine or its operation.

Reply to
keithw86

I have had a PC 556 plate joiner since 1989, and have had the Type 1 PC 557 plate joiner for at least 10 years... I kept the old one to make odd cuts that you may not want to make with my newer unit. Now that I have a Domino I may get rid of the oldest one and hang on to the 557 for those odd jobs. A cool use for any plate joiner is to cut mortises for drawer "lock arms" to engage. Because the lock arm moves in an arc to engage the mortise the arc mortise that the plate joiner makes works well.

Reply to
Leon

Funny, I have a DeWalt too but never use it. I also feel like selling it all the time but never do. It sounds much better if you hook it up to a shop vac. All plate joiners I've tried have the same motor/gear grinding noise.

I've had the PC, Lamello and DeWalt but never got decent results with any of them. There's often a difference in the slot location so the joints don't line up perfectly. A slot cutter in the router table always works and is always aligned. I've taken to using splines instead of biscuits whenever I can. The downside to the router table is less versatility and no portability.

I tried using dominoes at work but they kept breaking. I'm convinced it's the machine and not the employees. I invested in 2 horizontal mortisers and solved that problem.

Reply to
Dayvo

Really? I'd be *very* interested in your opinion of why the results with the Lamelo weren't any better than those of the (generally accepted) lower quality units.

Reply to
Joe

On Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:37:24 -0800 (PST), the infamous " snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com" scrawled the following:

Hey, that's what my $24 HF bisquicker sounds like. I should throw some thrust washers in there to take up the slack. If I let off the throttle while the cutter is engaged, it makes a wider slot and the biscuits don't fit as well.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

---------------------------------------

IOW it's a typical POS from HF.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

Or PC anymore, evidently. :-(

Reply to
krw

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