DD

"Darrell Dorsey"

05/08/2006 9:07 AM

Shim for Porter Cable 557 Biscuit Joiner

I recently scored a good deal on a PC 5557 biscuit joiner. Unfortunately it
is a Type 2. I have some ideas for making a shim, but if any of you can
pass on some ideas of how you made your shim, it would be appreciated.

-----
Darrell
[email protected]


This topic has 7 replies

DD

"Darrell Dorsey"

in reply to "Darrell Dorsey" on 05/08/2006 9:07 AM

05/08/2006 10:13 AM

I sent him an email already.
Thanks,
Darrell

"Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Darrell Dorsey" wrote in message
>
>> I recently scored a good deal on a PC 5557 biscuit joiner. Unfortunately
> it
>> is a Type 2. I have some ideas for making a shim, but if any of you can
>> pass on some ideas of how you made your shim, it would be appreciated.
>
> Owen Lowe used to offer/sell them but, IIRC, he quit doing so a year or so
> ago. Might trying pinging him here for advice.
>
> --
> www.e-woodshop.net
> Last update: 7/30/06
>
>

DD

"Darrell Dorsey"

in reply to "Darrell Dorsey" on 05/08/2006 9:07 AM

05/08/2006 6:44 PM


"J. Clarke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Darrell Dorsey wrote:
>
>> I recently scored a good deal on a PC 5557 biscuit joiner. Unfortunately
>> it
>> is a Type 2. I have some ideas for making a shim, but if any of you can
>> pass on some ideas of how you made your shim, it would be appreciated.
>
> Obvious way to make a shim is to cut it out of a soda can. If you need
> thicker than that then just about any decent hobby shop has aluminum and
> brass sheet stock in a variety of thicknesses.

The shim is needed for fence alignment on the face. I guess I wasn't clear,
in that I was asking the question to those who'd done the procedure on their
Type 2 557 joiners. I was interested to know how people that made their own
attached them to the face, and what kind of sandpaper did they use.

I made one for already, so I'm all set now.

I removed the anti-skid on the face and measured a gap of .0426 with feeler
gauges. I sat the joiner face on my scanner bed and made a copy (template).

My local hobby shop had some 0.04 polystyrene material. I had some nice
heavy duty double stick tape from Rockler. I also picked up some 120 grit
6" PSA disk. The stick on the disk seemed pretty strong. I cut out the
template, and temp glued it to the styrene. Cut out the styrene with some
scissors.

Then applied and trimmed out the tape and sand paper. Finally I applied
this to the face of the jointer.

I didn't trim out the slot. I let the joiner do that with a few test cuts.
So I now have a sort of zero clearance working on the cutting slot. The
finished shim is now slightly proud of the fence. I think this is going to
work great.

Darrell

DD

"Darrell Dorsey"

in reply to "Darrell Dorsey" on 05/08/2006 9:07 AM

05/08/2006 2:18 PM


"Joe Bemier" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 5 Aug 2006 09:07:05 -0500, "Darrell Dorsey"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>I recently scored a good deal on a PC 5557 biscuit joiner. Unfortunately
>>it
>>is a Type 2. I have some ideas for making a shim, but if any of you can
>>pass on some ideas of how you made your shim, it would be appreciated.
>>
>>-----
>>Darrell
>>[email protected]
>>
> I dont understand the "Type"
>
> Mine is a 557 and the ID Plate says it is a Type 3
> What is the significance of the type rating?

J,
This site will explain the differences better than I can:
http://www.huntfamily.com/pc557.cfm

Darrell

Sk

"Swingman"

in reply to "Darrell Dorsey" on 05/08/2006 9:07 AM

05/08/2006 9:48 AM

"Darrell Dorsey" wrote in message

> I recently scored a good deal on a PC 5557 biscuit joiner. Unfortunately
it
> is a Type 2. I have some ideas for making a shim, but if any of you can
> pass on some ideas of how you made your shim, it would be appreciated.

Owen Lowe used to offer/sell them but, IIRC, he quit doing so a year or so
ago. Might trying pinging him here for advice.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 7/30/06

JC

"J. Clarke"

in reply to "Darrell Dorsey" on 05/08/2006 9:07 AM

05/08/2006 4:28 PM

Darrell Dorsey wrote:

> I recently scored a good deal on a PC 5557 biscuit joiner. Unfortunately
> it
> is a Type 2. I have some ideas for making a shim, but if any of you can
> pass on some ideas of how you made your shim, it would be appreciated.

Obvious way to make a shim is to cut it out of a soda can. If you need
thicker than that then just about any decent hobby shop has aluminum and
brass sheet stock in a variety of thicknesses.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

JB

Joe Bemier

in reply to "Darrell Dorsey" on 05/08/2006 9:07 AM

05/08/2006 4:32 PM

On Sat, 5 Aug 2006 14:18:19 -0500, "Darrell Dorsey"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Joe Bemier" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On Sat, 5 Aug 2006 09:07:05 -0500, "Darrell Dorsey"
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>I recently scored a good deal on a PC 5557 biscuit joiner. Unfortunately
>>>it
>>>is a Type 2. I have some ideas for making a shim, but if any of you can
>>>pass on some ideas of how you made your shim, it would be appreciated.
>>>
>>>-----
>>>Darrell
>>>[email protected]
>>>
>> I dont understand the "Type"
>>
>> Mine is a 557 and the ID Plate says it is a Type 3
>> What is the significance of the type rating?
>
>J,
>This site will explain the differences better than I can:
>http://www.huntfamily.com/pc557.cfm
>
>Darrell
>
Thanks, Darrell - Interesting...learn something new everyday. The site
says: *If you have Type 3 the fence is fixed*
So, I guess I bought the right one w/o knowing I was doing so.

J

JB

Joe Bemier

in reply to "Darrell Dorsey" on 05/08/2006 9:07 AM

05/08/2006 2:38 PM

On Sat, 5 Aug 2006 09:07:05 -0500, "Darrell Dorsey"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I recently scored a good deal on a PC 5557 biscuit joiner. Unfortunately it
>is a Type 2. I have some ideas for making a shim, but if any of you can
>pass on some ideas of how you made your shim, it would be appreciated.
>
>-----
>Darrell
>[email protected]
>
I dont understand the "Type"

Mine is a 557 and the ID Plate says it is a Type 3
What is the significance of the type rating?

Thanks,
J


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