is there any reason to pay $150 for a new brand name biscuit joiner versus
just getting a $50 cheap version online or something? they only do one job,
right? anyone have bad experiences getting the cheaper tool in this
instance? with most tools i can understand the need for spending more money,
but does that hold true with this tool as well?
thanks,
chris
depends on what you are building, I have an old one that only does FF
biscuits and it was cheap. Does it work, absolutely. would I use it on
a piece that I am selling, maybe. setup time to make it accurate cuts
into the profit. I like dowels and dowels are still a viable
substitute. just delivered a CPU isolation cabinet to a customer and he
was thrilled. Doweled the top to the sides and the bottom to the sides.
Could I have used biscuits, yep but setup time would have been excessive.
BRuce
Holly Woods Woodcrafts
Chris Miller wrote:
> is there any reason to pay $150 for a new brand name biscuit joiner versus
> just getting a $50 cheap version online or something? they only do one job,
> right? anyone have bad experiences getting the cheaper tool in this
> instance? with most tools i can understand the need for spending more money,
> but does that hold true with this tool as well?
> thanks,
> chris
>
>
--
---
BRuce
On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 01:19:53 -0700, "Chris Miller"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>is there any reason to pay $150 for a new brand name biscuit joiner versus
>just getting a $50 cheap version online or something? t
Only if you want accuracy. FWIW, _top quality_ biscuit cutters are
more like $400-500, as in the Lamello versions. I feel that I bought
a mid-level, but plenty usable DeWalt @ $150.
Since biscuit joiners are all about repeatability, I'd thoroughly
inspect a cheap one before buying. If you're really not sure you'd
get your money's worth out of a good one, do it on a router table with
a biscuit slot cutter, use dowels, etc...
Those who see your finished work do not know about the cash you saved.
<G>
Barry
Chris Miller wrote:
> is there any reason to pay $150 for a new brand name biscuit joiner versus
> just getting a $50 cheap version online or something? they only do one job,
> right? anyone have bad experiences getting the cheaper tool in this
> instance? with most tools i can understand the need for spending more money,
> but does that hold true with this tool as well?
> thanks,
> chris
>
I decided to try the $40 Harbor Freight joiner after getting some
products from them that worked OK. I figured, as long as the cutter was
sharp and didn't have play in the bearing, it would work. I was wrong.
It made a nice enough slot, but the flexible plastic fence meant you
were never sure where the slot would end up. Worse, the mechanism for
adjusting the fence was a difficult-to-use kludge and in spite of my
best alignment efforts it was making slots at a noticeable angle.
Fortunately, HF has a good return policy. I still didn't want to shell
out $200 for the PC (probably the best of the popular models, given its
versatility and all-aroud good construction) so I paid $100 for the
fixed-fence Freud. It has a rigid, stable fence assembly and I am happy
with it.
--Martin McCrorey
On 14-Sep-2003, "@sbc(nospam)global.net" <""Nobody\"@sbc(nospam)global.net"> wrote:
> You can pay for a good quality tool once or buy the same cheap tool many
> times over.
Don't know if it's been said here - I learned it from someone in my bike mechanic
days : Cheap tools are a luxury few can afford.
Mike
You can pay for a good quality tool once or buy the same cheap tool many
times over.
BRuce wrote:
> depends on what you are building, I have an old one that only does FF
> biscuits and it was cheap. Does it work, absolutely. would I use it on
> a piece that I am selling, maybe. setup time to make it accurate cuts
> into the profit. I like dowels and dowels are still a viable
> substitute. just delivered a CPU isolation cabinet to a customer and he
> was thrilled. Doweled the top to the sides and the bottom to the sides.
> Could I have used biscuits, yep but setup time would have been excessive.
>
> BRuce
> Holly Woods Woodcrafts
>
> Chris Miller wrote:
>
>> is there any reason to pay $150 for a new brand name biscuit joiner
>> versus
>> just getting a $50 cheap version online or something? they only do one
>> job,
>> right? anyone have bad experiences getting the cheaper tool in this
>> instance? with most tools i can understand the need for spending more
>> money,
>> but does that hold true with this tool as well?
>> thanks,
>> chris
>>
>>
>
"Chris Miller" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> is there any reason to pay $150 for a new brand name biscuit joiner versus
> just getting a $50 cheap version online or something? they only do one
job,
> right? anyone have bad experiences getting the cheaper tool in this
> instance? with most tools i can understand the need for spending more
money,
> but does that hold true with this tool as well?
> thanks,
> chris
Why would this tool be different?
What do you mean by only one job? It does it at various depth settings for
different biscuits, it does it at different height setting depending on the
wood thickness or the particular requirements, it does it at different
angles also. Many variations of the "one" job.
So, maybe coming back to a true 90 degrees every time is not important to
you. Maybe changing from a #0 to a #20 does not have to be accurate.
Buy what makes you happy.
Ed