02-06-2012, 09:05 PM
Hi,
£30 for a brand new biscuit joiner from Aldi is a genuine bargain Joe and if I didn't have one I'd have bought one of these.
Nice one Big Al and I thought you had only borrowed it from Pete.
I fully agree with you David; once a biscuit joiner is bought it earns it's keep; I find when I need the biscuit joiner I need it badly; yes it sits in its moulded box for long periods of time but mine has done a lot of work and saved me a lot of money over many years. As with buying any good useful tool the price is soon forgotten and it will pay for itself many times over. Your bench David is a good example of the kind of job that can be done. I too join boards using biscuits and a double row added into a bench top will give tremendous strength. A biscuit joint is much stronger than the usual tongue and groove joint.
Thank you John for your kind words; I'm pleased you like the desk so far. Your desk is up to the job and pleasing enough to look at whilst serving it's intended purpose. I'm aware that biscuits can and do telegraph through to the surface if not planted deep enough but where they can be used they are extremely useful and so easy to fit. Lose concentration for a second and end up with a biscuit slot cut in a face when it should be cut in a side; it sure is frustrating when this happens. I don't think I suggested it was useful for radio cabinet work but for general household cabinets it is a brilliant bit of kit and I wouldn't be without mine. Lots of our furniture both fitted as in kitchen cabinets and wardrobes and also bookcases; tables and panelling was much easier to make with this power tool.
I'm sure with a bit of practice Mark you will find more and more use for your biscuit joiner and even if yours is a cheap one as long as it cuts slots where intended that's all the expensive biscuit joiners do anyway. Like John's desk yours Mark is fit for purpose and doing it's intended job and both desks will continue to function for many years to come. I just wanted something a little bit different and I enjoy woodworking so turned my desk into a project taking my time with it.
I actually used my biscuit joiner on the Ekco TV cabinet I restored but in general a biscuit joiner is for more robust work; it excels when used on MDF or chipboard and I doubt there is a better or stronger joint that can be used in these materials. Three sizes of biscuits are available but I only ever use the large #20 size. As John drew our attention to the biscuits telegraphing through on thinner material but this does not mean biscuits cannot be used in such circumstances; simply off-set the slot giving a decent thickness towards the face side. Practice with a biscuit joiner pays off.
I seem to have kicked off a biscuit joiner debate which is good because I like my biscuit joiner and it has been of immense use during this desk project. No power tool is perfect but a biscuit joiner comes pretty near if used as it was designed to be used. I've never liked dowels and don't fancy trying out “Pocket screws”. Over the years I've cut plain and fancy joints but nothing comes near the sheer speed and accuracy of a biscuit joint; it beats the heck out of thumping a mortice chisel with a hammer; how many joints can you think of that can be made from two very small pencil marks in a home workshop? Yes I like my biscuit joiner.
What a fantastic day I've had today. I collected my chum Mike Phelan at 7.20 this morning and we drove over to Rufforth Auto Jumble near York. We arrived an hour later and had a stroll around then at 9 we met up with our chum David (Yorkie) as arranged. The weather was kind to us and we all came away with plenty of goodies. David very kindly handed me a selection of gifts from him and Jennifer but I didn't open them as I would let Bron have this pleasure once I returned home. The time flew by and I was back home just after 1 o'clock with a smile on my face; this is my kind of retail therapy.
Bron opened the gifts and I was amazed to be handed a beautiful turned wooden pen holder turned by David from hardwood burr. This is perfect for my new desk and how thoughtful of David to do this for me; I'm absolutely delighted with it and it can be seen in the picture. David's wood-turning is always exemplary and what a fitting item to sit on the new desk top; thank you David this really is most appreciated as are the other gifts.
David's wonderful gift.
I've made a bit more progress on the desk and both side units are nearing completion; this afternoon I spent a couple of happy hours cutting the base boards taking a great deal of care to get the mitre corners just right. I didn't trust the big new Evolution mitre saw to do this so used the Startrite saw bench with the sliding table fitted tilting the blade to 45 degrees and taking slow cuts as it is fitted with a tipped combination blade; it worked a treat but all this work is very time consuming and I only felt as though I had been working for a couple of minutes before tidying up and putting the car away. I can spend a full day working on the desk tomorrow and am looking forward to it. I think Christmas came early today.
I have a confession to make and to let everyone know I make mistakes in fact I make many mistakes. Yesterday I had a major session working on both desk base units and knocked off for dinner; when I came up into the bungalow Bron informed me dinner would be ready in about half an hour so I took a pot of tea into the garage; just enough time to glue one of the base units up? I pulled out the correct number of biscuits and arranged all the pieces so that I knew exactly where they went and got stuck into gluing up working at a fair pace. I had assembled some of the pieces but as I tried to align the second side panel something was preventing it going home? Boy did I panic; half way through a big glue up to find I'd cut two biscuit slots in the wrong position; I can highly recommend this to induce an heart attack; with the glue already applied rapidly drying how do I get out of this? I pulled the glue wetted biscuits from the wrong slots in the side panel and quickly cut two slots in the correct position; finally the unit went together.
Base unit nearing completion
These biscuits have tremendous holding power; it took all my strength to pull the biscuits free using a big pair of pliers. I can guarantee every time I have only just enough time to do a job something goes wrong; such is life and I'm only human.
Kind regards, Col.
£30 for a brand new biscuit joiner from Aldi is a genuine bargain Joe and if I didn't have one I'd have bought one of these.
Nice one Big Al and I thought you had only borrowed it from Pete.
I fully agree with you David; once a biscuit joiner is bought it earns it's keep; I find when I need the biscuit joiner I need it badly; yes it sits in its moulded box for long periods of time but mine has done a lot of work and saved me a lot of money over many years. As with buying any good useful tool the price is soon forgotten and it will pay for itself many times over. Your bench David is a good example of the kind of job that can be done. I too join boards using biscuits and a double row added into a bench top will give tremendous strength. A biscuit joint is much stronger than the usual tongue and groove joint.
Thank you John for your kind words; I'm pleased you like the desk so far. Your desk is up to the job and pleasing enough to look at whilst serving it's intended purpose. I'm aware that biscuits can and do telegraph through to the surface if not planted deep enough but where they can be used they are extremely useful and so easy to fit. Lose concentration for a second and end up with a biscuit slot cut in a face when it should be cut in a side; it sure is frustrating when this happens. I don't think I suggested it was useful for radio cabinet work but for general household cabinets it is a brilliant bit of kit and I wouldn't be without mine. Lots of our furniture both fitted as in kitchen cabinets and wardrobes and also bookcases; tables and panelling was much easier to make with this power tool.
I'm sure with a bit of practice Mark you will find more and more use for your biscuit joiner and even if yours is a cheap one as long as it cuts slots where intended that's all the expensive biscuit joiners do anyway. Like John's desk yours Mark is fit for purpose and doing it's intended job and both desks will continue to function for many years to come. I just wanted something a little bit different and I enjoy woodworking so turned my desk into a project taking my time with it.
I actually used my biscuit joiner on the Ekco TV cabinet I restored but in general a biscuit joiner is for more robust work; it excels when used on MDF or chipboard and I doubt there is a better or stronger joint that can be used in these materials. Three sizes of biscuits are available but I only ever use the large #20 size. As John drew our attention to the biscuits telegraphing through on thinner material but this does not mean biscuits cannot be used in such circumstances; simply off-set the slot giving a decent thickness towards the face side. Practice with a biscuit joiner pays off.
I seem to have kicked off a biscuit joiner debate which is good because I like my biscuit joiner and it has been of immense use during this desk project. No power tool is perfect but a biscuit joiner comes pretty near if used as it was designed to be used. I've never liked dowels and don't fancy trying out “Pocket screws”. Over the years I've cut plain and fancy joints but nothing comes near the sheer speed and accuracy of a biscuit joint; it beats the heck out of thumping a mortice chisel with a hammer; how many joints can you think of that can be made from two very small pencil marks in a home workshop? Yes I like my biscuit joiner.
What a fantastic day I've had today. I collected my chum Mike Phelan at 7.20 this morning and we drove over to Rufforth Auto Jumble near York. We arrived an hour later and had a stroll around then at 9 we met up with our chum David (Yorkie) as arranged. The weather was kind to us and we all came away with plenty of goodies. David very kindly handed me a selection of gifts from him and Jennifer but I didn't open them as I would let Bron have this pleasure once I returned home. The time flew by and I was back home just after 1 o'clock with a smile on my face; this is my kind of retail therapy.
Bron opened the gifts and I was amazed to be handed a beautiful turned wooden pen holder turned by David from hardwood burr. This is perfect for my new desk and how thoughtful of David to do this for me; I'm absolutely delighted with it and it can be seen in the picture. David's wood-turning is always exemplary and what a fitting item to sit on the new desk top; thank you David this really is most appreciated as are the other gifts.
David's wonderful gift.
I've made a bit more progress on the desk and both side units are nearing completion; this afternoon I spent a couple of happy hours cutting the base boards taking a great deal of care to get the mitre corners just right. I didn't trust the big new Evolution mitre saw to do this so used the Startrite saw bench with the sliding table fitted tilting the blade to 45 degrees and taking slow cuts as it is fitted with a tipped combination blade; it worked a treat but all this work is very time consuming and I only felt as though I had been working for a couple of minutes before tidying up and putting the car away. I can spend a full day working on the desk tomorrow and am looking forward to it. I think Christmas came early today.
I have a confession to make and to let everyone know I make mistakes in fact I make many mistakes. Yesterday I had a major session working on both desk base units and knocked off for dinner; when I came up into the bungalow Bron informed me dinner would be ready in about half an hour so I took a pot of tea into the garage; just enough time to glue one of the base units up? I pulled out the correct number of biscuits and arranged all the pieces so that I knew exactly where they went and got stuck into gluing up working at a fair pace. I had assembled some of the pieces but as I tried to align the second side panel something was preventing it going home? Boy did I panic; half way through a big glue up to find I'd cut two biscuit slots in the wrong position; I can highly recommend this to induce an heart attack; with the glue already applied rapidly drying how do I get out of this? I pulled the glue wetted biscuits from the wrong slots in the side panel and quickly cut two slots in the correct position; finally the unit went together.
Base unit nearing completion
These biscuits have tremendous holding power; it took all my strength to pull the biscuits free using a big pair of pliers. I can guarantee every time I have only just enough time to do a job something goes wrong; such is life and I'm only human.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
