Dale, that was a thorough and well written response on biscuit joiners.
--
Larry Martin
Woodworking for the Blind
--joining the world of blind wood workers
-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Dale Leavens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Max, it wasn't a router he was using although there are router bits for
> cutting biscuit slots, he was using a specific tool called a biscuit joiner
> or also called a plate joiner.
>
> You purchase the biscuits which are actually elongated ovals made of dry and
> compressed beach wood. They swell when glue is applied. They come in about
> four sizes.
>
> The biscuit does fit or should fit pretty well half way into the slot on one
> side how ever it might have looked to you. As for strength, dowels and
> biscuits are not primarily for strengthening although they do that. The
> primary function is to align the joint in most applications. Dowels suffer
> from the direction of the grain which is usually across the grain of the
> mating surfaces and glue more firmly attaches in the long direction of the
> grain. The other main disadvantage of dowels is that accuracy is absolutely
> critical, not only must the holes align absolutely directly but they must be
> absolutely in line. Biscuit joinery allows for a little error.
>
> The plate joiner has a carbide tipped blade which is on a spring loaded
> travel. There is a fence, these vary from machine to machine but you can set
> the fence a particular distance from the slot through which the blade will
> protrude and will be parallel to the slot. Most will allow the fence to be
> tilted in both directions to allow you to cut slots in mitered assemblies
> and other angled fixation of differing angles. You can index off the fence
> or index off the bottom flat surface of the joiner.
>
> You then set the fence on the face of a board and bring the face with the
> slot tight against the edge of the board holding it there using a handle
> built for that purpose then turn on the machine and using the other hand you
> force the cutter through the slot and into the edge against the springs
> which plunges the blade into the edge of the board. Release so it runs back
> out with the spring assist then release the trigger so it shuts off.
>
> When I built my work bench I made up a frame rather like the shape of angle
> iron using three quarters plywood one edge to the face of the other and
> joined those with biscuits. I then mitered the corners and joined them with
> biscuits and clamped them up square. I might have used screws but I never
> would have got the corners strong that way and doweling the edges of plywood
> isn't all that satisfactory or probably reliable.
>
> when the biscuits get wet with glue not only does the glue bond but they
> swell and actually if you don't work fairly quickly they can be very
> difficult to set. This can be a disat\dvantage, Norm has mentioned on a
> couple of shows that biscuits set too close to the surface can cause slight
> dimpling to telegraph through the surface as the glue ages and I suppose the
> wood responds to changes in environmental moisture. On a very smooth finish
> this can be visible. So far I haven't noticed this.
>
> There is a new unit out there, called a domino joiner I believe, cuts a more
> rectangular hole and uses rectangular biscuits and an oscilating cutting
> action. These work more like floating mortise & tennon joints. I am not
> otherwise sure of the advantages, if they index easily enough I suppose you
> could use them to join rails & styles without cutting proper mortise & tenon
> joints. The biscuit joiners are plenty expensive but these domino joiners
> are really a lot more costly.
>
> Generally the correct term is Jointer. The machine is also sometimes called
> a planer but more usually that refers to a device for thicknessing the face
> of wood or for the hand held planers more usually with a 3 inch wide cutter
> head intended primarily for removing stock like the edge of a door. Joiner
> is sometimes used to refer to a jointer and I hear it more commonly used
> these days but the manufacturers still seem to refer to them as jointers.
>
> Hope this helps clear things up for you.
>
>
>
> Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Skype DaleLeavens
> Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Max Robinson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Blind Handyman" <[email protected]>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 11:36 PM
> Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Yankee workshop and questions.
>
>
> >I have watched only one episode of the Yankee workshop and already I have
> > questions.
> >
> > He did a bisket joint. They didn't show him making the bisket. Do you
> > buy
> > them pre made? It was elliptical in shape which seems hard to make. He
> > made the cutout with a plunge router which looked like he was making a
> > basically rectangular shaped cutout. When he dropped the bisket into the
> > cutout it didn't fit at all tight. Also it went in more than half the
> > width
> > of the bisket. There was just a little peaking out. All in all this
> > doesn't seem like a very strong joint. In an infomercial I saw someone
> > making a dowel joint. It seems to me to be a much stronger joint. How
> > does
> > a bisket joint compare to a dowel joint. Also I'm not sure but I think he
> > was using some kind of guide to keep the router in the center of the edge
> > of
> > the board. If there is such a thing, what is it called?
> >
> > Also a pronunciation question. Dale and I had a conversation the other
> > night on FTP about a jointer. The yankee used one on the show but he
> > pronounced it joiner. Which is correct? Does it depend on where you come
> > from?
> >
> > Regards.
> >
> > Max. K 4 O D S.
> >
> > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> > Transistor site http://www.funwithtransistors.net
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> >
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> >
> >
> > To listen to the show archives go to link
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> > or
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> >
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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