Biscuits of other species

[robert raess]

Anyone aware of sources for #20 biscuits in other species e.g,walnut, cherry etc; thanks rob

[Leo Graywacz]

Biscuits are made from beechwood because it expands on contact with water to help make a tight joint. Why do you want a specific species?

[johnny means]

Try your scrap pile.

[Chris Fournier]

All wood species expand when they come in contact with water. The biscuits that we use expand not only because they are made of wood but because they are compressed mechanically. This compression accentuates the expansion of the beech when contacted with water. I suspect that European beech is the choice species for biscuits due to the European location of the biscuit manufacturers.

[Chip Lindley]

Use of walnut or cherry would be lost from view since biscuits are not usually employed where they can be seen. I always lay out biscuit slots so they WILL be hidden.

[robert raess]

I should have mentioned that i also turn wood,and use my bisc. joiner to cut slots for decoration and strength to bridge cracks and splits in my turned pc.'s.Yes i could go to my scrap pile, but thot there may be a source for bisc. other than beech. for example, they sell hinges that fit into the slot of a plate joiner, and special joinery plates for installing exterior deck boards,is it a stretch to think they may make bisc. out of other kinds of wood.I think i found my niche..and to think it was there all the time in my scrap pile.Your homework for tonite is to come up with 10 things your plate joiner can do that are outside the box.

[Jamie Buxton]

At least on my biscuit joiner, the slots are deeper than the biscuits, and I think the radius of the slot is different from the biscuit. That is, if I happen to cut into the installed biscuit, I'll find unsightly gaps around the biscuit. That doesn't matter when the biscuit is used conventionally. But if I were going to expose the biscuit, I'd probably want to make my own biscuits of the correct dimensions.

[David Thompson 27577]

+1 with what Jamie said