Biscuit jointer question

[Porter Bassett]

Today I tried using a biscuit jointer for the first time. I discovered that due to the geometry of the fence, I cannot accurately cut a slot into the side of the end a piece of wood (like for a butt joint) less than 3" wide.

Is that normal, or is that yet another special joy of using a HF tool?

[Norman Pyles]

Never used the HF, but I have no problems using my PC 557.

[Gary Curtis]

The fence on my Lamello biscuit jointer 4 5/8" wide and anything narrower than that would fall into the slot with the cutter. Unless the piece was taller than the slot. 1.5" tall would be enough support.

For the past 3 years I've been reading forum discussions on the merits and faults of various brands. The big issue always seems to be the darn fence. Primarily that it isn't accurate and thus not at 90° to the work. Or that you can't set precise fence angles. Or that the fence isn't solid.

Other than that, they are fairly simple mechanisms, in my opinion. If I hadn't come across mine at a give-away price on eBay, I would have gone with a DeWalt or Porter Cable and been just as happy. There is a big difference, however, when it comes to the quality of the biscuits themselves. Buy only the Lamello biscuits. Very high quality control and thus consistent size.

Gary Curtis

[glenn bradley]

No problem with the 557. I NEVER shoulda sold that thing!!!

[Norman Pyles]

I probably shoulda read the OP's post a little better. :)

[Porter Bassett]

The fence on my Lamello biscuit jointer 4 5/8" wide and anything narrower than that would fall into the slot with the cutter. Unless the piece was taller than the slot. 1.5" tall would be enough support.
Yup. That sounds like what I'm seeing.

[Steve Jenkins]

rather than using the fence, set the piece and the biscuit jointer on something flat so you are indexing off the bottom of the biscuit jointer. If you need to index off the front face of the pices just put it face down.

[Jerome Hanby]

My Dewalt works fine in that situation...

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I am not familiar with the "geometry" of the HF unit, so I can't be sure. but it sounds like a situation where you need to get some sort of jig that you can use to ensure alignment of the HF and the butt end of a narrow board. once made, hang on to it to use all the time.

Start with a wide board - (6" or more) and glue/screw a rail on it that you can use to align/hold a smallere board. then when you want to cut a slot, clamp the small board to the wider one, making sure the ends are flush with each other - and use the sider face of the wider board to make sure you get good alignment.

[Aaron Berk]

I've been using this biscuit jig for awhile now and love it! It's designed to be used with 3/4 thick stock, but if you don't mind your biscuits being off center you can use it on thicker. Or if your running close to 1" material you can just flip your stock over and do a biscuit referenced off of both faces (2 biscuits per joint)
I can't recall where I got the plans from, but I do know that I loaned the plans to an online buddy and never got them back. The only thing I haven't done with this jig is utilize the 3/8 dado right in front of the fence. You'll see in one of the pics what that dado is for.
If any one wants more info just let me know.

[Aaron Berk]

I can't get a hold of my originals, but heres a link for any one who is interested in making the same jig.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.woodcraft.com/images/products/409587_230.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx%3FFamilyID%3D60302&usg=__bjvpUlQcuTOFvuC-rNbCdjawMKM=&h=230&w=230&sz=21&hl=en&start=9&um=1&tbnid=ccZMf8GfwCo9DM:&tbnh=108&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djointer%2Bjig%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26cl ient%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN