Personally, I wouldn't use biscuits for such work, preferring something far more substantial (such as mortise and tenon joinery). But given the strength of modern glues it would probably work in a pinch. What you need is a 5/32" width slot cutter with a diameter of
I'm not sure exactly in what manner you're going to use the b joiner on the window frames, but you can also simply get a slot cutter and matching size material and make a spline joint. For instance 1/4" mdf and a 1/4"slot cutter with the proper glues will produce a pretty strong joint. This way you don't even have to match the biscuit size and you can buy a ton of spline stock with one sheet of mdf.
Will it be as strong as a mortise and tenon? Probably not, but still probably strong enough for a window frame properly installed.
I am wondering about using a biscuit joiner to make frames for the windows in my new house. I notice that I can get small "saw" blades for my router. Would these work for FF size biscuits? What thickness? 1/8"? I think I would rather set up the router table to do this than have to clamp down each piece of trim.
I'm with John, I don't think I would use biscuits for that use. I doubt if you want to use a router. Rent a real tool they are a pleasure to work with, I would hate to try and fuss with trying to make a router do the same job.
What fuss? He is talking about a router table. You can set the fence, set a stop, and slot a frame piece every 15 seconds or so. Only problem is he wants to use FF biscuits and this does O as the smallest.
I wouldn't use a biscuit joiner for the sashes, if that's what you are talking about. However, a good use of a biscuit joiner would be if you had mitered casings around the windows, a biscuit in the miters goes a long way toward keeping the miters tight. Our house was built in 1925, and there are biscuits in the mitered corners of the window casings. (Although back then they probably didn't have nice biscuit joiners like what we have these days.) Since it's an old house, many walls are sagging due to insufficient framing, making some of the windows and doors into parallelograms with about 1/2 inch of sag over the width of a window or door opening. Since the casings are biscuited, the miters are barely showing a crack even with that amount of sag.
Ken
Set up time and bother. The tool is easier and you can rent one for a small amount.
I can do the setup in five minutes. I can do a cut easily in 15 seconds. I'll be done by the time you get to the rental store. Total cost about $20 and I own the tool.
If you don't have a router table, I'll agree with you. It is not a job for a hand held router to do accurately. Ed
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