OT: Do I need a biscuit joiner?

[TrueMaroonGrind]

I’ve been going back and forth on this for a while now. Some say it helps with joining table tops and others say it’s completely unnecessary. Looking at around $200 for a reliable tool.

Just wondering what everyone else’s experience is with the tool or if there are better tabletop joining methods. Tabletops and miter joints would be my main usage.

 

[msstate7]

What about a Kreg's pocket hole jig?

 

[Polygonal]

Biscuit joiner is one of my favorite tools. I like the extra strength that comes from using the biscuits. Especially handy for angled joints. You will find ways to use it that you haven’t thought about. I have a Ryobi and find it easy to use.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

What about a Kreg's pocket hole jig?

I have a pocket hole jig. I mainly use it for framing for fronts and a few other joinings here and there.

I’ve avoided using it for tabletops because some have reported it leads to warping overtime due to the way the screws prevent the woods natural expanding and contracting due to changes in the seasons. Idk if that’s true, but it made enough sense in theory for me to avoid it.

I almost exclusively use butt joints at the moment for tabletops.

 

[hydrodawg]

Another option

I’ve been going back and forth on this for a while now. Some say it helps with joining table tops and others say it’s completely unnecessary. Looking at around $200 for a reliable tool.

Just wondering what everyone else’s experience is with the tool or if there are better tabletop joining methods. Tabletops and miter joints would be my main usage.

If you are unsure or have only sporadic need, spend 20 bucks on a router bit instead.

 

[Puppychow]

Glue and clamps. I feel like biscuits are a waste of time. A properly glued joint is stronger than the actual wood itself. Careful not to clamp too tightly. This causes the joint to roll. It also squeezes out most of the glue. Best of luck.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

If you are unsure or have only sporadic need, spend 20 bucks on a router bit instead.

That might be the best option for me. That way I don’t wast $200 if I don’t feel it adds much to my joints.

 

[Mobile Bay]

There is a custom furniture maker near my house that does amazing work. He uses dominoes on his joints.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

There is a custom furniture maker near my house that does amazing work. He uses dominoes on his joints.

Domino joiners are like $1500 and up from what I’ve seen.

 

[WrapItDog]

biscuit joiner

View attachment 19329

 

[stateguy]

Technical analysis of the strength didn’t show improvement with biscuits over glue itself. Can’t find my source for that right now (of course). Seems like it can help with Initial alignment though

 

[Mobile Bay]

You can get one for right at a grand

 

[chained1]

No to needing a biscuit joiner. If you're wanting strength use tenons or pegs, biscuits don't add additional strength, just help align

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

Not sure what all applications you are looking for... But if you want some badass biscuit joints check out lamello. Mechanical fasteners inside a biscuit joint on some of the clamex line. It will eliminate the need for clamping to glue.

Technically designed for knock down cabinets and furniture... I have a friend that has big millwork factory and we tested it for box beams to sell online. The system was bad ***. And super strong on the ones with metal locking mechanisms.

Not cheap but cool. About half the cost of a Domino for the jointer. If you don't want to fart with clamping, it's tits.

From a strength/cost perspective as others have said... Dowells and routed glue joints are much superior to normal biscuit joints.


View attachment 19330


You can see here in image 3, the strength is from the little screws holding in each half of the biscuit.

View attachment 19331

Maybe show the wife to see if it arrives as a gift down the road.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Biscuit joiner is one of my favorite tools. I like the extra strength that comes from using the biscuits. Especially handy for angled joints. You will find ways to use it that you haven’t thought about. I have a Ryobi and find it easy to use.

Good wood glue + good set of clamps with even pressure > biscuits

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Dominoes are amazing

There is a custom furniture maker near my house that does amazing work. He uses dominoes on his joints.

Really simple and can help if your boards aren’t flat.

 

[MedDawg]

Glue and clamps. I feel like biscuits are a waste of time. A properly glued joint is stronger than the actual wood itself. Careful not to clamp too tightly. This causes the joint to roll. It also squeezes out most of the glue. Best of luck.

Up until this post I thought y'all were making stuff up and playing a joke on us.

 

[Dawgbite]

I have one and I’ve maybe used it twice in ten years. A dowel pin jig is cheaper and a better joint. A biscuit joiner has its purpose but they are few and far between.

 

[Mobile Bay]

View attachment 19329

Picky people pick Polk's

 

[RocketDawg]

I have one I've had for many years (a Porter Cable) and really like it. It doesn't so much help stregthen the joint as it does to keep them in alignment. Plus, you can use the biscuits to straighten a slightly warped board. It's one of the easiest tools to use as well.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

I have one and I’ve maybe used it twice in ten years. A dowel pin jig is cheaper and a better joint. A biscuit joiner has its purpose but they are few and far between.

It's great for scarf joints in long runs of crown for instance...

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

I bought a biscuit joiner quite awhile ago when they seemed to first hit the market. It is a tool with a limit to its usage. Today I would probably go with the beadlock jig and floating tenons Like you can get from Rockler. It is excellent for all joinery and does make the joints stronger. You can use this instead of having to cut mortars and tennons for all sorts of framing.

With that said I also would get a pocket jig. You can use the same drill for both. It is great for joinery that can have an unexposed side.

Those two jigs should have you covered.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

I’ve used thousands of biscuits and drilled thousands of pocket holes over the years. At this point, I really only use biscuits for aligning boards when glueing to make large slabs. It cuts down on sanding time later. As others have said, it doesn’t really add strength.

