Biscuit Joiner or Dowels

[Brdy]

Im looking to start making furniture in my spare time, starting with coffee table & side table.

I will be looking to do waterfall style tables so looking to join mitres together, which is the best method to achieve this?

Just to add, the wood will be between 20mm thick and 30mm thick on different pieces.

 

[Spectric]

For strength use dowels, biscuits help alignment but not much else. I use the Dowelmax which I have had for years and more recently purchased the Jessem doweling jig which does 6, 8, 10 & 12 mm dowels.

Another option might be a lock mitre joiint which gives you the 45° .

Do a search on these forums to find more info.

 

[Droogs]

Biscuits provide the ability to align thing not strength, dowels do provide strength but can be difficult to align properly. Have you thought about spliced mitres or even looking at some of the japanese/chinese furniture joints that provide both

 

[Brdy]

For strength use dowels, biscuits help alignment but not much else. I use the Dowelmax which I have had for years and more recently purchased the Jessem doweling jig which does 6, 8, 10 & 12 mm dowels.

Another option might be a lock mitre joiint which gives you the 45° .

Do a search on these forums to find more info.

Biscuits provide the ability to align thing not strength, dowels do provide strength but can be difficult to align properly. Have you thought about spliced mitres or even looking at some of the japanese/chinese furniture joints that provide both

Thanks for the info guys ill be sure to do more research!

Just saw a triton dowel jointer, anyone know if this is any good or just buy a jig?

 

[alan895]

Get a jig - the money you would save could be put towards something else. Besides which the Triton machine has mixed reviews around the internet.

 

[Spectric]

Just saw a triton dowel jointer, anyone know if this is any good

A jig all day long, dowels work only because of perfect alignment and so the tool needs to be very precise, cheap dowel jigs are just more hassle than they are worth. The dowelmax no longer has a UK distributor but the Jessem is sold by JessEm Dowelling Jig with 6, 8, 10 and 12mm Heads Package

 

[dzj]

I'd suggest loose tenons rather than dowels, as they can have some lateral 'wiggle room' and don't have to be perfectly aligned the way dowels do.
As mentioned above, a good jig will be necessary.
A lot of practice on off cuts before you start with your project, particularly with the long 45 deg crosscuts that need to
be perfect. Getting this right is probably harder than the joinery part.
Good luck!

 

[Housey210]

its all down to the surface area and basic calcs. Biscuits all the time for me.

 

[Spectric]

particularly with the long 45 deg crosscuts that need to
be perfect.

Might be looking at a tracksaw, or router ?

 

[dzj]

Might be looking at a tracksaw, or router ?

Yes, that would be one way. It would have to be decent quality kit, so that it can manage a 40mm deep cut.
If it's just for a table or 2, maybe pay someone with a sliding tablesaw for the couple of cuts.

 

[Inspector]

I'll be one of the few that would recommend a biscuit machine for your mitred corners. Very easy to make perfectly aligned joints and strong enough, especially if you put a stretcher or shelf in the tables. There is not enough thickness to make dowels work right unless you are very accurate and use lots.

If you don't want to put out for any machines use the table saw to cut a stopped spline the width of the table and make your own spline to fit. You tilt the blade to 45º and position the fence, retract the blade below the table counting the number of turns needed to get the right height, place the board against the fence, raise the blade and make the cut to the other end and shut the saw off. I find it easier to use a bunch of biscuits.

I have used biscuits in a variety of ways including an oak screen door that banged away on my front door for over 20 years and never had any failures.

Pete

 

[Spectric]

so that it can manage a 40mm deep cut

My Makita Sp6002 would not manage 40mm, max is 39mm and I would think not many will. Another option is the Mafell P1 cc Jigsaw,




and as for depth but not sure if that is a thick blade which gives it the precision but shows it has the power.

 

[woodieallen]

Why faff about ? Get a Festool Domino.

 

[TRITON]

and as for depth

Great on the crosscut, but no jigsaw performs on rip. Which is why so many manufacturers advertisement vids show cross cutting only.
Might CC 145mm, but I'll wager a 45mm rip would have it wobbling all over the place

 

[MikeJhn]

If you go the biscuit route get one with a solid fence not a piece of tin and the ability to cut at 135 degs you will inevitably need to eventually.

 

[Spectric]

Why faff about ? Get a Festool Domino.

I have the XL 700 which now lives next to my lawn mower because I just cannot accept the issues with precision, so brought a Jessem doweling jig to work next to my Dowelmax and back to a life of precision, joints closing and not a sloppy setting in sight and all for way less than a domino, just have to accept it is a slower process.

 

[recipio]

Dowels are stronger but how will you clamp mitered dowel joints together. ? You can make 45 degree clamp holders but it all becomes a bit of a faff. Biscuits are plenty strong for small furniture.

 

[niall Y]

Ah, the poor maligned biscuit jointer. You are not going to be able achieve the strength of a mortise and tenon, but it is capable of some good work, I used to fasten the frames onto my kitchen cabinets with biscuits. In some instances I even joined the frames themselves, together with double biscuits - one above the other - , before trimming back the exposed biscuits and gluing a bead to the inside of the frame.

I often use them in conjunction with screws - which gives rise to the dot-dash effect that is a so characteristic of this type of construction. In fact for putting together cabinets out of board, quickly and efficiently, they are a godsend

This isn't to say that you can't have too much of a good thing. I once saw a design for a coffee table out of MDF that had been made using a biscuit jointer. Not only the construction, but also decoration. This. had been made by stabbing the surface to give an asterisk-shaped roundel, Its true awfulness still haunts me to this day!.

 

[Hornbeam]

particularly with the long 45 deg crosscuts that need to
be perfect.

Might be looking at a tracksaw, or router ?

Why not concentrate on basic hand skills and make a shooting board with 45 degree angle

 

[Hornbeam]

Lots of comments on here regarding whether biscuits add strength.
Biscuits particularly the size 20s add a lot of strength and there have been numerous tests which show they do. Personally I would never swop a joint like an M+T for one but edge joints and mitres they are the best as they give excellent alignment but also allow a small amount of sideways movement. They are excellent for long butt joints where I always position the end ones about 50 mm from the end to resist and potential shrinkage stresses on the joint line