Following on from an earlier message thread, can anyone recommend a good biscuit jointer?
For the task in hand, I just need to be able to joint boards edge to edge which means I think all I need is a jointer that will reliable cut a slot that is
- parallel to the top surface (or square to the edge)
- a consistent distance from the top surface
Any other features that are likely to be of use? Any features that just get in the way and waste money? Best value for money?
I bought a Ferm one from Screwfix about 18 month ago. Don't use it that much TBH but it seems fine to me - similar aplication to yours.
What kind of price point do you have in mind?
Lamello arguably make the best biscuit jointers on the market and invented the technology originally. Their products are precise and a delight to use, but they are not low in price.
Makita and Bosch make good products in the £150-200 range. At one point I had a DeWalt in this price range and returned it because of a design fault associated with one of the settings.
There are then a few in the £80-100 range such as the Axminster one and finally the outlet own brand ones such as Draper, Clark, Erbauer etc. in the £45-55 range.
You make the point that for edge jointing to get vertical alignment accurate, consistency, parallelism are important, and this is true. The high end jointers are precision made and have features such as fine blade height adjustment, soft start to reduce the tool jerking, a means to prevent it sliding sideways on starting and running, click stop adjustments for the typical angles used and so on.
So for example, you can take a Lamello out of its box, set it to the same click stop settings as the last use and it will be consistently right to a fraction of a millimetre.
Some of these features won't be present on the £80 - midrange machines but they can certainly do a good job. Typically more set-up time and trial cuts are needed and one has to hold the tool very firmly in some cases to avoid it moving undesirably.
If you only think you are going to want to do edge jointing, then there is not a lot of criticality in terms of the jointer moving horizontally during operation, so even one of the entry level jointers should do the job. It would be a case of taking time and care and regularly checking the settings during a jointing session.
If you anticipate wanting to joint boxes and the like and especially items at an angle, then it is worth investing in something better than entry level in order to get consistency, ease of use and time taken.
Certainly it's worth going to a specialist tool store if you can to make some comparisons.
I also bought a Ferm one for occational use. Had to send the first one back because the cut was not parallel to the edge of the board. The second one is better, but you need to take care when tightening the fence otherwise you can still pull it out of square. On the plus side it is reasonably adjustable in both fence angle and height.
So all in all it is at best "OK". Although If I were buying another, I would get a better one.
Certainly there isn't quite the contrast between entry level and mid price/high end as there is with jigsaws in that a reasonable job can be done with an entry level biscuit jointer given care over setups and testing of these and then holding the tool very firmly. The main benefits of the better ones are ease and speed of use and repeatability using the settings rather than the need to do so many test cuts.
For edge jointing I find you can do away with any test cuts so long as you cut both matching slots at the same time. The Ferm one has reasonable control over the offset from the edge of a board using the fence, and the fence stays in place once set. However there are no presets on the fence setting, so going back to a previous depth is not as easy[1]. For other jointing operations it would be better with decent pre-sets.
Latteral positioning on it works well though - it is easy to align with you cut line, and does not tend to slip sideways.
[1] If you need to mimic an existing cut depth for edge jointing purposes, the quickest way is to plunge the blade (with the machine *off*), and insert the blade into the cut slot. Now wind down the fence to meet the top surface of the wood and lock in place.HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.