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Thread: Biscuit Joiner

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
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    Southwestern CT
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    Biscuit Joiner

    Building some custom drawers at 12-1/4" tall which required joining boards to get that height. I had planed down stock on hand and felt it would be faster to add either domino or biscuit to help align the material for gluing (it was close to the final dimension), as well as improve the strength. It was a toss up as to which machine to grab, and the biscuit joiner won. Short of it is, I used the Porter Cable Biscuit Joiner and couldn't help but marvel at what a wonderful tool it is. I changed over the PC's cord so that I could use it with the Festool vacuum setup in my shop, hence the green tail hanging out the back of the PC.

    I'm curious ... how many of you that have a domino still use the biscuit or lamello ... and are there specific projects for which you feel it is uniquely well suited?
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    Last edited by Bill Adamsen; 11-18-2017 at 10:51 AM.
    "the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” Confucius

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2016
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    North -Eastern Ontario, Canada
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    We’ve had a genuine Lamello machine (well actually 4 of them) since the 80’s. Currently use a top 20 and zeta p2 in the shop.

    Also use a domino standard size machine for 6 years. Both are very useful and have their place in the shop.

    Lamello biscuits are faster, much cheaper and in many cases a better solution depending what you are doing. Dominos are also very good for what they do- but in some cases overkill or not the best choice.

    We use both all the time. I also have converted our two Lamello machines to the Festool pigtails.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2016
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    North -Eastern Ontario, Canada
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    Just to be clear imo neither replace the other. Dominos excellent where strength is required vs a biscuit as in furniture joints. Biscuits are used on our shop mainly for alignment or where the strength of a deeper domino tenon is not necessary.
    Andrew J. Coholic

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
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    9,467
    Dominos are deep and biscuits are wide. I would rather use a biscuit, like a spline, to reinforce a mitre than a domino.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  5. #5
    I sold my Freud biscuit joiner shortly after getting the Domino. I didn't like the Freud unit much in the first place, but it really seemed lacking after I got used to the Domino.

    I use the 4mm dominos if it's just for alignment.

    If I had a machine that I liked using, something like a Lamello, I am sure I would have kept it and still be using both where appropriate... but I don't see adding one now, Domino will do it all.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
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    mid-coast Maine and deep space
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    I use my Lamello to attach face frames to cabinetry. There is enough accurate registration (I flush my ff to my cabinet sides and bottom) but also enough play to make attaching a multi cabinet face frame assembly easy. The Domino for this application is too accurate and unforgiving. Otherwise for nearly everything else requiring accurate alignment, I use the Dominos.
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    The Hartland of Michigan
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    I built this scroll saw stand with 30 biscuits. It isn't coming apart any time soon.

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    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    New England
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sam Murdoch View Post
    I use my Lamello to attach face frames to cabinetry. There is enough accurate registration (I flush my ff to my cabinet sides and bottom) but also enough play to make attaching a multi cabinet face frame assembly easy. The Domino for this application is too accurate and unforgiving.
    So True. I don't have a Domino and use traditional M&T for those joints but biscuits just excel for things like face frames and miters that benefit from a little wiggle room. The key is to use the right amount of glue. Too little and they obviously won't work as designed and too much and they can take forever to completely dry, possibly causing the dimples that so many people have lamented about. Use a brush on the biscuit and a thin paddle inside the cut. I have cut into overloaded biscuit joints 4-5 days after assembly and the glue pocket was still tacky.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Camas, Wa
    Posts
    3,853
    I have 2 biscuit jointers. The full size one that does FF-20 and a small Ryobi that does R1-R3. I bought a used Domino earlier this year. I sold it a couple of weeks ago. You probably won't hear that too often. I am still keeping my biscuit jointers.
    Last edited by Cary Falk; 11-19-2017 at 8:09 AM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
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    Central Missouri, U.S.
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    Myk, I really like that stand. Functional elegance.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Central North Carolina
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    1,830
    I have a DeWalt biscuit joiner and a Leigh FMT Pro jig, both bought before the Dominos became available. I use the biscuits more for alignment than strength. In fact, I no longer glue them in if using them in a panel, because I had to remake a table top that I built using biscuits and gluing them in one day. Then final sanded the top flat and finished the table a day later. Two weeks after finishing the table I could see biscuit shaped dents in the smooth finished top where the glue on the biscuits had thoroughly dried and shrunk, pulling the dents in the top. I had to make a whole new top for that table and have avoided gluing biscuits in flat panel assemblies ever since. I glue the board edges, but avoid gluing the biscuits.

    When strength is needed, I use the FMT for the mortises and matching tenons, or for just the mortises and then use floating tenons. It depends on the application which way I go. Set up of the FMT likely takes longer than the Domino, but it's just as fast when using it.

    Charley

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Lent View Post
    I have a DeWalt biscuit joiner and a Leigh FMT Pro jig, both bought before the Dominos became available. I use the biscuits more for alignment than strength. In fact, I no longer glue them in if using them in a panel, because I had to remake a table top that I built using biscuits and gluing them in one day. Then final sanded the top flat and finished the table a day later. Two weeks after finishing the table I could see biscuit shaped dents in the smooth finished top where the glue on the biscuits had thoroughly dried and shrunk, pulling the dents in the top. I had to make a whole new top for that table and have avoided gluing biscuits in flat panel assemblies ever since. I glue the board edges, but avoid gluing the biscuits.

    When strength is needed, I use the FMT for the mortises and matching tenons, or for just the mortises and then use floating tenons. It depends on the application which way I go. Set up of the FMT likely takes longer than the Domino, but it's just as fast when using it.

    Charley
    Just of curiosity, how close to the top surface would you estimate the biscuit slots were? In other words, how much wood between the top of the biscuit slot and the surface of the table.
    Also, what was the table top made from? Solid lumber or some type of composite material? Thanks

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Kansas City
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    854
    I must have absolutely no skill with my biscuit joiner. Or I need to seriously calibrate it. I have never had any luck with it, especially for alignment purposes. My domino, on the other hand, is just dead nuts accurate.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
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    mid-coast Maine and deep space
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edwin Santos View Post
    Just of curiosity, how close to the top surface would you estimate the biscuit slots were? In other words, how much wood between the top of the biscuit slot and the surface of the table.
    Also, what was the table top made from? Solid lumber or some type of composite material? Thanks
    I've never had any issues with biscuits telegraphing over years and years and projects after project, EXCEPT ONCE . That was all my fault as I built a coffee table top and was unhappy with repeated efforts of finishing so I sanded it 5 times and refinished until I was happy. Lost quite a bit of thickness in the refinishing. In that case I saw the biscuit dimples develop. I still see them.

    #10 biscuits centered on stock less than 3/4" and #20s for anything thicker. I keep the biscuits centerlined or lower in the stock from the top face. Sometimes I have doubled biscuits with no issues staying roughly 3/8" down (up) centerline of biscuit to face of project. Yellow glue predominantly. Maybe if I flipped my work over I would have seen dimples on some projects but I was never aware of any issues. For whatever that's worth, I wouldn't be hesitant to use biscuits.
    "... for when we become in heart completely poor, we at once are the treasurers & disbursers of enormous riches."
    WQJudge

  15. #15
    When I first read the post I thought you were talking about drawer box construction. I have built drawers using biscuits and found it fast and strong. I have a Festool and experimented building boxes with dominos as well (hopefully both photos come through- domino vs. biscuit vs dovetail construction). I am sure the domino is stronger in this case but for customer drawers and prefinished plywood I like the biscuit approach better. Of course dovetails are the premier method for strength, but for plywood I think the end result is cleaner with biscuits since you do not see end grain.
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