Biscuit joiner

[brucethecook]

Will the ss biscuit jointer fit all shopsmith motor heads?

[keakap]

So this be a good time to add a review, methinks.

I just about finished a project that used my biscuit joiner for its first serious project. A cylinder: 20 'staves' (or "sides") at 2-1/4 x 23 x 3/4, 3 biscuit slots each edge for 120 total, from a 2x8x96 pressure treated rough sawn board sliced up on the band saw to width and length, only "finishing" knocking down a stobborn knot or few with a hand plane.

Calculated inner diameter with my CAD program (11.841"), cut discs (home made Band Saw circle cutter) of 3/4 Exterior CBS plywood (CBS= Crappy Both Sides) to that dimension for ends, assembled biscuitted pieces around it to check fit, and 'low and be holed', not one proud edge in the whole lot. Only fitting was again having to knock down, in the edges, not faces, some knots that had crept back out (bulges in edges).

Cutting the slots in the workpieces was a tad troublesome because I was pushing a 9 degree slope into the Joiner, not a plumb edge, but with a very minor "aid" and a little care pushing in to engage the pins before tilting up to mate edge with fence and then pushing thru, it was not difficult at all. Just took a little longer.

I cannot think of how I would have done the same job with a hand-held and without the 520 table and its marvelous adjustabilities. And HIGH praise for the SS DCS connection- I don't think 99.7% pickup is an exaggeration at all. (My measurement "standard" derives from doing two slots with having forgotten to attach the hose.)

Biggest challenge, including this review, of the entire project was typing "biscuit" so many times without misspelling it. {-c u i t, what da hay...}
My previous feeling on the BJ was "gee, hope it works out when I need it for something", but my current state is "holy molie I love this thang!"

Btw, I used #10 biscuits, from SS of course, and tho a few were tighter than most, none refused to go into the slots. Imh(and uneducated)o, they seem to be of very good quality. As does the whole unit. Easy set up & alignment, easy use, clean and superbly accurate cuts and excellent chip/dust extraction.
A+.

And the sale price seems hard to pass up.

[keakap]

I used to use biscuits, ... But with the glues today it is not needed. ....

"not needed"--
have I got a project for you!

[JPG]

I have 2 older model 10 shopsmiths with the exposed belts will the Shopsmith Biscuit Joiner 555320 fit these? One of the units was passed sown from my older brother. I have been around it my whole life, but just now getting serious about my woodworking.

Yes! Sorry about the delay responding.

The quill dimensions are the same. The biscuit joiner attaches to the quill.

[JPG]

"not needed"--
have I got a project for you!

Nothing like 'blind' faith!:rolleyes::D

[BuckeyeDennis]

"not needed"--
have I got a project for you!

I'd love to see photos of that project!

I have been very favorably impressed with my own SS biscuit joiner. So far, though, I've used it only for a few test cuts, plus a cutting-board type glue up of knotty pine scraps done just for fun and experience. But from the writings and videos of those with tremendously more experience than me, I have discerned that the true value of biscuits lies not in glue-up strength, but rather in alignment.

My middle-school daughter was curious about measurements, so we used dial calipers to measure biscuit slots made with the SS, as well as the thickness of virgin biscuits. Then we soaked a biscuit in water, and took before-and-after thickness measurements. We scientifically confirmed the alignment claims: we measured a very easy slip fit with dry biscuits, and then a slight interference fit after they were "moisturized".

All this has me wondering, do I really need those SS double bar clamps that I bought off eBay? Any words of wisdom out there?

