Biscuits...

[Guest]

Steve,
The machine is made for four different biscuit sizes, the smallest of which requires a blade change.
I wasn't happy with the factory setting for the depth of the cut. It allowed the biscuit to go way past the center point. I inserted a biscuit all the way into a slot and drew a line on the buscuit right against the edge of the slotted piece, flipped the biscuit around and drew another line. I was getting an 1/8" between the lines. I've got it adjusted out now to where I'm getting a tight 1/16", leaving about 1/32" for glue.
(Dry and soaked biscuits... from what I've seen, only the thickness changes when the biscuit is wetted)

Chris,
I'd have to take the machine into a friend to check for wobble.
Gonna do some test glue ups and see what happens.

[Guest]

Chris,
I have to fess up that I've been guilty of starving joints of glue in the past.
It wasn't until I got into boat building that I took a good look at curbing myself from turning the clamps, "just a little tighter."
It was hard at first to resist the temptation...

[Chris C]

That's okay.............men just have a natural desire to squeeze!

[Guy]

Biscuits were never meant to be a joint. They were meant for holding to pieces of stock flat to each other. That was the patent which lasted until 1993. Their secondary property was to allow you to precisely offset a sheet of stock when glued up with another piece.


It was never supposed to be a new type of joint and they are actually extremely weak joints on their own. The reason a biscuit is never as long as the hole is so that you can manipulate it while you are securing the joint with clamps. It should always be tap or absolutely perfect fitting so that the precision of securing flat stock together without any reason or NEED to plane the joint. If it is wobbly the most common reason it the operator has failed to keep the cutting face perpendicular to the blade usually because Dean did not hold the resting plat flat on the stoch as he pushed the blade in. Let Joannie do it.

[Juneaudave]

Dean...ain't no way your going to get anyone to commit to using biscuits with epoxy (BTW... for everyone else who likes to give Dean grief, Dean's overbuilding again, remember the frame?... and he has been probing other BBS's for epoxy biscuit joints).

IMHO...biscuits are best for aligning joints...

Dean, give it up...use dowels or tendons for structural strength...

Dean...quit starving glue joints...

Dean...buy a Krebs

Dean...How did your bets on the Superbowl come out???

[Steve_Cox]

If it is wobbly the most common reason it the operator has failed to keep the cutting face perpendicular to the blade usually because Dean did not hold the resting plat flat on the stoch as he pushed the blade in. Let Joannie do it.

Or if Dean WAS able to hold the resting plate flat perhaps the tool isn't adjusted to a true 90 degree angle That would also make Dean's biscuits wobble. I've been guilty of putting epoxy on a biscuit before gluing up teak. But it was a tight fit to start with and the epoxy just gave it a little lube. Hope no one already mentioned the 90 degree angle adjustment, it was a lot of reading for an old guy.

Steve

[Guest]

Dave,
I nixed the epoxy idea when I saw how loose this biscuit situation is... although, I could soak, expand, dry the biscuits, then use epoxy.
I'm going to use a water based plastic resin glue.
Lemme guess... A "little bird" named Glen must've been singing to you, eh?

Thanks to bad officiating, Jack is going to be recieving a Redwood Curtainian Coffee Grinding System and some beans... Don't worry Jack, it comes with instructions. Fifty whacks for medium grind.

Oh about the loose biscuits... I'm gonna take the machine back and have the guy take a look at it when I have time... With the fence set firmly at 90 degrees and placed firmly onto the clamped stock... I can wiggle the triggered handle up and down, which is also the part of the machine that the blade is mounted to. There is some noticable slop in the sliding mechanism...

[Steve Frederick]

Oh about the loose biscuits... I'm gonna take the machine back and have the guy take a look at it when I have time... With the fence set firmly at 90 degrees and placed firmly onto the clamped stock... I can wiggle the triggered handle up and down, which is also the part of the machine that the blade is mounted to. There is some noticable slop in the sliding mechanism...

Betcha that's the problem!!
I also agree with Guy regarding the purpose of the biscuit joint. If I'm building doors or face frames, I use dowels or splines..The biscuit joints, in my builds, are sandwiched between wall skins, thus a sturdy joint!
As Gage says." Just the way I do it"

[Guest]

I also agree with Guy regarding the purpose of the biscuit joint. The biscuit joints, in my builds, are sandwiched between wall skins, thus a sturdy joint!

Same here, I'm using them to join the curved outer wall plate in the framing.