PC Plate Joiner Gloat

[Greg Koch]

Well, the first of many Amazon sale purchases arrived... Here's my PC 557 plate joiner and case of 1000 free biscuits! I have a joiner/biscuit "cookbook" coming later from Amazon. The quality is really there, and I can't wait to start making some "connections" :eek: :rolleyes: LOL

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/kgregc/Woodworking/th_IMG_2521.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/kgregc/Woodworking/IMG_2521.jpg)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/kgregc/Woodworking/th_IMG_2522.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v165/kgregc/Woodworking/IMG_2522.jpg)

I ordered mine when it was $179, free shipping, 1000 free biscuits, and PC has a $30 mail-in rebate for it.

Any tips, warnings, other comments?


Greg

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I've got one and it's served me well.

[Steve Ash]

I got one too Greg, but my wife paid $249.00 (Christmas gift) and I didn't get any biscuits....no gravy either.

[Curt Harms]

Well, the first of many Amazon sale purchases arrived... He

Any tips, warnings, other comments?


Greg
Hi Greg

I have one of those, good machine. The only usage trick I learned was when cutting slots in the face of plywood with the fence resting on the edge of the ply, I'd get slots that weren't 90 degress to the ply. I found that with so little bearing surface, the fence may not stay flat while plunging. My fix was to clamp a jointed piece of 2 X 4 on the back of the ply, so instead of having 1/2" or 3/4" to sit on, the fence has 2" or 2 1/4" to sit on. That fixed my only problem. Oh, and a related technique point. When I plunge, the jointer may want to move laterally a little bit. The fence is good sized, just hold the fence with one hand and plunge with the other, joiner won't move. Oh, and make sure you have the depth set for the appropiate size biscuit. A depth setting for a #20 biscuit may cut all the way through a piece for which a #0 biscuit was required:o

HTH


Curt

[Brian Parker]

I've had one of these for about two years now. While I've only used it a handfull of times I have liked the results. The only gripe that I have is that the little port that connects the dust bag to the tool seems to clog up alot and then its dust everywhere. I've thought of hooking this thing up to my shopvac but haven't found a hose that is small enough to hook to the PC jointer. Has anyone else done this and if so could you give me some links or info on where to get the necessary hose?

TIA
Brian

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Greg, you should be able to get the $30 Amazon rebate on top of the PC one. Go back to Amazon & give it a shot.

I ordered mine at $198 - $30 PC Rebate - $30 Amazon Rebate = $138.
Includes the 1000 biscuits and free shipping.

[Harvey Jones]

The PC Biscuit jointer has cast webs in the dust port...presumably to keep fingers out of the blade.:eek: You can break them off with needle nose pliers and greatly reduce the clogging.

[Brian Parker]

Humm, thats odd I don't recall seeing those in mine. I usually stick a screwsriver in there and turn it over and jiggle it a bit and all of the traped waste comes out. I was just thinking that if I could find a small flex hose that I could hook it up with a pipeclamp and then use a reducer to get the 2 1/2" shopvac hose to fit.

[Vaughn McMillan]

...I've thought of hooking this thing up to my shopvac but haven't found a hose that is small enough to hook to the PC jointer. Has anyone else done this and if so could you give me some links or info on where to get the necessary hose?

TIA
Brian
Brian, you might try one of these (http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=37045-000020097-906-87-11&lpage=none). I use one on my DeWalt biscuit joiner and and Shop Vac, and it works well for me. (I've also got the same kind of adaptor attached to my ROS and 1/4 sheet sanders.)

- Vaughn

[Brian Parker]

Thanks Vaughn, I'll have to take a look at those the next time that I go to the toy store. Now I gotta find another deal to help you spend some money to help return the favor ;) haha.

thanks again
Brian

[Jason Tuinstra]

Greg, congrats! I have one and like it very much. I didn't read what the others wrote, but I find it helpful to hook up my shop vac to it. Keeping the chips extracted will help out a lot because this thing makes quite a bit of dust!

