In the world of woodworking, plenty of different tools can make your work life much easier. A biscuit joiner is undoubtedly one of them. We have the answers if you are wondering what a biscuit joiner does.
A biscuit joiner is a woodworking power tool for making biscuit joints on wooden pieces. It helps you create round or football-shaped holes in the wooden workpiece based on the biscuits you want to use for joining two pieces of wood.
If you are still confused, stick to the end with us. We will dive into the details regarding biscuit jointer and everything you need to know.
What is a biscuit joint?
Before discussing the tool, let’s learn about biscuit joints first. It’s one of the strongest joints to join two pieces of wood. These joints are usually reliable, so you don’t have to worry about them coming off anytime soon.
Usually, a biscuit joint consists of two parts. A chip of wood is compressed and has an oval shape, pretty much like a football. The wooden chip is the biscuit. Then, you must cut slots based on the two wooden pieces you want to join.
Later on, you will need to fill those slots with glue. They swell up when you place the biscuits into the glued slots. The swelling ends up locking the two wooden pieces and joining them with a strong bond.
The joints almost become invisible if you can cut perfect slots based on the biscuits. So, there will be no worries about a bad appearance on the project you are working on.
What does a biscuit jointer do?
Until now, we have given you a little intro to biscuit joints and their value. It’s time to dive into the functionality of a biscuit jointer. The biscuit jointer isn’t the tool that creates the biscuits or wooden chips.
You can get those premade in the market. Or you can use any tool to make them. The primary purpose of a biscuit joiner is to create the slots for the biscuits in wooden pieces.
A biscuit jointer allows you to create holes into the wooden pieces that you want to join. Using a jointer makes the process much easier and helps you get the perfect alignment without wasting too much effort and time.
It has a sharp saw blade that cuts holes in your workpiece based on the different sizes of biscuits available in the market. You can create perfect slots following a very straightforward process.
You have to take measurements of the biscuit you plan to use and then measure that on the two wooden pieces. Then, simply use the jointer to create workpiece slots with those measurements. Typically, biscuits come in 0, 10, and 20 size variants.
That’s pretty much what you can do with a biscuit jointer. You simply create slots for putting in the biscuits or wooden chips. Without the biscuit jointer, it can be challenging to create those slots on your workpieces.
For further clarification, here is a video on how to use a biscuit jointer.
What are the advantages of a biscuit joint?
A biscuit joint isn’t the only way to join two wooden pieces for a project. You have to weigh the advantages of biscuit joints over other joints. Let’s take a quick look at the benefits of doing biscuit joints.
Easy to do
Doing a biscuit joint is one of the easiest things you can do as a woodworker. As long as you have a biscuit joiner, it doesn’t take much work to do a biscuit joint.
You just use the joiner to create the slots in the wooden pieces and get the perfect measurements.
Saves time
While the joint is easy to do, it’s also very quick. You just have to wait till the glue dries out. And that’s pretty much it.
Cutting the slots with a biscuit joiner doesn’t take much time. So, creating a biscuit joint gets done within a short time.
Perfect for small projects
Biscuit joints are the perfect type of wood joint for small projects. It doesn’t put the wooden pieces under too much stress, so the wood stays pretty strong throughout.
It’s affordable
Usually, purchasing biscuits doesn’t cost too much. You can get almost 100 pieces of biscuits at a $10 price. Since the biscuits are all premade, there is no need to cut any wood.
It makes your job even more effortless and makes the process more cost-effective.
Before proceeding with biscuit joints, immediately remember it’s unsuitable for every project. You must consider the benefits over other joints to see which suits your project best.
Who should get a biscuit joiner?
No matter how good biscuit jointers are, you can’t use them for every project. It’s the perfect tool for those who want to join wooden pieces of varying thicknesses.
You can use the jointer to join plywood sheets or MDF boards. The tool can even be used to assemble wooden pieces.
The perfect use of a biscuit joiner is when you have to join wooden pieces keeping a 90-degree angle. It’s called mitered joints.
Aside from doing miter joints, you can use the biscuit jointer to join edges, end to the edge, make butt or offset joints, and so much more.
With this versatility, the biscuit jointer becomes the ultimate woodworking joinery tool for DIYers and hobbyists. You can work on small to medium projects with a biscuit jointer effortlessly.
So, a biscuit jointer can become your best friend if you are into DIY woodworking projects.
FAQ
Do you still have questions regarding a biscuit jointer? Then, check out some of the most popular questions about the woodworking tool. We will answer some of those here. You may find the answers you are looking for as well.
Yes, you can make biscuit joints even if you don’t have a biscuit joiner. Typically, you can use a router tool for creating biscuit joints. Or you can even use any means to create slots on the wooden pieces based on the biscuit measurements.
There are a couple of disadvantages to biscuit joints over other wood joints. First, they don’t hold up well against pressure tests. Secondly, the measurements must be very accurate; otherwise, they don’t align.
Well, that depends on whether you have done an excellent job. It can be pretty substantial if the biscuit joint has accurate measurements and perfect alignment. It can be more significant than a dowel joint, without any doubt.
The initial phase shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes for the biscuit joints to dry appropriately. However, for the best results and later wood processing, it’s better to let the joint dry for about a day.
Conclusion
We hope now you understand what a biscuit joiner does and whether you should get one. As a beginner woodworker working on light projects, it’s a great tool in your arsenal.
For some parting words, we recommend getting the tool if you do a lot of woodworking projects. In that case, getting the tool can be worthwhile because you will save time, effort, and money. Otherwise, you can use other means to create slots and biscuit joints.
Whether getting the tool is worthwhile for you or not depends mainly on your preferences and needs. So, go through those and make a decision.
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