Try not to spray your screen at about 5:42 into the video.
I wonder if he has yet noticed that his results are an inherent result of using the work bench surface for indexing the plate joiner?
And finally, show that guy a band clamp!
That's Hank Metz ... He used to participate this group a long time ago. I wonder what's happen to him.
Also, these videos are ancient - Plate joiners were fairly new then.
I don't recall was that before the late 90's?
Apparently that video was updated on 2010. I bought my first plate joiner in 1990, the only ones that I could find was either the relatively expensive Lamello and the PC 556 belt driven plate joiner. I bought the belt driven PC. Ryobi IIRC was next to come out with one and then all the others followed.
Regardless of age, the technique was totally wrong which resulted in the joint between the bottom rail and stile being off by a what appears
1/16". The biggest problems with the early plate joiners was setting the fence depth. He left his off and instead of indexing off of the fence depth stop used the bottom of the joiner against the bench surface. IIRC it was the PC 557 and or the DeWalt that first addressed that issue so that the fence could be used more accurately.
I don't recall was that before the late 90's?
Apparently that video was updated on 2010. I bought my first plate joiner in 1990, the only ones that I could find was either the relatively expensive Lamello and the PC 556 belt driven plate joiner. I bought the belt driven PC. Ryobi IIRC was next to come out with one and then all the others followed.
Regardless of age, the technique was totally wrong which resulted in the joint between the bottom rail and stile being off by a what appears
1/16". The biggest problems with the early plate joiners was setting the fence depth. He left his off and instead of indexing off of the fence depth stop used the bottom of the joiner against the bench surface. IIRC it was the PC 557 and or the DeWalt that first addressed that issue so that the fence could be used more accurately. ============================================================================ The biscuit joiner is one of those tools that I wish I had just saved the money. Good for reinforcing miter joints but little else. And yes, using the fence is the better way to go.
Actually, I've successfully indexed off the bottom rather than the fence by placing the joiner and work on a large, flat piece of MDF. This also allows me to offset a joint (as in making a reveal with an apron joined to a leg) by using flat "shims" or spacers under the joiner without changing any of the settings.
I also used this technique with my Festool Domino.
I use my workbench all probably 85-90% of the time to index against my plate joiner & workpiece and never have had any issues. In fact I have a few fixtures and clamps made specially to assist in holding and aligning the work while I cut the slots. What is the problem with using the work surface if it's flat & the work is flat too? problem supposed to be?
Well you have devised safe guards, clamps made specially to assist in holding and alignment. And you must insure that no debris ever gets under the work piece or the joiner. If you use the fence depth stop you don't need clamps an ant debris is easily noticed.
Absolutely doable but more prone to error if there is any debris under either the joiner or the work. Or if the work is not perfectly flat. It is just not the best way to index.
You can also easily produce those offsets by placing the shims between the work and the joiner fence depth stop also.
I have probably cut seven to eight thousand mortises with my Domino, on my third case of replacement tenons. I have not yet indexed off the bottom of the joiner, I quite doing that when I upgraded my PC 556 plate joiner to the PC 557 plate joiner. The whole purpose of the fence depth stop is so that you don't have to use the bottom of the tool as the reference.
And just as a follow up, you should easily see the problem with indexing off the work surface in the video. The joints were not properly aligned. Too many possibilities for alignment problems , use the fence depth stop and you reduce the possibility of face misalignment.
Because the face is placed down on the work surface you have to lay out the frame backwards and upside down to make your index marks. If you use the fence depth stop you can lay everything out as it is going to appear when assembled before placing the marks. I greatly reduced marking errors and reduced alignment problems when I quit using the work surface for indexing.
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