[keakap]

I'd love to see photos of that project!
I'll see what I can do, before the next step, which is glue-up. Now where did I put those batteries...
... I have discerned that the true value of biscuits lies not in glue-up strength, but rather in alignment.
I hole-heartedly agree. And...
...we measured a very easy slip fit with dry biscuits, and then a slight interference fit after they were "moisturized".
I wasn't clever enough to think of that scientific method, but came to realize as I was going along that I only needed a small blob of glue in the bottom of the slots to seat a biscuit. The fit in the slot is close enough that a small blob would squeeze most of the way up the sides of the bisc without spilling over to the workpiece edge. This was important to me since I was installing (pre-installing) three bisc's in the left edge of each stave and didn't want any glue on the edge itself at this time. With 20 staves there was a need to glue in stages. So with all 60 biscuits in place I could start to assemble, one piece at a time, full-on glue attack which was made possible, even easy, with the hard-set biscuits. This would have been extremely difficult without the bisc. system, and instead was rather easy with an accuratesystem..


All this has me wondering, do I really need those SS double bar clamps that I bought off eBay? Any words of wisdom out there?

I've had some of those bar clamps since they came out. Used 'em a number of times. Glad to have 'em. The bisc's help with alignments, but nothing can take the place of a good tight clamping, imho. Idea, as I unnerstand it, is to get a "vacuum" type fit with the glue, as if you have 2 pieces of plate glass face to face with a drop or two of water between-- you cannot pull them apart
[Odd, having said that I realize that I cannot get the desired level of clamping integrity in my gluing of The Cylinder, so I'm gonna use a whole bottle of Gorilla Glue on the end caps and hope for the best. There will be no hardware in the assembly. Btw, looks have nothing to do with this project.]

Now, pics....

[BuckeyeDennis]

I've had some of those bar clamps since they came out. Used 'em a number of times. Glad to have 'em. The bisc's help with alignments, but nothing can take the place of a good tight clamping, imho. Idea, as I unnerstand it, is to get a "vacuum" type fit with the glue, as if you have 2 pieces of plate glass face to face with a drop or two of water between-- you cannot pull them apart
[Odd, having said that I realize that I cannot get the desired level of clamping integrity in my gluing of The Cylinder, so I'm gonna use a whole bottle of Gorilla Glue on the end caps and hope for the best. There will be no hardware in the assembly. Btw, looks have nothing to do with this project.]

Now, pics....

Sounds like you need some big band clamps when you glue up The Cylinder. The straps that truckers use to cinch loads down to flat-bed trailers come to mind ...

[keakap]

Sounds like you need some big band clamps when you glue up The Cylinder. The straps that truckers use to cinch loads down to flat-bed trailers come to mind ...

You nailed that one!
I have a few of those straps- well, a much smaller version than the truckers'- and I dug a couple out for this. Just the right thing.

This will be an interesting glue up. Since the inner discs will be making contact only at one small spot per stave, I'll be using some of that Gorilla Glue type stuff for them that activates with water. But first the staves have to be glued together, with regular exterior wood glue. And I can't do em all in one shot- glue sets too fast here. Then its pop the discs, one at a time, wet their edges and wet the staves, brush on the Gorilla juice and hope to get the disc back in place before the Gorilla starts to swell-- this stuff expands, a lot, as it sets. Another ply disc will cap each end, up against the smaller disc. Large quantities of Gorilla product will be involved in this step as well. And its the expansion I'm counting on to seal the cylinder ends.

Pics? lessee...
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[jtevans]

The more I read these posts the more I realize that buying a Shopsmith, "to-do-all-of-your-woodworking-dreams", is the correct thing to do.

I too, have been pondering buying other "gizmos" to build joints, cut angles, sand-this, trim-that, and each time I look at my Shopsmith and say, "hey stupid, that's what you've got this thing for !!!".

I just purchased the biscuit jointer, primarily because of the recent special on it. Yes, I considered a hand-held unit, which was cheaper, but WHY...If I've got the SS, then just get the attachment !!! I'm beginning to see a pattern that equates to a form of "laziness" for anyone who owns a SS, in that they either fear, or are to darn lazy, to change anything on their machines...THAT'S WHAT IT IS FOR !!!...so spend the little extra money and get the attachment. Why buy a machine that saves space in your workshop, then buy a whole bunch of extra "tools" to fill up your workshop???