Parkside biscuit jointer £26.99!

[accipiter]

Got the car back mid-afternoon, so managed to get back to Lidl. On the understanding that a (repeat) refund would be available, I decided to do an exchange...
Just got back, opened the box, assembled the two parts.....and it has exactly the same problem.

It's definitely a manufacturing defect.

Later this afternoon I did a search on YouTube for this jointer. One was dated a year ago - looked like this model - and another was 2 years ago: different shape and looked bigger.
The video of a year ago 'seemed' to show a 'usable' tool... I may go back tomorrow to get one... if just to see if I've the same issues?

 

[Cozzer]

This seems to be the problem...

The cog is meant to run up/down a slotted area on the main unit's body, but doesn't mesh properly. The red knob in view is the height adjustment, number 13 on the diagrams. Equally, of course, it may be the slots that aren't machined properly...either way, it's the same problem as the first purchase!
It's a shame, because the unit itself looks fairly well made...

Hope you have better luck, but if it's a production issue....well......?!

 

[accipiter]

This seems to be the problem...

View attachment 197240

The cog is meant to run up/down a slotted area on the main unit's body, but doesn't mesh properly. The red knob in view is the height adjustment, number 13 on the diagrams. Equally, of course, it may be the slots that aren't machined properly...either way, it's the same problem as the first purchase!
It's a shame, because the unit itself looks fairly well made...

Hope you have better luck, but if it's a production issue....well......?!

Thanks @Cozzer ... I'll give it a miss. Appreciate the updates. I'll continue with a router and slot cutter

 

[Cozzer]

Quick update for anyone interested...
Finally got around to giving it a whirl. Remember my comment about the height adjuster being awkward/tight/out of alignment? Yes, it still is! Would lubrication help? Yes, probably, but I suspect "wear and tear" will help the cog/slots problem in time - more than likely by rounding off the cog teeth!
What it won't solve is the circa 0.5 mm difference from left to right on the scale window...
Talking of tight, even the on/off switch is! For the minute, it's a thumb hurter, just sliding it forward and back!

I didn't have to adjust the depth of cut (at least for the size 20s I used) but it looks easy to do had I had to.
So did it work?
Yes. Fine!
Noisy as anything, but for the few seconds it takes, does it matter? I won't be using it all day, every day, so no.

A handy tool to keep.

 

[Stevekane]

Facinating the way things pop up, Ive just spent ages with my big belt sander leveling off the step between two boards I used biscuits to line up, bloody frustrating as I took care using the jointer,,,a cheap Ferm one that was given to me for nothing, given the mechanics of the beast you would think its almost impossible to get the two sides out of alignment but it is by about 0.5mm and as a consequence I wouldn't buy a cheap one unless it had excellent reviews.
Steve.

 

[Spectric]

as a consequence I wouldn't buy a cheap one

This shows why cheap tools can be a bad buy, they cannot deliver the accuracy required. I have had a 110 volt Dewalt 682 for sometime and it gives good alignment but they are about the £200 mark. The Makita is slighly more powerful and similar price but the Dewalt felt more solid. You also have the option of the Lamello, I believe they are the original biscuit jointer and might be good or really fantastic but do you need to pay over £600 for a biscuit jointer ?
If you have the cash for it then you might as well splash even more and buy the Lamello P2 which gives you more options than just biscuits.

 

[accipiter]

This shows why cheap tools can be a bad buy, they cannot deliver the accuracy required. I have had a 110 volt Dewalt 682 for sometime and it gives good alignment but they are about the £200 mark. The Makita is slighly more powerful and similar price but the Dewalt felt more solid. You also have the option of the Lamello, I believe they are the original biscuit jointer and might be good or really fantastic but do you need to pay over £600 for a biscuit jointer ?
If you have the cash for it then you might as well splash even more and buy the Lamello P2 which gives you more options than just biscuits.

1st thought of it seems in 1955... produced from 1968...

https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/...riginal hand-held biscuit,is now 50 years old.

 

[Spectric]

Interesting, fifty years old so that says something for the biscuit and that it is still going strong despite other competitive tools. But £600 for a biscuit jointer is hard to justify, but maybe the P2 is better value as it is unique and without competition.

 

[accipiter]

Interesting, fifty years old so that says something for the biscuit and that it is still going strong despite other competitive tools. But £600 for a biscuit jointer is hard to justify, but maybe the P2 is better value as it is unique and without competition.

If you take from when he first came up with the idea in 1955 it's now 70 years along the line - 57 since being produced in 1968... time flies

 

[JSW]

Every time I look and see that this thread has new posts I'm perplexed that anyone in their right mind would think this is a good buy.

"Time flies" indeed, I reckon a few of these biscuit jointers might take flight after a morning spent wrangling with them.

 

[Cozzer]

Every time I look and see that this thread has new posts I'm perplexed that anyone in their right mind would think this is a good buy.

"Time flies" indeed, I reckon a few of these biscuit jointers might take flight after a morning spent wrangling with them.

So why keep looking?

 

[JSW]

So why keep looking?

Morbid curiosity. Combined with the fact I may actually learn something, IE: the history of the Lamello

 

[AJB Temple]

Parkside for precision tools is a triumph of consumer optimism over common sense.

 

[JSW]

Parkside for precision tools is a triumph of consumer optimism over common sense.

Far more eloquently put than I could ever phrase it!

Admission: I have a Parkside pillar drill, bought maybe 6-7 years ago, £60 iirc. It gets a LOT of use, I had to shim and mess around for ages to get the table to run 90 degrees to the chuck, There's slop in the chuck (obviously, it was 60 quid) but it works, and has been a damned useful tool.

I thought it had finally died a few weeks ago, happy days! Time to find something decent, Fobco/Meddings etc preferably. After a couple of weeks worth of fruitless searching, I noticed the top cover on the Parkside seemed a gnat's higher than I recalled, yes the cover had worked it's way loose and the microswitch had tripped. Back in action again, but the search continues for its successor.

 

[accipiter]

Morbid curiosity. Combined with the fact I may actually learn something, IE: the history of the Lamello

Thanks.. I think . I was curious about the biscuit jointer/joiner and when such a tool first came along - after the mention by @Spectric ... quite surprised it goes back to 1955 before Lamello produced it from 1968... I thought the link may have been of interest, glad it was . I first came across - and used one - in 1988~89 - one made by Elu... big, heavy machine.

 

[Diver Fred]

This looks better value even at over £50.

Or even this for £35.

 

[Cozzer]

This looks better value even at over £50.

Or even this for £35.

They may well be.

But then I'd have to buy the router?

 

[carpenteire2009]

I don't have any experience with the machine in question but I wouldn't expect much from something so cheap. I have an inexpensive Trend biscuit joiner myself, which is no work of engineering finesse, but it's perfectly fine for my needs and it's performance is in line with what I paid for it. I tend to avoid the middle aisle when it comes to tools, although I believe Aldi do a really good prybar set, which I am looking out for.

 

[HamsterJam]

What’s the slop like in the cutter itself and is it square to the base of the tool?
If that’s OK, then it should be possible to achieve good accuracy by using a flat surface and referencing cuts off the bottom of the tool rather than using the fence.

 

[Nail]

What’s the slop like in the cutter itself and is it square to the base of the tool?
If that’s OK, then it should be possible to achieve good accuracy by using a flat surface and referencing cuts off the bottom of the tool rather than using the fence.

Is the juice worth the squeeze? Is the cheap price worth the hassle of set-up versus a better version?