Does anyone use biscuit joiners anymore?

[Michael Costa]

I've never used one and please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe biscuits are commonly used when making marquee flooring.

[Simon MacGowen]

I will agree that a hand cut dovetail takes skill. Saying that the Domino has a MUCH deeper learning curve than a biscuit joiner is a bit of a stretch. Lack of knowledge on how to operate one is not the reason I am unimpressed.

I am not saying you got rid of the DJ because of lack of skill or knowledge; it might be or it might not be but only you would know. You did point out face frames and miter frames are the projects you use the BJ on, and I agree, as I noted in my last post, the DJ isn't the ideal tool for them.

I am saying that to use a DJ to its full potentials, it is not simply a chuck the bit, set the depth and fence and plunge operation, which most videos out there are suggesting. Some DJ buyers got disappointed when they did not get the same results they saw from those videos when they used their DJ. The deep learning curve of a DJ is not obvious until you use it, and especially when you want to use it for complex projects, like making angled joinery or stepped joints.

Anyone who has used a DJ to do a three-way-miter joint cabinet or build will understand why the DJ excels in ordinary as well as complex joinery projects. Tage Frid did a three-way miter joint (the process is described in his book), but he admitted it was a difficult one. It is still a challenging one even if you use a DJ, but Frid would likely prefer the DJ than his method, if the tool had been invented for his use at the time.

I pointed out in my earlier post to the OP that the DJ is the right tool if he does a lot of joinery projects. I don't tell people to get a DJ if the main interest is in joining face frames and picture frames.

Simon

[Von Bickley]

I used mine recently for gluing up a top for a blanket chest.

[Pat Barry]

The only time i used biscuits was for edge gluing some oak boards for a tabletop. To my horror, the bicuit locations became evident when a gloosy finish was applied. That was 10 years ago and that's the last time I'll probably use them.

[lowell holmes]

I have one that doesn't get a lot of use, but I'm keeping it. When you need one, you really need it.

[Jared Sankovich]

I have three (actually just got the Dewalt Tuesday) the other two are stationary delta machines with the poorly engineered foot control.

I use the domino a good bit, but biscuits certainly have their place.
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[Edwin Santos]

Another way to think of it - a Domino joiner is a mortising machine for loose tenons. A biscuit joiner is a spline machine.

If you don't build anything with mortise and tenon joints you don't need a Domino, and if you don't see a need for spline joinery maybe you don't need a biscuit joiner.

I'm not sure why people tend compare them. They each have their place and function. Occasionally one can substitute for the other, but for the most part they are independent tools (and joint types).

One observation - the application of mortise and tenon joints is usually fairly obvious and commonly understood among woodworkers. Spline joinery however, is less obvious and sometimes holds the opportunity to solve unusual problems. Again, both types of joinery are important to have available and these machines add a lot of convenience to the process.

Could you imagine if the title of the thread was "Does anyone use spline joinery anymore?"
Edwin

[Paul F Franklin]

Aside from using them as alignment aids when edge gluing as others have mentioned, I mainly use mine to reinforce the miter joints on door and window casing. I assemble and prefinish the casing and install it as a completed unit. I find it way easier and get perfect fitting miter joints this way. I build a little jig that lines everything up so it is very fast to do, with no measuring or marking required.

[Mike Kees]

Paul I would love to see pictures of this process for miter joints on door and window casings. Mike.

[Jared Sankovich]

Aside from using them as alignment aids when edge gluing as others have mentioned, I mainly use mine to reinforce the miter joints on door and window casing. I assemble and prefinish the casing and install it as a completed unit. I find it way easier and get perfect fitting miter joints this way. I build a little jig that lines everything up so it is very fast to do, with no measuring or marking required.

Casing miters was the primary reason I picked up the Dewalt. Biscuits (or the ocassional domino) and pocket screws or clam clamps seem to be the norm for high end finish carpentry.

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[Jim Andrew]

I used my freud biscuit joiner yesterday, to make a spline for the feet on my new granddaughter's chest of drawers. The feet are mitered and 3" wide, and I used number 2 biscuits.

[Paul F Franklin]

Sure, will take a few shots and post...

[Osvaldo Cristo]

Hi,
The system of biscuit joinery was invented in Europe by Lamello, and outside of pro shops, I have found that it is not well understood in the US market. For example, a great many people seem to think that biscuit joinery is primarily intended to aid alignment and strength in edge to edge joints such as panel glue-ups. While biscuits "can" be used in this application, it's not where they are designed to excel. Where they excel is in corner joints, especially when joining composite materials. To support this point, have a look at this video that Lamello made and you will see several operations demonstrated - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IecEPB64TgU
What you won't see is a demonstration of an edge to edge joint.

Unfortunately, there are some very poor sloppy biscuit machines on the market which may have contributed to the negative bias in America. Also, some manufacturers of the biscuits themselves have quality control issues which is why I recommend buying only Lamello biscuits. As a big fan of biscuit joinery, I sprang for a Lamello and have never regretted it. I have always heard the DeWalt and PC machines are decent.

Biscuit joinery can be taken to a whole new level if you look up a FWW article by Michael Fortune where he demonstrates how to mount the machine to a custom little table thus turning it into a stationary machine. If you do this, it improves the accuracy and opens up a lot of applications.
I've made more drawers than I can remember using 1/2" baltic birch mitered at the corners and reinforced with biscuits. Never had one come apart.

All this said, whether you should get one or not depends on the kind of work you intend to do. Also there are always numerous ways to do most operations in woodworking, so sometimes it's a just a matter of personal preference.
I hope this info is helpful
Edwin

Personally I prefer to use that than dowels... yes, dowels can be (a little bit) stronger if correctly used but biscuits are muuuch more convenient, faster to work and also cheap. I am still using my supply of Wolfcraft biscuits I brought in Germany on 1998 (made by Lamello).

I also never understood why a such prejudice in the US against biscuits. Perhaps they have access to better alternatives than their counterpart outside the US... I am not sure. Anyway I think all of us will agree biscuits are not a solution for all joint challenges, even for most of them, but they have their place in the workshop, IMO.

I have several friends in Germany and a few in Denmark using then extensively... regarding to America I can say that rejection is not valid for all America as I also have friends in Argentina and Brazil happily using them...

Regards,

[Frank Pratt]

I mainly use them for sheet goods, they can't be beat for strength & speed on corner joints. Anyone that says they don't add structural strength just doesn't understand where & how to use them.

[Curt Harms]

Personally I prefer to use that than dowels... yes, dowels can be (a little bit) stronger if correctly used but biscuits are muuuch more convenient, faster to work and also cheap. I am still using my supply of Wolfcraft biscuits I brought in Germany on 1998 (made by Lamello).

I also never understood why a such prejudice in the US against biscuits. Perhaps they have access to better alternatives than their counterpart outside the US... I am not sure. Anyway I think all of us will agree biscuits are not a solution for all joint challenges, even for most of them, but they have their place in the workshop, IMO.

I have several friends in Germany and a few in Denmark using then extensively... regarding to America I can say that rejection is not valid for all America as I also have friends in Argentina and Brazil happily using them...

Regards,

My introduction to biscuit joinery came from New Yankee Workshop and I'll bet I wasn't the only one. New Yankee workshop was sponsored in part by Porter-Cable who made the biscuit jointer shown though he did user other brands initially. For a while it seemed like no matter the joinery question, the answer was biscuits. I guess people used biscuits where they weren't a good solution and concluded that they were no good for anything anywhere. I can't recall having an appropriately placed biscuit joint fail.