Lamello Top biscuit jointerEdges of 16mm Medium-density fibreboard with a No.0 biscuit, set up to make a right angle joint.
A biscuit joiner or biscuit jointer (or sometimes plate joiner) is a woodworking tool used to join two pieces of wood together. A biscuit joiner uses a small circular saw blade to cut a crescent-shaped hole (called the mouth) in the opposite edges of two pieces of wood or wood composite panels. An oval-shaped, highly dried and compressed wooden biscuit (beech or particle wood) is covered with glue, or glue is applied in the slot. The biscuit is immediately placed in the slot, and the two boards are clamped together. The wet glue expands the biscuit, further improving the bond.
The biscuit joining system was invented in 1956 in Liestal, Switzerland by Hermann Steiner. Steiner opened his carpenter's shop in 1944, and, in the middle of the 1950s, while looking for a simple means of joining the recently introduced chipboard, invented the Lamello joining system. In the succeeding years there followed further developments such as the circular saw and the first stationary biscuit (plate) joining machine in 1956 followed by the first portable biscuit joiner for Lamello grooves in 1968. In 1969 the family operation was incorporated by the name of Lamello AG. Lamello continues to manufacture biscuit joiners.
Lamello Top biscuit joiner with blade extended
Several other companies such as Porter Cable, DeWalt and Makita also manufacture compatible biscuit joiners, including some models with interchangeable blades, enabling the user to cut both 4-and-2-inch (102 and 51mm) biscuit slots.[citation needed]
Production
Biscuits are predominantly used in joining sheet goods such as plywood, particle board and medium-density fibreboard. They are sometimes used with solid wood, replacing mortise and tenon joints, as biscuit joints are easier to make and almost as strong. They are also used to align pieces when joined edge-to-edge in making wider panels. It is important to use the same face when cutting the slots, so the boards are perfectly flush.
Biscuits are also used to align edges of workpieces, such as when forming a 90° angle between workpieces. The biscuit provides a quick means of getting a perfectly flush joint, while at the same time reinforcing the joint.
Typically, the machine will have an adjustable fence, so it can be set on an angle for joining mitered pieces.
Also, there are other types of specialty biscuits available, from metal connectors, used for removable panels, to hinges, making these portable machines even more flexible.
Usage
The workpieces are brought together and the user marks the location for the biscuits. Precise measurement is not required, as the biscuits are hidden when the pieces are assembled, so a quick pencil stroke that marks both pieces where they align is all that is required. The parts are separated and the machine is used to cut the slots in each piece. The machine has reference marks on the centerline of the blade for easy alignment to the marks on the materials being joined.
The body of the machine with the blade is spring-loaded, and in the normal position the blade is retracted. The operator aligns the machine and uses firm pressure to push the body forward against the base plate to make the cut. The waste material is blown out of the slot on the right of the base plate.
Because the slots are slightly longer than the biscuits, it is still possible to slide the panels sideways after the joint is assembled (before the glue sets). This fact makes the biscuit joiner easy to use, because it does not require extreme accuracy or jigs to achieve perfect joints.
The depth of the cut can be altered by an adjustable stop. The smaller base can be rotated through 90°, and accessories are provided for altering the offset of the base to the blade (for use with thicker or thinner materials as required). Some models allow slots to be cut at angles other than 90° to the joining face, for example 45°, which greatly speeds up the assembly of things like cabinets.
Six-depth settings of biscuit joiner (six-size biscuits with no blade change) include Nos.00, 10, 20, D, S, S6
Sizes of Porter Cable biscuits
Size
Metric biscuits in mm (L × W)
Inch biscuits in inches (L × W)
Notes
No.FF
30 × 13mm
1+13⁄64 × 1⁄2
FF = Face frame for 1+1⁄2in width, and up.
No.0
47 × 16mm
1+27⁄32 × 5⁄8
No.10
52 × 20mm
2+3⁄64 × 25⁄32 (≈3⁄4)
No.20
58 × 24mm
2+9⁄32 (≈2+1⁄4) × 15⁄16 (≈1in)
The sizes were taken verbatim from the Porter-Cable website.[1]
Detail biscuit sizes
Detail biscuits are smaller than standard biscuits and are typically used to join smaller pieces of wood together, and offer less structural support.
Size
Metric biscuits in mm (L × W × T)
Inch biscuits in inches (L × W × T)
Notes
R1
16 × 5.6 × 2.4mm
5⁄8 × 7⁄32 × 3⁄32
R2
19 × 7.1 × 2.4mm
3⁄4 × 9⁄32 × 3⁄32
R3
25.4 × 12.7 × 2.4mm
1 × 1⁄2 × 3⁄32
Blades and depth
For most portable plate joiners, a nominal 4-inch or 100mm diameter blade is used for the Nos.0, 10, 20 biscuit cuts. The blade is set deeper for joining the larger biscuits. Most blades have 4, 6, or 8 teeth and fit a 7⁄8-inch or 22mm arbor. The thickness of the blade is typically 0.156 to 0.160 inch or nominally 4mm.
