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richard poitras
03-24-2011, 6:20 PM
What’s the difference between a type 3 and a type 4 Porter Cable Biscuit 557 Joiner? And or is one better than the other? Or should I ask witch type is the most desirable or best one to get if looking to purchase a used one?

Thanks Richard

shane lyall
03-24-2011, 6:29 PM
I think mine is a 3 but I'm not sure. I will look when I get back in shop after supper. I can say for sure it's a good joiner. I had a HF with so much run out it made REALLY loose slots. I don't use it alot but it has worked well every time I did.

richard poitras
03-25-2011, 8:40 AM
Shane, I heard they are good, but if I remember right the different types of PC are better than others PC types. 3…4 and so on.

michael case
03-25-2011, 9:26 AM
I have a type 3 for several years now and it has performed very well.

Jerome Hanby
03-25-2011, 12:52 PM
I don't recall the exact details, but there was some patent conflict with Dewalt on some alignment mechanism and PC had to change. The change was evidently not great and there was a ton of information flying around to get this type and avoid that type if you were buying used. I eventually gave up trying to sort it out and bought a used Dewalt.

Guess these days they are all one happy family and it wouldn't make a difference...

Bruce Page
03-25-2011, 2:38 PM
I don't recall the exact details, but there was some patent conflict with Dewalt on some alignment mechanism and PC had to change. The change was evidently not great and there was a ton of information flying around to get this type and avoid that type if you were buying used. I eventually gave up trying to sort it out and bought a used Dewalt.

Guess these days they are all one happy family and it wouldn't make a difference...

That's how I remember it also. I had one of the original PC plate joiners (Type 1?) that was just terrible. I now have a PC type 3 that works great.

Greg Portland
03-25-2011, 3:08 PM
Type 1: Used the Dewalt fence & PC was sued
Type 2: A quickly changed fence that did not register correctly for face-slotting. A copper shim was made or bought by most users in order to fix the fence registration issue.
Type 3: Fully fixed fence solution
Type 4: New motor (7A vs 7.5A); these have a red switch (versus a black switch)

Avoid type 2 unless you want to hack the fence. Type 4+ is the "new" Porter Cable (quality has been suspect but no reports of problems with the biscuit cutter yet). Type 3 is your safest bet if you can find one.

Neil Brooks
03-25-2011, 3:17 PM
Type 4: New motor (7A vs 7.5A); these have a red switch (versus a black switch)


I THOUGHT there was an amperage difference.

To be crystal clear, though, can you please say which type had which motor ??

Was it that Type 3 had the 7A motor and Type 4 had the 7.5A, or ... vice versa ?

Chip Lindley
03-25-2011, 3:22 PM
Type 1: Used the Dewalt fence & PC was sued
Type 2: A quickly changed fence that did not register correctly for face-slotting. A copper shim was made or bought by most users in order to fix the fence registration issue.
Type 3: Fully fixed fence solution
Type 4: New motor (7A vs 7.5A); these have a red switch (versus a black switch)

Avoid type 2 unless you want to hack the fence. Type 4+ is the "new" Porter Cable (quality has been suspect but no reports of problems with the biscuit cutter yet). Type 3 is your safest bet if you can find one.

So.....Type 3 it is!!

Stew Hagerty
03-25-2011, 4:53 PM
I hadn't checked until now and apparently I have the Type 4. All I can say is that I am very happy with it. It does what I ask it to do, and it does it well.

glenn bradley
03-25-2011, 4:57 PM
Greg's got it. I sold a type 3 and have regretted it ever since. I hardly ever use biscuits but, on that rare occasion . . . At least I sold it to someone here ;-

Bruce Page
03-25-2011, 5:19 PM
I THOUGHT there was an amperage difference.

To be crystal clear, though, can you please say which type had which motor ??

Was it that Type 3 had the 7A motor and Type 4 had the 7.5A, or ... vice versa ?

My type 3 has a 7.5 amp motor.

It must’ve been a type 2 that I had originally. I don’t remember anything about a shim but it was very difficult to adjust center line. It had 2 SHCS’s on the fence that you loosened and then you wiggled the fence face up or down over detents to adjust center line. You had to really pay attention because half the time the fence would be out of square when you re-tightened the SHCS’s.

richard poitras
03-26-2011, 9:59 AM
Thanks every one for the tips on the jointers. This is the exacta information I was looking for.
Richard

Marshall Cheng
03-27-2011, 4:55 AM
Hi Everybody. This is my first post since joining this forum and thought maybe I can help.

I was wondering the exact same thing since reading about a 7 to 7.5 amp motor change. Somebody mentioned in that they used a cheaper motor or something for a type 4 which got me curious. I then happened to pick up a type 4 557 when woodcraft was throwing in free router and when I got home and opened it up, I saw something that was very familiar and it was not porter cable. It was dewalt. The change over from the 7.5 to 7 amp motor was a change over from a porter cable designed motor/gearbox assembly to a dewalt designed motor/gearbox. I have an old dewalt (black and decker professional) grinder, and the dewalt biscuit jointer and they both use the same gearbox assembly.

As luck would have it, I ran across a brand new type 3 557 and picked that one up and compared the two side by side. Definitely porter cable motor as it is similar to the 4 1/2 porter cable angle grinder I have. If you compare the two side by side, it looks like they redesigned the housing to accept the dewalt motor. I guess part of a cost savings measure as if you look at the parts breakdown for a type 3 vs a type 4, you can see how many tools share the common motor parts for the type 4. Not so with the type 3.

Sorry for the long winded post. Just thought I would share what I found.:eek:

Bruce Page
03-27-2011, 1:51 PM
That’s interesting Marshall and welcome to SMC.

Would we be correct in assuming that the PC motor design is/was superior to the DeWalt design?

Marshall Cheng
03-28-2011, 1:13 AM
Hi Bruce.. thanks for the welcome.

I don't think I am qualified to answer that question as to which motor design is better as the answer it is subject to brand bias. Both motors and gear trains will most likely last a long time in biscuit jointer application and in all honestly, a biscuit jointer is not as demanding as angle grinder use. My little dewalt grinder has been run for hours on end when grinding down welds and keeps on going.

What dewalt did to the PC557 would be analogous to putting a DW610 router motor into a porter cable 1001 router base and calling it a PC690.

Another difference between the type 3 and 4 is that the type 4 fence is missing the middle support bar across the flip down portion of the fence that was there on the type 3. Makes the type 3 more desirable for cutting biscuits on the end of narrow stock as it supports the tool better.

Bruce Page
03-28-2011, 1:52 AM
Very good answer! ;) I'm probably a little biased towards the PC, I've been satisfied with their stuff for years. I have not bought anything of theirs since all of the corporate shakeups began. I do have DeWalt drills & drivers that I'm happy with.

Paul McGaha
04-02-2011, 6:23 PM
And here I am with a Porter Cable 557, Type 2.

To date I've only used it for edge joining. Is the Type 2 supposed to have a problem edge joining? It seems to me like it does ok but I've found that I need to use cauls to keep the glue ups flat anyway. It seems that more and more I'm using cauls only and no biscuits.

PHM

richard poitras
04-09-2011, 8:00 AM
found one and got it in the shop....