Request for Manual & thoughts on an ELU 3380 Joiner/Spliner

[Todd Davidson]

An old carpenter friend of mine has retired and is moving south. He passed along his ELU 3380 Joiner Spliner to me. As it's been a good 20 years since I've used one of these I'm hoping a fellow Creeker might have a manual they could copy and send along to me. I searched on-line to no avail (but did find an old review of Biscuit/Plate Joiners that had a little bit of info on the machine). I already have a DeWalt made Craftsman Professional Joiner that serves me well on the rare occassion I use biscuits and am wondering if this ELU has any attributes above and beyond basic biscuit joinery.

[Richard Coers]

I've not used a Lamello, but short of that, these were the best biscuit joiners ever made. The pivot is very precise and did not have the play that sliding machines had. They sold it with the idea that you could cut grooves with it by plunge cutting, then sliding it along to cut the groove. The moveable side fence was used with this technique. I never did that operation. The sliding fence had long enough rods that you could register further from the edge of the stock than on other machines. When I heard they were going to discontinue making them, I bought another one and put it on the shelf. So I have a brand new, in the case machine, because my first one has never wore out. My original machine has to be 25+ years old. The manual should still be in with the brand new machine. Send me a private notification with your email, and I will scan the manual and send it. Give me some time since I am hosting a pro woodturner this weekend at our house and will be pretty busy for the next few days. Oh by the way, my only serious woodworking accident was with this machine. I was holding a small piece of white oak in one hand to test the cut. I plunged the machine into the wood, and it kicked the wood out of my hand. Before I could react, the machine comes back and bumps into one of my fingers, that swings the housing out of the way, and I cut half way through the bone of my middle finger on the left hand. It took two surgeries to put the tip back on straight because the first guy didn't square up the bone before pinning. So I carry 9 15/16 fingers, since one is a biscuit thickness short. Always use a vise or clamp to hold the stock!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lornie McCullough]

I have used it to make cuts where nothing else would work (the swivel action makes it quite unique). It is a very high quality machine.... bought it when it first came out, and still performs as if new.

Lornie

[Todd Davidson]

Richard ~ Thank you for both your willingness to scan and send me the manual as well as for the heads up on kickback.

Lornie ~ I'm glad to hear these machines are still highly regarded and proven in their longevity (both of my ELU routers - Swiss made as is the Joiner - have been running strong for 20+ years)

[Todd Davidson]

Guess Richard's been busy.... Does anybody else have a copy of the manual?

[Rick D Smith]

copy and paste from another forum "I was looking thru the Sawmill Creek Forum about a
week ago. A member posted a request for the manual to an Elu 3380
Joiner/Spliner. I have a copy of the manual which I had scanned. I tried to sign
up to the forum, but for whatever reason it didn't work. Tried again later and
still didn't work. It seems he still may be looking for the manual. I posted my
scan of the manual on Scribd.com. If somebody is a Sawmill Creek member and
wants to give the guy a heads up in case he still needs the manual. The Google
crawler doesn't seem to have picked it up yet."




This
is the manual. http://www.scribd.com/doc/135363413/Elu-Black-Decker-3380-Biscuit-Jointer-Spliner-Manual-Instructions

[Todd Davidson]

Fantastic! Than you!

[Brian Ross]

I have 3 of these. Bought my first one about 25 years ago and the last one about 6 mos ago. They are an excellent joiner. All 3 work as good today as when I bought my first one new. The last two of course were used. One think to note is to be sure the motor is up to speed before making a cut. If not it will track across your work.Apparently parts are still available in the UK

[Mike Phillips]

I still have around here somewhere that has been used to cut about 20 slots. It's good to know that it's a good joiner. Now if I can just find it.

[Mike Phillips]

I found my manual and scanned it, if anyone still needs it. The link to the manual above is to a pay site. This one is free.

Elu 3380 Manual (http://uploadir.com/user/uploads/ducgclvi/download)

Please let me know if you were successful downloading it as the upload service (uploadir.com) is new, as I write this.