I'm going to be putting together a benchtop in the next few weeks and am wondering if it's worthwhile using biscuits. It seems to me that this would keep everything aligned a bit better. Maybe cut down on the flattening time. Or is this just wishfull thinking.
Buster
I bought a Makita years ago because I used them quite a bit. I still ended up doing a bunch of sanding to get things perfectly flush. For the past two years, it gathers dust because I started to edge glue only. With those two years behind the furniture I glued that way, there has been no issues. I'm done with the biscuit joiner.
D> I'm going to be putting together a benchtop in the next few weeks and am
If you start with face jointed wood and a decent biscuit joiner, you will wind up with a perfectly flat surface.
If you don't face joint the wood you will have some unevenness; but it will still be better than you could do without biscuits.
Not wishful thinking at all.
I us the PC biscuit joiner. Seems to work fairly well but generic blades don't seem to fit quite right. It has improved my edge glue ups quite a bit. Basically all it does is keep the edges from slides as you probably already know. You can also do this simply with nails cut off at an angle (but then watch out when you cut the top). Also, you can clamp the ends of the boards to keep them from sliding and just have to align the middle. However, after the expense, in general the biscuit joiner has worked best and easiest for alignmnet for me BUT not all joiners are created equal. The lamello is of course the best also the most $$$. The PC has usually gotten a good review.
MMBR
It does help. If cut too close to the surface, biscuits can swell, raise the wood, and create a slight bump.
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