Thank you for this video, because based on everything you were able to show us I decided to buy the Makita and yes it comes with some floes but is by far my favorite. So thank you 🙏🏾
I have the Makita in a pro workshop. Never any issues at all with the fence. You really have to try to screw up alignment in fact. We looked closely at loads of joiners and the Makita was one of the very best available and is set up perfectly aligned from the factory. It’s a quality bit if kit with many fans in pro workshops. Sure there are minor niggles with the Makita but used properly you can work around all of them with ease. All joiners have their flaws and the Marita has fewer than most. My only niggle is the dust extraction port needed to be slightly longer for an adaptor to have a decent range of movement and stay firmly located. These make a lot of dust do really need to be connected to an extractor. Overall the Makita is a joy to use.
Thank you for this close look and comparison. Since all of these have some degree of problem with alignment of the fence to the cutter, it seems a reliable way to guarantee parallel aligment would be to set the machine down with its base hard to the table and then set a spacer block of desired thickness and full width of the fence on the table right under it. Drop the fence down to make good contact with the spacer and lock it. Not as elegant as a machine with better fence would be, but at least eliminates possibility of biscuits unparallel to cutter and workpiece.
OMG, the sloppy English I have to read here is not acceptable! Are you a native English speaker? If yes, then stop being sloppy in your writing. These are the same sloppy habits that carry over into other areas of life. Be literate, not semi-literate. ALIGNMENT, not ALIGMENT. Unparallel is not a word. Unparalleled is a word and an adjective. The correct phrasing is, 'eliminates the possibility of biscuits not parallel to the cutter and workpiece'. If you want to use UNPARALLELED, this is a sample: The castle was unparalleled splendor in those times. The meaning is quite different. 'Unparalleled' means having no parallel or equal; exceptional. Not about parallel lines.
@mjremy2605 Thanks for taking time to point out the typo and vocabulary error in my post. I will try to proofread more carefully in future. Offensively written as it was, did you find my suggestion sufficiently understandable to help with your biscuit joinery? If so, I will limp away properly chastened, yet not feeling totally worthless.Again, my deepest thanks.
@mjremy2605 Trying to further take advantage of your tutelage, I looked up "unparallel." Imagine my surprise to find that even Merriam-Webster does not know what you do. They purport: "unparallel," adjective, meaning "not parallel," as in "unparallel lines intersect." Best that you advise them.
A very thorough and useful review. Many thanks! I was going to buy the Dewalt or Makita, but now, will switch to Porter Cable. The angled cuts are very useful when joining mitered corners of cabinets and picture frames.
Finally I found a good review with complete information. I am going to buy Porter Cable, I was using a Makita and the removable front part made it very difficult to use.
great review! never used a joiner but looking to start ... great to know the practical issues ... only a pro would know this detail - thanks for sharing!
I've got the Porter Cable 557. Of all the jointers compared It's the best of the bunch. Agree the fence could have been designed better without that open space which would have eliminated the need for the adapter but it isn't a great inconvenience. You can even add a plate permanently to the fence to fill the gap eliminating the adapter completely & re-calibrate the height adjustment to compensate for the plate thickness. It's expensive at $300 but you can wait to buy it on sale...I did. After 30+ years of wood working I can say Porter cable is the best of the lot!
Most people I see review these don't seem to know that with the Makita there is a 45deg notch in the subfence. You can use this to register the board and cut the biscuit grooves quite easily. We used it this way in the cabinet making factories I worked in.
@@johnnytocino9313 I like the DeWalt better than the Makita but that might be because the Makitas I used were all well used in a work environment. My DeWalt is only used by me at home. In saying that I can't fault the DeWalt it's a great tool.
Almost all of my work is with 3/4" stock. Given that, I rareely use the fence. I reference off the base of the joiner to a flat table top. It always puts the slot a fixed distance from the table top which is nearly, if not eactly centered on 3/4" stock. But even 3/4" stock isn't always 3/4". That also eliminates the need for plastic inserts to cut slots into narrow stock.
Great video. Thanks👍. A few things confirmed and some surprises. The Craftsman and Ryobi are crap as expected, the Makita and particularly the Triton are disappointing, which I didn't really expect. The Porter Cable was better than expected, considering that a lot of people don't rate their new stuff. I've had the privilege of using a few brand new Dewalts, each one has had the same problem, the base plate being slightly off, so necessary to recalibrate, not good straight out of the box. The one that you unfortunately didn't feature is the Lamello, the king of biscuit jointer with a price to match!
I used to have a Makita that really worked nice. A Lamello, no. But I didn't expect it to be. One thing I used it for was cutting tongue and groove when doing flooring
You can use the Makita to cutout on the 45 using the 90deg fence in place as there is a 45 degree cutout along the heel of the 90deg fence. It allows you to rest the sharp edge of the Mitre in this cutout and cut as you did with the porter cable. Have used this method many times and works great. Good review though. :)
I have a Dewalt that I only use for aligning edge jointing of boards. For more complex type joinery, I use the Dowelmax which I strongly recommend, even though it is quite pricey.