1 2 3 4 5 These data require clarification because the standard cutter width is 4mm thus requiring the biscuit to be thinner. It is more likely that the thickness is 3.75mm which would correspond well to the typical inch thickness (19⁄128in = 3.77mm).
The router is a power tool with a flat base and a rotating blade extending past the base. The spindle may be driven by an electric motor or by a pneumatic motor. It routs an area in hard material, such as wood or plastic. Routers are used most often in woodworking, especially cabinetry. They may be handheld or affixed to router tables. Some woodworkers consider the router one of the most versatile power tools.
A circular saw or a buzz saw, is a power-saw using a toothed or abrasive disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use a rotary motion but are different from a circular saw. Circular saws may also be loosely used for the blade itself. Circular saws were invented in the late 18th century and were in common use in sawmills in the United States by the middle of the 19th century.
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes, to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, while others use only wood elements.
A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge used to cut through material. Various terms are used to describe toothed and abrasive saws.
A mortiseand tenon joint connects two pieces of wood or other material. Woodworkers around the world have used it for thousands of years to join pieces of wood, mainly when the adjoining pieces connect at right angles.
A table saw is a woodworking tool, consisting of a circular saw blade, mounted on an arbor, that is driven by an electric motor. The drive mechanism is mounted below a table that provides support for the material, usually wood, being cut, with the blade protruding up through the table into the material.
A Woodworking machine is a machine that is intended to process wood. These machines are usually powered by electric motors and are used extensively in woodworking. Sometimes grinding machines are also considered a part of woodworking machinery.
A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood using muscle power to force the cutting blade over the wood surface. Some rotary power planers are motorized power tools used for the same types of larger tasks, but are unsuitable for fine-scale planing, where a miniature hand plane is used.
A try square or try-square is a woodworking tool used for marking and checking 90° angles on pieces of wood. Though woodworkers use many different types of square, the try square is considered one of the essential tools for woodworking.
A miter saw or mitre saw is a saw used to make accurate crosscuts and miters in a workpiece by positioning a mounted blade onto a board. A miter saw in its earliest form was composed of a back saw in a miter box, but in modern implementation consists of a powered circular saw that can be positioned at a variety of angles and lowered onto a board positioned against a backstop called the fence.
A mortiser or morticer is a specialized woodworking machine used to cut square or rectangular holes in a piece of lumber (timber), such as a mortise in a mortise and tenon joint.
A laminate trimmer is a small version of a wood router, normally used to trim laminate such as Formica. It generally has a 1/4-inch collet. Typical laminate trimmers spin their bits at up to 30,000 RPM. Some models provide variable speed control. Manufacturers of note include DeWalt, Ryobi, Porter Cable, Ridgid, Makita and RotoZip (Bosch).
Frame and panel construction, also called rail and stile, is a woodworking technique often used in the making of doors, wainscoting, and other decorative features for cabinets, furniture, and homes. The basic idea is to capture a 'floating' panel within a sturdy frame, as opposed to techniques used in making a slab solid wood cabinet door or drawer front, the door is constructed of several solid wood pieces running in a vertical or horizontal direction with exposed endgrains. Usually, the panel is not glued to the frame but is left to 'float' within it so that seasonal movement of the wood comprising the panel does not distort the frame.
A mitre box or miter box is a wood working appliance used to guide a hand saw for making precise cuts, usually 45° mitre cuts. Traditional mitre boxes are simple in construction and made of wood, while adjustable mitre boxes are made of metal and can be adjusted for cutting any angle from 45° to 90°.
A bench hook is a workbench appliance used in woodworking to hold a workpiece in place while crosscutting with a hand saw. A bench hook is a simple method used to improve accuracy and safety.
In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices of wood and sometimes bark that typically are glued onto core panels to produce flat panels such as doors, tops and panels for cabinets, parquet floors and parts of furniture. They are also used in marquetry. Plywood consists of three or more layers of veneer. Normally, each is glued with its grain at right angles to adjacent layers for strength. Veneer beading is a thin layer of decorative edging placed around objects, such as jewelry boxes. Veneer is also used to replace decorative papers in wood veneer HPL.
A butt joint is a wood joint in which the end of a piece of material is simply placed against another piece. The butt joint is the simplest joint. An unreinforced butt joint is also the weakest joint, as it provides a limited surface area for gluing and lacks any mechanical interlocking to resist external forces.
Pocket-hole joinery, or pocket-screw joinery, involves drilling a hole at an angle — usually 15 degrees — into one work piece, and then joining it to a second work piece with a self-tapping screw.
This glossary of woodworking lists a number of specialized terms and concepts used in woodworking, carpentry, and related disciplines.
A fence is a part of many woodworking tools; it is typically used to guide or secure a workpiece while it is being sawn, planed, routed or marked. Fences play an important role for both accuracy and safety. Fences are usually straight and vertical, and made from metal, wood or plastic.
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