which biscuit joiner

[garymuto]

Another vote for teh P-C 557

[gearbuilder]

I bought the Freud maybe 7 or 8 years ago but I recently inherited a Dewalt. I like the Dewalt’s fence and pins that help hold the tool in position. The Dewalt also has alignment marks on the bottom that the Freud doesn’t have.

Jamie

[drumpriest]

I have the PC 557 as well, and it's been a great tool, though I don't use it all that often any more. The domino replaced it, but obviously at high cost.

I think the dewalt would be a fine choice, I just liked the PC fence better, the handle configuration to be specific.

[Nil]

I've been quite happy with the Dewalt. I've found that the biscuits fit very snugly, (the blade is about the exact thickness of the biscuits) but there is still plenty of room around the biscuit for glue. This snugness helps make alignment easier. I've also found that the location was very repeatable and exact...as long as I remembered to tighten the fence lock....

[poolhound]

After starting this thread, I decided to stay with my router table slot cutter solution. Having used it this weekend and ended up with sloppy slots I started thinking about it again. Lo and behold the powers up above must have been watching as this morning a PC 557 appeared on CL and I just picked it up for $90, great condition, hardly used. Dust bag is missing so I will have to find a way around that, I guess I can just hook it up straight to my vac.

[LCHIEN]

I've been quite happy with the Dewalt. I've found that the biscuits fit very snugly, (the blade is about the exact thickness of the biscuits) but there is still plenty of room around the biscuit for glue. This snugness helps make alignment easier. I've also found that the location was very repeatable and exact...as long as I remembered to tighten the fence lock....

same with my dewalt, And same thing about the fence lock!

[RayintheUK]

Dust bag is missing so I will have to find a way around that, I guess I can just hook it up straight to my vac.

I've found that dust bags on biscuit jointers are pretty much useless after the first cut anyway because they clog swiftly, which can affect the finished cut by leaving chippings or shavings in the slot (which then need to be removed manually). I would rather clear up the mess than attach a dust bag! Hooking up to a vac keeps everything easier and cleaner.

More here if you get the time.

Ray.

[poolhound]

I've found that dust bags on biscuit jointers are pretty much useless after the first cut anyway because they clog swiftly, which can affect the finished cut by leaving chippings or shavings in the slot (which then need to be removed manually). I would rather clear up the mess than attach a dust bag! Hooking up to a vac keeps everything easier and cleaner.

More here if you get the time.

Ray.

great stuff Ray - thanks

[just started]

I'm cheap, so I bought the HF unit on sale a while back for something like $30 and I haven't had any problems or complaints with it so far. It seems to be well made for the price and since I don't expect to use more than couple dozen times a year I figure I'll more than get my money out of it before it dies.

[cgallery]

I think I finally realized what I like about the Makita that the PC and DeWalt don't share: the solid fence. The PC and DeWalt units have fences with rather large, open apertures in the fences. The Makita (and Lamello for that matter) have fences that are largely just a flat piece of aluminum with just a little cutout for aligning the joiner with pencil marks. I think the Makita/Lamello type of fence works better as you get close to the edge of a workpiece with your fence.

[footprintsinconc]

ditto what ray said about the bag. its useless, unless you are going to make only one or two slots. otherwise, you will find yourself stopping after every few and unclogging the tool from all the crap.

i too bought my pc557 from cl for $90. what a coincidence. the guy met me in phx, but he was from anthem.

[poolhound]

I've found that dust bags on biscuit jointers are pretty much useless after the first cut anyway because they clog swiftly, which can affect the finished cut by leaving chippings or shavings in the slot (which then need to be removed manually). I would rather clear up the mess than attach a dust bag! Hooking up to a vac keeps everything easier and cleaner.

Ray.

I think the 557 has a 1" outlet. Ive never hooked up my vac to anyting so small, where do you find 1" flex hose and adaptors that will fit?

[RayintheUK]

I use one of these and it pushes onto my Lamello outlet a treat. If I needed to reduce from 4", I'd add in this

Ray.