It’s not a real versatile tool, either. It does one thing, and that’s it. With something like pocket holes, there are a lot of different uses and applications. I even made a pocket hole machine to churn them out with just the pull of a handle.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

I’ve used thousands of biscuits and drilled thousands of pocket holes over the years. At this point, I really only use biscuits for aligning boards when glueing to make large slabs. It cuts down on sanding time later. As others have said, it doesn’t really add strength.

It’s not a real versatile tool, either. It does one thing, and that’s it. With something like pocket holes, there are a lot of different uses and applications. I even made a pocket hole machine to churn them out with just the pull of a handle.

Have you ever used pocket holes for joining table tops? Just wondering what your experience has been with that method.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

I have one I've had for many years (a Porter Cable) and really like it. It doesn't so much help stregthen the joint as it does to keep them in alignment. Plus, you can use the biscuits to straighten a slightly warped board. It's one of the easiest tools to use as well.

Alignment is definitely a consideration for me. Sometimes butt joint tabletops take a good bit of sanding because it is hard to get a completely flush joint on every board. I’ve used dowels too, but it was a cheap jig and they took a really long time for just one tabletop.

 

[dawgoneyall]

This.....

 

[bulldogcountry1]

Have you ever used pocket holes for joining table tops? Just wondering what your experience has been with that method.

No. I either use biscuits and rite bond on large slabs so I won’t have to wrestle with getting boards flush while trying to get it all clamped or just titebond. I have a 20” planer, so I can typically glue 2-3 thick boards together with just glue, plane to final thickness, and then glue those slabs together.

When using pocket holes, you need some clamping force to hold the two piece tight. Otherwise, the angle of the screw will cause the pieces to shift slightly. I’m using glue and pipe clamps, anyway, so the pocket screws don’t bring much to the party in this case.

Are you asking about using pocket screws because you don’t have pipe clamps?

 

[MeridianDog]

I am aware of the grief Harbor Freight gets. Here is their tool at $66.00. Might be an option to try. I have several HF tools that I have used for years.

https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=biscuit%20joiner

 

[idog]

You can do a whole lot if you learn how to cut a few very simple joints(rabbet, lap, dado). If you put money into a good planer it’ll take your woodworking to the next level and expand your ability to use salvaged and rough cut wood. Dowels are good for certain things but if you learn those joints you won’t need them. Novice tip: buy a 4-6’ pine dowel and cut your own for less $ if you’re going that route.

 

[Crazy Cotton]

I haven't used my biscuit jointer in years since I bought this beautiful piece of machined aluminum
Dowel Max
https://www.dowelmax.com/

Dowels provide more structural strength than biscuits, which are more for alignment than joint strengthening. The advantage of biscuits is that they can be a few mm off horizontally, and there's enough give in the joint to align. Multiple dowels have to be dead on or bad things happen. The dowel max allows for that precision. I used to use Kreg a lot on face frames and carcass construction, but I use the dowel max for all of that now. Takes a bit more time, but no holes to plug. I'm a hobbyist not a pro, so the time isn't coming out of my wallet, just keeping me from having to be upstairs doing the dishes. It is 1000% faster to dowel a frame or panel than to do mortice and tenon, and for most stuff the strength is going to be more than enough for the project.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

No. I either use biscuits and rite bond on large slabs so I won’t have to wrestle with getting boards flush while trying to get it all clamped or just titebond. I have a 20” planer, so I can typically glue 2-3 thick boards together with just glue, plane to final thickness, and then glue those slabs together.

When using pocket holes, you need some clamping force to hold the two piece tight. Otherwise, the angle of the screw will cause the pieces to shift slightly. I’m using glue and pipe clamps, anyway, so the pocket screws don’t bring much to the party in this case.

Are you asking about using pocket screws because you don’t have pipe clamps?

I’ve seen the pocket hole method before on blogs and have questioned it. Just curious if anybody’s tried it.

I have bar clamps at the moment. They apply pressure in a weird way for table tops and are kind of a pain. Might be time to spend money on pipe clamps instead.

 

[SoulCatcher]

Once I got my Domino Joiner

I got rid of my biscuit joiner.

As for the OP, I've never used a biscuit joiner to ensure edge-to-edge board alignment. It's certainly an option but I've just never had a need.

I use clamps or waxed blocks with clamps or blocks with wax paper and clamps (always with the clamps) to keep my boards flush. It's worked for me.

 

[TrueMaroonGrind]

You can do a whole lot if you learn how to cut a few very simple joints(rabbet, lap, dado). If you put money into a good planer it’ll take your woodworking to the next level and expand your ability to use salvaged and rough cut wood. Dowels are good for certain things but if you learn those joints you won’t need them. Novice tip: buy a 4-6’ pine dowel and cut your own for less $ if you’re going that route.

I’ll take a look into those joints. I’ve done lap joints before on a couple of things. Dado and rabbet have been kind of intimidating. Really the goal is to get more repeatable steps to get consistent results. Whether that’s joining a table top which spurred this discussion or other joints.

 

[idog]

You can cut all those joints with a sliding miter saw and some chisels to clean them up.

 

[Apoplectic_Objurgator]

You can do a whole lot if you learn how to cut a few very simple joints(rabbet, lap, dado). If you put money into a good planer it’ll take your woodworking to the next level and expand your ability to use salvaged and rough cut wood. Dowels are good for certain things but if you learn those joints you won’t need them. Novice tip: buy a 4-6’ pine dowel and cut your own for less $ if you’re going that route.

Yep - built me a sauna out of rough cut hurricane cypress thanks to that dewalt planner

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Do you have one? If not, then the answer is yes. The answer is always yes when debating about a tool you don't have. Just tell your wife that internet research indicates that it is a must have. You're welcome.