plate jointer

[rabmaxx]

Looking for recommendations on a brand of plate joiner to buy, that will get light to moderate use. Mostly shop furniture.

[Uncle Cracker]

Porter Cable 557 is probably the best, IMHO, but also possibly the most expensive. DeWalt, Bosch and Hitachi all have capable units. The PC unit comes with an additional smaller blade for the smallest (FF) biscuits. These are useful for face frames and more intricate work than the larger sizes.

[rabmaxx]

Thanks for your reply. I looked at the PC and wondered if I needed to spend that much, but I also wondered if it were not just a better machine but easier to use.

Rabmaxx

[compgodjds]

I own the dewalt but used the pc also. I think the dewalt is fine for normal use. The only advantage I saw with the PC is with the ff sized biscuits. Not enough of an advantage to justify the cost. All of them are pretty comparable. Look around they go on sale often.

[Uncle Cracker]

One other thing that I like about the PC is that the handle is mounted on the fence, rather than the motor housing. This feels better and more stable to me, but others used to working with motor-mounted handles may feel differently.

[cabinetman]

I have the DeWalt and a collection of all the sizes of biscuits. I've been using it less and less as time goes by. You might consider why you want this particular tool and what you'll use it for. Biscuits are basically a loose spline type of joint. I made these joints before plate joiners came out with absolutely no problem.

In making your own loose splines, you have a choice of the type of wood used, thickness, spline length and depth. The only advantages I can see with biscuits is a pre-determined length and the speed of fabrication. Biscuits do not insure alignment as their fitting space allows for some slip movement. They can also get skewed in the slot, and when many are used in a glue up, one or more may "hang" up complete mating of the two pieces. There's also the "rush" one can get into by prepping all the slots. And there is also the loss of surface glue area displaced by the biscuit.

I've got somewhere in excess of $150 tied up in the tool and biscuits. For an occasional use, and you can afford to have it lay around, it's your decision. If you're thinking that it's necessary for case construction, FF fabrication, or FF installation, IMO, glue and clamps are still the way to go. You still have the option of dowels and splines, which IMHO are a much better choice.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it, just giving you some food for thought.
.

[phrog]

I have the DeWalt and a collection of all the sizes of biscuits. I've been using it less and less as time goes by. You might consider why you want this particular tool and what you'll use it for. Biscuits are basically a loose spline type of joint. I made these joints before plate joiners came out with absolutely no problem.

In making your own loose splines, you have a choice of the type of wood used, thickness, spline length and depth. The only advantages I can see with biscuits is a pre-determined length and the speed of fabrication. Biscuits do not insure alignment as their fitting space allows for some slip movement. They can also get skewed in the slot, and when many are used in a glue up, one or more may "hang" up complete mating of the two pieces. There's also the "rush" one can get into by prepping all the slots. And there is also the loss of surface glue area displaced by the biscuit.

I've got somewhere in excess of $150 tied up in the tool and biscuits. For an occasional use, and you can afford to have it lay around, it's your decision. If you're thinking that it's necessary for case construction, FF fabrication, or FF installation, IMO, glue and clamps are still the way to go. You still have the option of dowels and splines, which IMHO are a much better choice.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it, just giving you some food for thought.
.

Interesting discussion from someone with experience. Thanks.
Richard

[LinuxRandal]

You can do biscuits with a router, but like the other poster said, this makes it both quicker, and easier when dealing with odd angles (another reason why some choose biscuits over dowels at times). I have one, but the type of projects I do, I am able to utilize glue and clamps or pocket screws and glue so I really don't have the need right now.

That said, I have the PC just because of getting it on closeout. I certainly wouldn't spend the money on the Lamello (considered the top of the line) or any full priced model (based on my use).
The DeWalt has two major differences that I have only read about: 1. the size range of the biscuits, 2. the angles it will handle.
You might look at the angles you do projects with, you could get by with a router and slot cutting bit, until you find a bargain.

[LarryG]

Plate joiners were invented in the mid 1950s, so the technology has been around a long while and is well proven. Biscuits are like any other method of joinery: there are times when they're appropriate, times when they are not. Using the tool and doing the glue-up will certainly present no hardships to anyone who understands the process and knows what he's doing.

But the original question was for a recommendation on which machine to buy. In all the comparison tests I've seen (about four or five, I think), the Porter-Cable 557 either won outright or essentially tied with the high-dollar Lamello for first place. I say "essentially tied" because I can recall at least one review in which the Lamello won, but the authors as much as said that it wasn't worth the extra money.

Among the more reasonably priced machines, either the DeWalt and Makita usually ended up in a strong second place behind the P-C. I have the last but I don't think you'd go wrong with any of these three makes.

[Alex Franke]

I totally agree on the PC 557 - it's a great tool and the FF size cabability is a great plus.

[footprintsinconc]

i vote for the pc 557 aswell. i purchase mine on CL for $100 with tons of biscuits. so keep looking on CL and be patient. soon afterwards, i saw some for $75 and one for $50! the key is to keep looking.

[crokett]

Just to muddy the waters a bit, I have a Freud I like but consider what Cabinetman said. I bought the Freud for a specific project and since have used it only once or twice in the time I had it.

[rabmaxx]

Thanks for response

I want to thank every one for their response. It appears the PC wins with the DeWalt second. It also appears that my router table and spline cutter will still do while I wait for a really food bargain.

Rabmaxx

[jseklund]

Here's my experience. I got a P-C 557 for Christmas last year. I was psyched, but had never used the tool. I was a little miffed at how it worked and it sat on my shelf because I didn't have time to figure it out until October of this year. I had to put down some new hardwood flooring against some old hardwood flooring. I cut the old flat, so it would have a flat mating surface for a transition board in a doorway, and then used biscuits to create a stronger joint between the back of the new board and the flat side of the old piece. I used the tonge on the new piece to join into the groove of the new stuff on the other side. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to use it, and I felt like a schmuck for not looking sooner.

I'm a bit less of a woodworker than many of the people on this board, and sometimes joinery can be a bit of a mess. Now that I have used it, I can see a ton of applications where it would help me speed things up. For instance- I made some cutting boards last year where I used but joints between strips of wood. The strips often did not line up flat and required planing to fix. The biscuit joint would have made this much less of a problem, if not completely eliminating it, and made the cutting boards go together in half the time.

I feel like I've been doing joinery like an idiot in some cases where this could have been useful. If I had the skill of some of the other members on this board, like Cabinetman, I think I may be more proficient in other areas and the benefits of the joiner would be less. But again, when you need this tool for a specific job....it'll be priceless.

In my limited experience, the PC has been easy, accurate, reliable, and effective.

[JimD]

I do not use my plate jointer very often but I still like it when it fits the project. I have a Skil which is not made anymore. The fence is a plastic semi-joke but the manual that came with it recommended making blocks of different thicknesses for setting it and with the blocks, it works fine. The blocks are also usefull for things like setting the depth of the table saw. I have a laminated oak block that screws to the plastic fence for 45 degree joints.

I made a house full of interior doors with biscuit joints (double biscuits or 4 on wider pieces). We use a computer desk made with apron to leg joints that are biscuits. I have switched to mortise and tenons (I bought a hollow chisel mortiser that I also do not use a lot) for some of these applications but not because I had a problem with the biscuits. Because you do not see the biscuits, I think they are a lot more consistent with fine furniture than are pocket screws (which I also use sometimes - another tool that doesn't get used very often).

My general rule is that if I have one project that will be done better or easier with a particular tool, I buy the tool. I always find other uses.

Maybe I didn't find the right jig or something but my experience with dowels is much less positive than with biscuits.

Jim