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plate jointers

3124 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Woodnut65
I just got my PC 577 jointer yesterday. S-W-T! I also have a book from the library on plate jointers. My question is- Is there a situation where a bisquit joint is not suitable? I now box joints and dovetails look nice, but if were something you wouldn't see, couldn't you plate join everything?

I was really impressed with the demonstrations in the book on how strong the joints are. the wood is more likely to break before the bisquit joint breaks.

Thanks!

(also, is the Lamellow glue bottle -the dosicol- worth the money? or is there something just as good for cheaper?)

Bret
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Check pricecutter.com or woodworker supply for their version of the biscuit glue bottle. The Glu-bot works well with the wide tip as well.

Biscuit joints are good for a lot of applications, but anything that is subject to a lot of stress like a chair would be better served with traditional jointery.

I always register my biscuit joints in panels or edge banding with the face side down, so any minute differences in stock thickness are on the back or bottom sides. Just a quick tip you would probably pick up on in no time. Also, adapting to a shop vac is worth it if you're going to be doing a lot of joints at one time, but the bag works for little jobs. Last, don't buy more biscuits than you can reallisically use in a short time. The 1000 biscuit deal can be a waste if you loose a bunch because they swell up in storage.

Great tool, I love mine and am sure you'll love yours as well.
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I bought a freud plate cutter I just got a 1000 #20 biscuts and yes I'm going to keep them in a nice dry place if you want to get a small plastic tote for your biscuts the best price I've found for them was at Mcfeely's 22.00 for a 1000. I going to use mine mostly for table tops they aren't really made for heavy load bearing projects such as Doug said. And yes I also got a book from the woodworkers book club because I'm a newby at biscuts also.
Plate Jointers

Guys;

If your biscuits swell with moisture, a few seconds in a microwave oven brings them back to size quick.
I buy my biscuits by the thousand. Usually there are 4 sealed bags in the box. I transfer them (still in the sealed bags) into coffee cans. I only open and use from one at a time.

I think in a perfect world, a couple of biscuits per joint in a chair would work. It's the rocking that happens when people are pushing out from a table is when the joints break. I think dowels or MT joints are stronger in those cases.
Okay, thanks guys!!

As far as the swelling from moisture goes, I was going to keep them in Ziploc bags. I was also going to make up little sachels of women's nylons containing desicant, and slip them into the bags, as well. I at some point, also plan to conduct a little experiement, by wetting a biscuit and then placing it in a bag of desicant (measureing before wet, when wet, and after being in a container with the desicant).

I used to dry mushrooms by placing desicant on the bottom of a container, setting a food steamer insert above it (so the mushrooms didn't touch the desicant), placing the mushrooms in and sealing it up. Within 2 days, mushroom are completely dried. I'm thinking this will probably work with biscuits, too, without ruining their structural integrity.

Thanks again for the help!
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Hi: I have lamello dosicol and minicol glue bottle I bought years ago when I bought the Lamello joiner. If you do alot of biscuits it is worth it. If you don't the I would suggest the minicol bottle. You can do all of the different size biscuits with it, where
as the Dosicol bottle really only handles 20 size and possibly number tens.
I foung out the glue bottles that they sell with the roller on it, is also very handy for
spreading the glue along the joints.
Good luck with it. Woodnut65
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