Really good review. Thank you this help decide which to buy. Have you ever reviewed the King jointer? How do it compare since its more affordable if only needed at times?
- To summarize for me, Lamello or Festool is the best choice if one can afford thousands of dollars for one of these tools. Unfortunate that us moderate income woodworkers can't get a reasonably priced tool of any worthwhile quality. Thanx 4 the review.
I can think of a couple of things that would solve certain issues fairly easily. Drill and tap a couple of holes in the fence so you can attach an extension to the fence on the biscuit cutter
Really good review - I wish it'd been available when I was shopping for a biscuit jointer. I bought that Makita, which is ok, but the play in the subfence that you noted drives me nuts.
The problem you address with horizontally aligning the base plate with the Triton and Makita, I would think using a board to align the baseplate on, would solve that shortcoming? Or?
Great overview, thanks. Unfortunately, I was looking to confirm that the play in the Makita 90deg fence is a design flaw and you did that perfectly. But, now I know for sure it isn't me, I'm going to discard it and use the base as a reference. The only problem with this as far as I can see is in setting the height of the cut but, if I need to adjust this, I'll use a small piece of board as a spacer between the joiner and the bench or the piece and the bench. A great way to do the cuts into the face of the piece - while using the joiner's base as reference - is to stand it vertically in a 90deg jig like this guy: ua-cam.com/video/TEhZnFquAV8/v-deo.html I've noticed, since re-reading the Makita manual, that none of the "How to Make Joints" pictures show the 90deg fence being used! I guess it's useful if you really want to create 135deg and you take the time to get it set just right, testing on scrap first. I haven't used the joiner in a mitre yet, but it seems to be solid enough without the 90deg fence.
I have an older type-2 porter cable. I have to be sure to fill the gap of about 1/32-3/64 that is the difference between registering the cut with and without the fence attached. I don't know whether in later types this has been corrected. I have to fill it with a thin strip. I usually just detach the fence. Also, you are wrong about the Dewalt not allowing registering bevel cut "outside" ie with the fence at an acute angle. This joiner has such feature: it is that little 45 degree notch at the inside of the fence that allows this way of registering. It is not as large and secure, though as that of the PC joiner. The Dewalt does allow both type of registering for bevel cuts. But honestly, there are better ways to join bevel cut joints so I never use the plate joiner for bevel joints. Use the spline joint on a table saw- (or the RAS for large objects) -far better, stronger, and more elegant than with a biscuit joiner. The biscuit joiner is for frame joinery only practically speaking, and the fence allows occasionally usefully registering from the top rather the bottom. Otherwise the fence is useless and unimportant.
I have an old Lamello Top Ten I bought before I had a portable table saw and cut all with hand saws. I wish you had included the base model of the Lamello in your survey as it excels at all plate joining work by its design and precision in depth and position on a number of substrates. I will do a demo of that model Top Ten on my channel when time permits. I have seen the other lower cost plate joiners arrive on the market since I purchase the Lamello and I have added several accessories to my model such as the H9 smallest plate and the #6 OMG size, and, the Lamello dust bag that fits to the regular connect for a dust hose to your vac. The dust bag is a good option for several cuts but does fill up if you do ten cuts and you fill the groove just made with lots of saw dust. I run the vac hose most of the time because it keeps all clean. The later model blade offered by Colonial Saw does not work due to the curled chips of dust it creates and thus plugs the exhaust channel very nicely in the alloy base casting.I would think the other brands should have copied Lamello to avoid most of the negative comments this Wood mag video displays. I see similar traits to the Lamello base design in these different machines.Porter Cable seems to be too complicated for me. Triton, after looking at the Duo Doweler tool and its lack of precision, I would take a pass with that brand at any low cost. A 45 degree bevel in any thickness wood that wants to burst through at the thin edge of the bevel can be cured by using something less than the #20 plate and you get a good bond. To call the PC the best fence system is like ignoring Henry Ford in a car comparison of that time. If you are marking reference from the outside of a board and using the DeWalt all is lost with that lack of 45 degree fence; pass on that. The Ryobi would be a good tool to use as a loaner to an DIY neighbor. "oh, I thought I gave that back to you Fred!" That's OK; you can bring it over when you find it.The accessory fence on the Makita tool with that cam lock lever can probably have minimum fence shift if you put a dab of cup grease on the cam that will keep it from micro moving the fence. The bevel groove for the Makita is easy by adjusting for thinner stock and using a smaller plate.So, take a look at my upcoming demo of the Lamello and go from there.
