Question: Is A Biscuit Joiner Necessary?

Biscuits keep the faces of the boards aligned as you close the clamps — helpful on a large glue-up. It’s also a huge benefit when working with a solid wood to plywood combination, such as when a solid-wood band is used to cover the edge of a plywood shelf.

Do you need to use a biscuit joiner?

For cabinet-face frames, biscuits are a viable option and might be helpful for attaching them to the edges of a plywood cabinet. But you really don’t need them at all for this use. There are some other uses, but I don’t find any of them to be a compelling reason to own a biscuit joiner.

What can I use instead of a biscuit joiner?

Some tests suggest a dowel joint will provide stronger joinery than biscuits. Tests also indicate that dowel joints are not as strong as tenon joints or dovetail joints. They do make solid and accurate joints, though. A dowel joint will be a better method than nails or screws and are much less susceptible to breakage.

What are the disadvantages of a biscuit joint?

Biscuits don’t fare well when matched against other joints in wood-joint torture tests. Because biscuits are relatively short, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that this joint isn’t as strong as traditional mortise-and-tenon or half-lap joints.

Can you use dowels instead of biscuits?

Since the biscuits do have some slop in the slots they do not have to be as precisely located as dowel holes. Biscuits don’ t really add much strength. They are more for alignment, where the dowels will add a good deal of strength. Biscuits make an okay spline sometimes, but dowels are by FAR stronger in most cases.

What is the purpose of a biscuit joiner?

A biscuit joiner or biscuit jointer (or sometimes plate joiner) is a woodworking tool used to join two pieces of wood together. A biscuit joiner uses a small circular saw blade to cut a crescent-shaped hole (called the mouth) in the opposite edges of two pieces of wood or wood composite panels.

Are dowels stronger than screws?

Dowel Strength Dowel joinery is stronger than screw joinery. The increased glue surface caused by the glue deeply penetrating the wood gives the dowel more holding power. Dowels also have superior holding power in modern composite materials such as particleboard and plywood.

What is a rabbet joint?

A rabbet (American English) or rebate (British English) is a recess or groove cut into the edge of a piece of machinable material, usually wood. A rabbet can be used to form a joint with another piece of wood (often containing a dado). Rabbet joints are easy to construct and have good appeal to them.

How tight should biscuits fit?

Biscuits should be somewhat loose; they are not designed to align parts. They are compressed during manufacture and are designed to swell with the application of water-based adhesive. Good quality biscuits should actually rattle just a bit in the slots.

How far apart are biscuit joints?

The biscuits should be about 6″ apart. Spread the boards apart. Using a biscuit joiner, cut a slot at each mark, making sure to center the cuts according to the marks (Image 2). Apply a little bit of wood glue along the length of the edge to be joined as well as inside the slots.

What is a dowel joint?

Dowels joints are a way that drawers sections are fastened together. Including dowels in the connecting sections of wood make more accurate, stronger connections that simply using glue alone. Dowel joints are incredibly strong and visually attractive if they are done right.

Can you biscuit joint particle board?

Biscuit joinery was originally developed to build cabinet carcasses using materials such as particleboard and MDF. Biscuits are a perfect way to join these materials.

Can a hand planer be used as a jointer?

A planer can be used as a jointer by following a few woodworking tricks. If your workshop doesn’t have a jointer to square up an edge or your wood piece is too large to fit through, you can use your planer to flatten both pieces of wood.

What can I use if I don’t have a jointer?

If you don’t have one, and one isn’t available to you, you can make a router sled and use that to flatten both faces of your board, then a different technique to edge joint them. Last but not least, this will hold true for all the techniques mentioned, you can always use hand tools!

Do you really need a jointer?

Simply purchase your lumber already milled in S3S or S4S form (surfaced on three sides or surfaced on 4 sides). If you’re at a point in your woodworking where you’re starting to use rough sawn lumber, say from a lumber mill or your local sawyer, then a jointer is absolutely essential to your shop workflow.