[Mark Pruitt]

I've had a 557 for close to three years and love it as much as when I first used it. Such a pleasure to use. I highly recommend the vac hose PC sells that will fit the dust outlet. The bag can fill up pretty quickly.

Mark

[Brad Townsend]

I've had one of these for about two years now. While I've only used it a handfull of times I have liked the results. The only gripe that I have is that the little port that connects the dust bag to the tool seems to clog up alot and then its dust everywhere. I've thought of hooking this thing up to my shopvac but haven't found a hose that is small enough to hook to the PC jointer. Has anyone else done this and if so could you give me some links or info on where to get the necessary hose?

TIA
Brian Brian,

Go to www.eagleamerica.com (http://www.eagleamerica.com) and search for item # 489-7300. It costs about $10 and I believe is exactly what you are looking for. It's what I use with my PC557 and it works great. No more plugging up.

Brad

[Brian Parker]

Thanks Brad, I checked that site out and it looks like its less bulky than the big funnel. However at 6 bucks to ship a $10 part I gotta wait until I go to buy something more...One more website which to buy from now....Its a good think I dont have a wife or I would be in trouble hehe.

[Steve Clardy]

As much as a dedicated pc fan I am, when I went to upgrade from my ryobi cutter, I found a dewalt for $130.00 at last years wood show. And no tax. So, I couldn't pass that one up.

[Brad Townsend]

Thanks Brad, I checked that site out and it looks like its less bulky than the big funnel. However at 6 bucks to ship a $10 part I gotta wait until I go to buy something more...One more website which to buy from now....Its a good think I dont have a wife or I would be in trouble hehe. Yeah, I know exactly what you're saying. Those shipping costs always have me ordering more than what I intended. File it away until you think of something else you need. In the meantime, you could use the Red Green approach and duct tape the vacuum hose to the output on the 557. Or take the bag off and let the chips fly.:D

[Walt Pater]

[QUOTE=Brian Parker] ...the dust bag to the tool...

Forgot mine had one!


I did once have a run-in with PC's service department which left me grumpy, but my 557 has served me very well.

Congrats.

[Fred Voorhees]

The PC Biscuit jointer has cast webs in the dust port...presumably to keep fingers out of the blade.:eek: You can break them off with needle nose pliers and greatly reduce the clogging.
Hmmm, I'm going to have to investigate that with mine. It does occasionally clog a bit and I have to go to a bit of trouble to unclog it. That being said though, I have been very happy with my PC machine.

[Corey Hallagan]

Great gloat! Great tool, congrats!

Corey

[Bruce Page]

Got one too, ya did good! The 557 is one of the best plate joiners out there!

[Doug Shepard]

Hi Greg

I have one of those, good machine. The only usage trick I learned was when cutting slots in the face of plywood with the fence resting on the edge of the ply, I'd get slots that weren't 90 degress to the ply. I found that with so little bearing surface, the fence may not stay flat while plunging. My fix was to clamp a jointed piece of 2 X 4 on the back of the ply, so instead of having 1/2" or 3/4" to sit on, the fence has 2" or 2 1/4" to sit on. That fixed my only problem.....

Curt

That sounds like a pretty good idea for putting slots into the face of pieces. For slotting into the edge I've found it works even better to skip the fence entirely. The blade is spaced to put a slot in the middle of 3/4" stock when resting on it's base. If size permits, I just lay the stock on top of my TS and with the fence folded up just put the PC on the saw top and plunge away. The only real trick is orienting all the pieces either all face up or all face down to avoid any mis-alignment due to the stock not being exactly 3/4".

[Curt Harms]

The only real trick is orienting all the pieces either all face up or all face down to avoid any mis-alignment due to the stock not being exactly 3/4".

You've done that too, huh?:o

Skipping the fence if possible is good advice.

Curt