Makita has a very nice system for cutting biscuit in 45 miters that secondary face has a 45 degree bevel on it witch you set over your miter . It works perfectly. I used to own porter cable and it was ok until i drop it and broke the plastic trunnion after that i could only use it to reference of the bottom of the machine
Some people just don’t know how to take care of their tools... If you’re a professional you treat your tools as if they were your bread-and-butter... LoL
great video, I'm trying to find informatin on two different things. 1- How to biscuit join miters other than 90 and 45, specifically a 30 on a hexagon shaped box. 2- joining a miter of 2 different degrees, say a 30 to a 45 for example. Any suggestions or links would really help.
Have you done the math yet to find the complimentary angles for these applications? the 135 setting is 180 - 45 face angle, if you were joining less than 45 you'd take 90- 30 in your case and set then fence to the complimentary angle of 60 on both sides. If joining a 30 to a 45 you'd cut each side at their complimentary angles and slap the biscuit in there and glue up. The angle of the fence is whatever your miter angle is subtracted from 90, that way the plunge cut is perpendicular to whatever surface you are cutting.
8:29 well, that's not too hard to set it parallel to the plate. Given, the base is parallel to the blade, you can easily set the height guide parallel to the base by quickly checking with calipers.
Great review, thanks so much. do you have a 2018 version yet? i dont know when tools come out annually. i am looking at a new biscuit joiner as we speak. thanks again
You skipped over the older Ryobi biscuit joiner. I notice the Ryobi (older blue one) also has the knob to raise and lower fence, and can also do 135 degree cuts. It would seem to be another good candidate for a review? I see reviews on the newer green Ryobi but none for the older one. What's your thoughts?
What good is it to do a review on the Past when Manufacturers Are trying their best to get you to buy New every few Years now... If you want to talk about Older Tools then Their should be Talks about the Older Ryobi Tools such as their 3 hp Plunge Router’s or their 14-15 inch Miter Saw’s... You are Digging up Bones... Sorry... Lastly I personally am sticking with the Older Porter Cable and Milwaukee Tools That were All Made here in the Good Old U.S.A. ...!!! Milwaukee used to say “Nothing But Heavy Duty” and “Milwaukee Built Motors”... Do You See That Today... Greg
I wonder why you did not include an original Lamello in this comparison. The Lamellos (all models) don't have this issues, they all are working absolutely precise and handling is very easy and comfortable!
@@chuckrupert1213 no, that's not the case; the Lamello Classic X is ~2.5 times more than these models - but it is the only biscuit jointer beside the Mafell, which doesn't have the issues all these other models have, and it is an absolute precise tool; so it is worth to have a look at it...
@@fiddleronthebike 2-1/2 x I would consider, but I've not seen any in that price range. I'll do some more research, as I've heard nothing but good about Lamellos. But not 8x better LOL
@@chuckrupert1213 as I said: the Lamello Classic X. It's price (in Europe) is under 500 € (incl. 1000 biscuits and Systainer aso...), don't look for the Zeta P, that is a different tool, not only a biscuit jointer...
CoolHandBart the porter cable one isn't a big issue and it is easily solved with the accessory provided. Porter cable takes the cake on this any day of the week
I have the Porter Cable, In my opinion, it's got them all beat hands down. If I have to cut a biscuit into the end of a board, I simply reference off the base. I've never had to use the plastic adapter.
A good review but it left me thinking there isn't a machine that allows for accurate working. They all appear to need an after-market fence that clamps and positions the cutter really accurately. How about an update?
If you want to sell these. I can explain the real difference in application. I do not believe this person to be comfortable with the tool and possibly never used one. I own a couple. Dewalt does do the exact things he said it does not, the portercable is built that way for dedicated face framing…… where you would have a jig setup for cabinet making. Portercable is one of the only ones to come with a secondary FF (face frame) blade designed for this process. I setup my dewalt in 10 seconds from different biscuits to height and fencing with no issue ever. The video didn’t cover dust extraction capabilities. I subscribe to the magazine and I’ve watched videos. This popped up. Im actually more confused than educated. I don’t know it all by any means but this video made me more confused from a beginner standpoint. Im sorry. For the comment but I expected knowledge and someone comfortable with the tooling and how it operates in real applications.
I have the Dewalt unit and I really am not impressed with it. I avoid Ryobi, Mikita and Craftsman. Too many issues in the past. I have Porter Cable and Bosch tools and they have been good to work with. Spend a couple bucks more and get the tools you will not need to replace. I never trust the scales on these tools until I have proven they are accurate.
I've used numerous biscuit jointers and in my honest opinion you should just buy a cheap one unless you are using it every day - there's little or no extra value from an expensive one over a decent cheap one. BTW - the Triton machine is complete garbage - the best I have used are the Lamello and the Makita but they are hardly worth the extra cost since a biscuit is never an accurate joint anyway - get a cheap one and buy a Festool Domino
lol i use makita, not how he use it on a 45 degree miter you need to lay the wood flat and take off the sub fence turn the base to 45 degree then you can biscuit them
Your assessment of the Dewalt re: a mitre face isn't quite accurate. at 90º, you'll notice that the very inside edge of the plate has a 45º angle cutout - when you leave the guide at 90º, you can place it against the mitre over the toe, and you'll see the angle cutouts will lie tight against the surface on the other side of the toe. If you look at the Dewalt product photos of the tool in use (for example on the Home Depot site), you'll see this in action. Agreed, it's finicky and you have to be sure you are holding it dead-on and steady, but it's there. You do not need to use a spacer and a 45º and work over the heel as you suggested.
Each of these is an expensive, dangerous, piece of crap. A palm router with a slotting bit can do the same safely, with the possible exception of the miter.
So basically every one of those tools sucks, not one will do what you need it to do without messing with stupid shims taped on or fragile plastic clip-overs you KNOW will break those narrow tangs off about the 5th time you take it on and off, and they all have the same CRUDE "scale" and wobbly fence. A shame someone can't seem to design one of these that blows the others off the shelf. We have the older Makita's at the shop, the things were horrible from day one, one of them always sounds like the gears never meshed right because it makes a hell of a loud noise, and then the guys always stick in a sliver of sandpaper or the like under the blade to give it a "wobble" so the slots are not too tight. I feel the tool and the blades shouldn't need sandpaper wobbling to get the biskits to fit right- they should fit right to begin with, that's what this few hundred bucks tool is FOR!
If you think these are bad, But one from harbor freight. You will curse and wish you spent the extra money for a better one. My friend has a Dewalt and it works just fine for the money.
As I see it, the takeaway is that all of them have problems and we should stick with doweling. I agree the presenter doesn't seem to have any experience BTW.
Doweling has it's problems--I HATE doweling. Not sure how you determine the OP doesn't have any experience. He knew more about all five of them then I did (and probably you!)
Yeah, throw that Triton in the garbage. It looked about as accurate as freehanding an angle grinder with a saw blade on it. That's all they are essentially anyway, angle grinder housings. The fence accuracy is where the R&D dollars get spent.
The guy demonstrating these machines obviously doesn't have a clue what he is talking about. He uses the extensions the wrong way, he measures from the wrong side, what is a downside on one machine suddenly is a plus on another. If you want to buy one, go for an original Lamello machine, or a Bosch. If you rarely use it, go for a cheaper one like DeWalt.
This is probably the best review of biscuit joiners that I've seen. Thanks for confirming I made the right choice by getting the Porter Cable unit.
I decided to go with the deWalt unit. Seems simpler overall and I'm not a fan of adapters, especially plastic!
Same here. Porter Cable.
Without a doubt the Porter Cable is the best of the bunch! Thanks for the comparison.
Thank you for this video, because based on everything you were able to show us I decided to buy the Makita and yes it comes with some floes but is by far my favorite. So thank you 🙏🏾
FLAWS, not FLOES.
Flaw is a defect. The flaw in the product.
Floe is a sheet of floating ice on a river or ocean. Ice Floes.
I have the Makita in a pro workshop. Never any issues at all with the fence. You really have to try to screw up alignment in fact. We looked closely at loads of joiners and the Makita was one of the very best available and is set up perfectly aligned from the factory. It’s a quality bit if kit with many fans in pro workshops. Sure there are minor niggles with the Makita but used properly you can work around all of them with ease. All joiners have their flaws and the Marita has fewer than most. My only niggle is the dust extraction port needed to be slightly longer for an adaptor to have a decent range of movement and stay firmly located. These make a lot of dust do really need to be connected to an extractor. Overall the Makita is a joy to use.
this video is the perfect example to show why you can never buy every tool from the same manufacturer. excellent video.
Thank you for this close look and comparison. Since all of these have some degree of problem with alignment of the fence to the cutter, it seems a reliable way to guarantee parallel aligment would be to set the machine down with its base hard to the table and then set a spacer block of desired thickness and full width of the fence on the table right under it. Drop the fence down to make good contact with the spacer and lock it. Not as elegant as a machine with better fence would be, but at least eliminates possibility of biscuits unparallel to cutter and workpiece.
OMG, the sloppy English I have to read here is not acceptable! Are you a native English speaker? If yes, then stop being sloppy in your writing. These are the same sloppy habits that carry over into other areas of life. Be literate, not semi-literate.
ALIGNMENT, not ALIGMENT.
Unparallel is not a word. Unparalleled is a word and an adjective.
The correct phrasing is, 'eliminates the possibility of biscuits not parallel to the cutter and workpiece'.
If you want to use UNPARALLELED, this is a sample: The castle was unparalleled splendor in those times. The meaning is quite different. 'Unparalleled' means having no parallel or equal; exceptional. Not about parallel lines.
@mjremy2605 Thanks for taking time to point out the typo and vocabulary error in my post. I will try to proofread more carefully in future. Offensively written as it was, did you find my suggestion sufficiently understandable to help with your biscuit joinery? If so, I will limp away properly chastened, yet not feeling totally worthless.Again, my deepest thanks.
@mjremy2605 Trying to further take advantage of your tutelage, I looked up "unparallel." Imagine my surprise to find that even Merriam-Webster does not know what you do. They purport: "unparallel," adjective, meaning "not parallel," as in "unparallel lines intersect." Best that you advise them.
Great video, looking into the purchase of my first biscuit joiner, glad I watched this first.
A very thorough and useful review. Many thanks! I was going to buy the Dewalt or Makita, but now, will switch to Porter Cable. The angled cuts are very useful when joining mitered corners of cabinets and picture frames.
Finally I found a good review with complete information. I am going to buy Porter Cable, I was using a Makita and the removable front part made it very difficult to use.
great review! never used a joiner but looking to start ... great to know the practical issues ... only a pro would know this detail - thanks for sharing!
I've got the Porter Cable 557. Of all the jointers compared It's the best of the bunch. Agree the fence could have been designed better without that open space which would have eliminated the need for the adapter but it isn't a great inconvenience. You can even add a plate permanently to the fence to fill the gap eliminating the adapter completely & re-calibrate the height adjustment to compensate for the plate thickness. It's expensive at $300 but you can wait to buy it on sale...I did. After 30+ years of wood working I can say Porter cable is the best of the lot!
Festool domino500
Most people I see review these don't seem to know that with the Makita there is a 45deg notch in the subfence. You can use this to register the board and cut the biscuit grooves quite easily. We used it this way in the cabinet making factories I worked in.
In your opinion. How does it fare with the dewalt?
@@johnnytocino9313 I like the DeWalt better than the Makita but that might be because the Makitas I used were all well used in a work environment. My DeWalt is only used by me at home. In saying that I can't fault the DeWalt it's a great tool.
such a nice review!!!!! I decided to buy porter cable
Very useful. Bought a 70 bucks joiner that has the same system as the Porter cable one ;) Thanks.
Which one is it?
Naturally, no brand name is given because this does not exist.
Many thanks , have an Erbauer that only sets to 45 degrees and now I know how to avoid coming through the face when doing a mitre joint
Almost all of my work is with 3/4" stock. Given that, I rareely use the fence. I reference off the base of the joiner to a flat table top. It always puts the slot a fixed distance from the table top which is nearly, if not eactly centered on 3/4" stock. But even 3/4" stock isn't always 3/4". That also eliminates the need for plastic inserts to cut slots into narrow stock.
Great video. Thanks👍. A few things confirmed and some surprises. The Craftsman and Ryobi are crap as expected, the Makita and particularly the Triton are disappointing, which I didn't really expect. The Porter Cable was better than expected, considering that a lot of people don't rate their new stuff. I've had the privilege of using a few brand new Dewalts, each one has had the same problem, the base plate being slightly off, so necessary to recalibrate, not good straight out of the box. The one that you unfortunately didn't feature is the Lamello, the king of biscuit jointer with a price to match!
the top festool domino 500 or 700
I used to have a Makita that really worked nice. A Lamello, no. But I didn't expect it to be. One thing I used it for was cutting tongue and groove when doing flooring
If you are going to buy a Lamello, get the Festool Domino Joiner instead.
You can use the Makita to cutout on the 45 using the 90deg fence in place as there is a 45 degree cutout along the heel of the 90deg fence. It allows you to rest the sharp edge of the Mitre in this cutout and cut as you did with the porter cable. Have used this method many times and works great. Good review though. :)
Nick Hughes The same for the Triton machine. I was a little surprised this was missed by the reviewer.
I have a Dewalt that I only use for aligning edge jointing of boards. For more complex type joinery, I use the Dowelmax which I strongly recommend, even though it is quite pricey.
Really good review. Thank you this help decide which to buy. Have you ever reviewed the King jointer? How do it compare since its more affordable if only needed at times?
GREAT advice thanks
- To summarize for me, Lamello or Festool is the best choice if one can afford thousands of dollars for one of these tools. Unfortunate that us moderate income woodworkers can't get a reasonably priced tool of any worthwhile quality. Thanx 4 the review.
Mafell DDF40
I can think of a couple of things that would solve certain issues fairly easily. Drill and tap a couple of holes in the fence so you can attach an extension to the fence on the biscuit cutter
Really good review - I wish it'd been available when I was shopping for a biscuit jointer. I bought that Makita, which is ok, but the play in the subfence that you noted drives me nuts.
Great info! Thanks!
The problem you address with horizontally aligning the base plate with the Triton and Makita, I would think using a board to align the baseplate on, would solve that shortcoming? Or?
Can it be used to cut a squire cut besides biscuit cut? Thx for sharing... its really helpful...
You shoud give the models name in the video and in the description area.
Was about to buy a cheap ryobi second hand one....no thanks ....don't want this tool no more...
Thanks for the review boss
Great overview, thanks. Unfortunately, I was looking to confirm that the play in the Makita 90deg fence is a design flaw and you did that perfectly. But, now I know for sure it isn't me, I'm going to discard it and use the base as a reference. The only problem with this as far as I can see is in setting the height of the cut but, if I need to adjust this, I'll use a small piece of board as a spacer between the joiner and the bench or the piece and the bench. A great way to do the cuts into the face of the piece - while using the joiner's base as reference - is to stand it vertically in a 90deg jig like this guy: ua-cam.com/video/TEhZnFquAV8/v-deo.html
I've noticed, since re-reading the Makita manual, that none of the "How to Make Joints" pictures show the 90deg fence being used! I guess it's useful if you really want to create 135deg and you take the time to get it set just right, testing on scrap first. I haven't used the joiner in a mitre yet, but it seems to be solid enough without the 90deg fence.
I have the Makita and using it for 135 mitres is childs play. Use a small engineers square when setting the fence and alignment is a doddle.
I have an older type-2 porter cable. I have to be sure to fill the gap of about 1/32-3/64 that is the difference between registering the cut with and without the fence attached. I don't know whether in later types this has been corrected. I have to fill it with a thin strip. I usually just detach the fence.
Also, you are wrong about the Dewalt not allowing registering bevel cut "outside" ie with the fence at an acute angle. This joiner has such feature: it is that little 45 degree notch at the inside of the fence that allows this way of registering. It is not as large and secure, though as that of the PC joiner. The Dewalt does allow both type of registering for bevel cuts.
But honestly, there are better ways to join bevel cut joints so I never use the plate joiner for bevel joints. Use the spline joint on a table saw- (or the RAS for large objects) -far better, stronger, and more elegant than with a biscuit joiner.
The biscuit joiner is for frame joinery only practically speaking, and the fence allows occasionally usefully registering from the top rather the bottom. Otherwise the fence is useless and unimportant.
That first Porter cable machine does not have a rack and pinion at all. No rack or pinion gear. It's simply a threaded rod working in a captive nut.
I have an old Lamello Top Ten I bought before I had a portable table saw and cut all with hand saws. I wish you had included the base model of the Lamello in your survey as it excels at all plate joining work by its design and precision in depth and position on a number of substrates. I will do a demo of that model Top Ten on my channel when time permits. I have seen the other lower cost plate joiners arrive on the market since I purchase the Lamello and I have added several accessories to my model such as the H9 smallest plate and the #6 OMG size, and, the Lamello dust bag that fits to the regular connect for a dust hose to your vac. The dust bag is a good option for several cuts but does fill up if you do ten cuts and you fill the groove just made with lots of saw dust. I run the vac hose most of the time because it keeps all clean. The later model blade offered by Colonial Saw does not work due to the curled chips of dust it creates and thus plugs the exhaust channel very nicely in the alloy base casting.I would think the other brands should have copied Lamello to avoid most of the negative comments this Wood mag video displays. I see similar traits to the Lamello base design in these different machines.Porter Cable seems to be too complicated for me. Triton, after looking at the Duo Doweler tool and its lack of precision, I would take a pass with that brand at any low cost. A 45 degree bevel in any thickness wood that wants to burst through at the thin edge of the bevel can be cured by using something less than the #20 plate and you get a good bond. To call the PC the best fence system is like ignoring Henry Ford in a car comparison of that time. If you are marking reference from the outside of a board and using the DeWalt all is lost with that lack of 45 degree fence; pass on that. The Ryobi would be a good tool to use as a loaner to an DIY neighbor. "oh, I thought I gave that back to you Fred!" That's OK; you can bring it over when you find it.The accessory fence on the Makita tool with that cam lock lever can probably have minimum fence shift if you put a dab of cup grease on the cam that will keep it from micro moving the fence. The bevel groove for the Makita is easy by adjusting for thinner stock and using a smaller plate.So, take a look at my upcoming demo of the Lamello and go from there.
Great review
Makita has a very nice system for cutting biscuit in 45 miters that secondary face has a 45 degree bevel on it witch you set over your miter . It works perfectly. I used to own porter cable and it was ok until i drop it and broke the plastic trunnion after that i could only use it to reference of the bottom of the machine
Some people just don’t know how to take care of their tools... If you’re a professional you treat your tools as if they were your bread-and-butter... LoL
fyi - WHICH, not WITCH.
WITCH is something that flies on a broomstick.
Thank you for this comparison. How much play is in the Dewalt fence compared to the others?
Well covered
so you pick the lesser of the evils, porter cable seems to be the best one
Harbor Freight has a very good one
Looks like biscuits joiners don't make 'em well.......a lot of guessing
I will find then a different joiner
Thnks for all the work U done
Wondering why you didn’t include Festool or far superior Lamello.
great video, I'm trying to find informatin on two different things. 1- How to biscuit join miters other than 90 and 45, specifically a 30 on a hexagon shaped box. 2- joining a miter of 2 different degrees, say a 30 to a 45 for example. Any suggestions or links would really help.
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Have you done the math yet to find the complimentary angles for these applications? the 135 setting is 180 - 45 face angle, if you were joining less than 45 you'd take 90- 30 in your case and set then fence to the complimentary angle of 60 on both sides. If joining a 30 to a 45 you'd cut each side at their complimentary angles and slap the biscuit in there and glue up. The angle of the fence is whatever your miter angle is subtracted from 90, that way the plunge cut is perpendicular to whatever surface you are cutting.
8:29 well, that's not too hard to set it parallel to the plate. Given, the base is parallel to the blade, you can easily set the height guide parallel to the base by quickly checking with calipers.
Great review, thanks so much. do you have a 2018 version yet? i dont know when tools come out annually. i am looking at a new biscuit joiner as we speak. thanks again
What about Lamello ??? Did they not invent the biscuit joiner ?
You skipped over the older Ryobi biscuit joiner. I notice the Ryobi (older blue one) also has the knob to raise and lower fence, and can also do 135 degree cuts. It would seem to be another good candidate for a review? I see reviews on the newer green Ryobi but none for the older one. What's your thoughts?
What good is it to do a review on the Past when Manufacturers Are trying their best to get you to buy
New every few Years now... If you want to talk about Older Tools then Their should be Talks about the Older Ryobi Tools such as their 3 hp Plunge Router’s or their 14-15 inch Miter Saw’s... You are Digging up Bones... Sorry... Lastly I personally am sticking with the Older Porter Cable and Milwaukee Tools That were All Made here in the Good Old U.S.A. ...!!! Milwaukee used to say “Nothing But Heavy Duty” and “Milwaukee Built Motors”... Do You See That Today... Greg
I wonder why you did not include an original Lamello in this comparison. The Lamellos (all models) don't have this issues, they all are working absolutely precise and handling is very easy and comfortable!
Maybe because they cost eight-times more that the ones being reviewed...Just sayin'
@@chuckrupert1213 no, that's not the case; the Lamello Classic X is ~2.5 times more than these models - but it is the only biscuit jointer beside the Mafell, which doesn't have the issues all these other models have, and it is an absolute precise tool; so it is worth to have a look at it...
@@fiddleronthebike 2-1/2 x I would consider, but I've not seen any in that price range. I'll do some more research, as I've heard nothing but good about Lamellos. But not 8x better LOL
@@chuckrupert1213 as I said: the Lamello Classic X. It's price (in Europe) is under 500 € (incl. 1000 biscuits and Systainer aso...), don't look for the Zeta P, that is a different tool, not only a biscuit jointer...
so what is the best choice ????
coyoteproject999 porter cable
The best is Lamello who invented this system 50 years ago.
Lamello and porter cable. Craftsman anything sucks. Festool is so overpriced it will make your head spin.
I'd rather get deWalt and have enough left over to outfit half my shop
An original Lamello machine, or a Bosch.
I think some of the cons pointed out were a bit nit-picking by old fumbles there.
Soooo, he should not have pointed them out? I've learned more from him than from your feckless comment.
Now I'm really confused! They all have something wrong with them.
CoolHandBart the porter cable one isn't a big issue and it is easily solved with the accessory provided. Porter cable takes the cake on this any day of the week
That's what I was thinking after the video, so they all suck?
They ALL suck, not one of them will do what you want to do without messing with stuff to jerry rig it!
I have the Porter Cable, In my opinion, it's got them all beat hands down. If I have to cut a biscuit into the end of a board, I simply reference off the base. I've never had to use the plastic adapter.
The guy in the video just doesn't get it
I have a dewalt! Thank you.
Well I must tell you that you forgot to mention the best biscuit joiner on earth. The Classic X from Switzerland, Lamello. Try it, you'll love it :)
I agree; Lamello is undoubtedly the best; but it cost a small fortune.
I am still struggling to find a viable use case for biscuits
What about the Ryobi?
Same as the Craftsman
A good review but it left me thinking there isn't a machine that allows for accurate working. They all appear to need an after-market fence that clamps and positions the cutter really accurately. How about an update?
where is Lamello
If you want to sell these. I can explain the real difference in application. I do not believe this person to be comfortable with the tool and possibly never used one. I own a couple. Dewalt does do the exact things he said it does not, the portercable is built that way for dedicated face framing…… where you would have a jig setup for cabinet making. Portercable is one of the only ones to come with a secondary FF (face frame) blade designed for this process. I setup my dewalt in 10 seconds from different biscuits to height and fencing with no issue ever. The video didn’t cover dust extraction capabilities. I subscribe to the magazine and I’ve watched videos. This popped up. Im actually more confused than educated.
I don’t know it all by any means but this video made me more confused from a beginner standpoint. Im sorry. For the comment but I expected knowledge and someone comfortable with the tooling and how it operates in real applications.
Minute 5:35
How can you do this video and not mention the king of biscuits- Lamello? I have used these for thirty years!
vary good machine
hi bob
I have the Dewalt unit and I really am not impressed with it. I avoid Ryobi, Mikita and Craftsman. Too many issues in the past. I have Porter Cable and Bosch tools and they have been good to work with. Spend a couple bucks more and get the tools you will not need to replace. I never trust the scales on these tools until I have proven they are accurate.
Brought to by porter cable.
John
I've used numerous biscuit jointers and in my honest opinion you should just buy a cheap one unless you are using it every day - there's little or no extra value from an expensive one over a decent cheap one. BTW - the Triton machine is complete garbage - the best I have used are the Lamello and the Makita but they are hardly worth the extra cost since a biscuit is never an accurate joint anyway - get a cheap one and buy a Festool Domino
If you go for Maikta you should buy the PJ7000J - it is pretty similar to the one shown in the Video but fixed a lot of the shown flaws
The President of The Internet festool is $1000 though!
The sound at the beginning of your video is horrible! Further on very informative. Thanks.
good Mercedes good work
great review and info but depressing. You'd think by 2020 they could get the tool design right, and these tools are not cheap.
That is just a screw drive lift... Rack and Pinion is a change in drive angle, generally 90 degree.
ramosel
No.
Why did you not give us one that works well?
How can a company produce these cutters that are basically worthless?
Thank you very much for this review!
nice
lol i use makita, not how he use it on a 45 degree miter you need to lay the wood flat and take off the sub fence turn the base to 45 degree then you can biscuit them
Your assessment of the Dewalt re: a mitre face isn't quite accurate. at 90º, you'll notice that the very inside edge of the plate has a 45º angle cutout - when you leave the guide at 90º, you can place it against the mitre over the toe, and you'll see the angle cutouts will lie tight against the surface on the other side of the toe. If you look at the Dewalt product photos of the tool in use (for example on the Home Depot site), you'll see this in action. Agreed, it's finicky and you have to be sure you are holding it dead-on and steady, but it's there. You do not need to use a spacer and a 45º and work over the heel as you suggested.
So the company that invented the lamello system is not in the test. That company is called LAMELLO
All of the other joiners were less than 1/3 the cost of the Lamello. I don't blame him for not including it.
Lamello all the way
Lamello, the one and only.
Each of these is an expensive, dangerous, piece of crap. A palm router with a slotting bit can do the same safely, with the possible exception of the miter.
What to look for in a biscuit joiner- Look for it to say Festool Domino on the side of it. lol
Robert Melrose Sure. I'll just drop $1,500 on an occasional tool for my personal shop. Thanks for the helpful reply.
He said" buy the porter cable".
So basically every one of those tools sucks, not one will do what you need it to do without messing with stupid shims taped on or fragile plastic clip-overs you KNOW will break those narrow tangs off about the 5th time you take it on and off, and they all have the same CRUDE "scale" and wobbly fence. A shame someone can't seem to design one of these that blows the others off the shelf.
We have the older Makita's at the shop, the things were horrible from day one, one of them always sounds like the gears never meshed right because it makes a hell of a loud noise, and then the guys always stick in a sliver of sandpaper or the like under the blade to give it a "wobble" so the slots are not too tight. I feel the tool and the blades shouldn't need sandpaper wobbling to get the biskits to fit right- they should fit right to begin with, that's what this few hundred bucks tool is FOR!
If you think these are bad, But one from harbor freight. You will curse and wish you spent the extra money for a better one. My friend has a Dewalt and it works just fine for the money.
So what you are saying is that they all suck and we should get a Festool?
Makita FTW!
LAMELLO !!!
so all the biscuit joiners sucks then??
As I see it, the takeaway is that all of them have problems and we should stick with doweling. I agree the presenter doesn't seem to have any experience BTW.
Doweling has it's problems--I HATE doweling. Not sure how you determine the OP doesn't have any experience. He knew more about all five of them then I did (and probably you!)
Yeah, throw that Triton in the garbage. It looked about as accurate as freehanding an angle grinder with a saw blade on it. That's all they are essentially anyway, angle grinder housings. The fence accuracy is where the R&D dollars get spent.
Careful, i think if you start one ...Norm shows up....like Beetlejuice
Don’t the manufacturers watch this and say hey we need to fix that problem.
No.. they just say, " wow that porter cable is nice. "
Buy lamello and you dont have any problem
The guy demonstrating these machines obviously doesn't have a clue what he is talking about. He uses the extensions the wrong way, he measures from the wrong side, what is a downside on one machine suddenly is a plus on another.
If you want to buy one, go for an original Lamello machine, or a Bosch. If you rarely use it, go for a cheaper one like DeWalt.
N
whay show it
390 people bought a bad biscuit jointer...
how ablut $120 unit "King Canada "
No Lamello? Mickey Mouse.
serious... re you suber?
Spit it out son. What are you trying to say?
@@bradeley6409 I don't think he was suber when he wrote that comment LOL
ok
So, when you say "tricky" you really mean shitty?