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Parkside biscuit jointer £26.99!
- Thread starter Essex Barn Workshop
- Start date
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HOJ
Established Member
So 41+ posts in, have we reached a conclusion.
accipiter
Established Member
Cozzer
Established Member
Well....I've kept mine, after swapping the first.
All the no doubt well-meant advice involved buying "better quality" - in other words, spending more - and in a few cases having to also buy a supplementary tool as well! A router, at God knows what cost. If I'd suggested a Lidl/Aldi job, no doubt the same well-meant folk would've cried "Oh! You don't want one of them! Get one of these!"
I won't be using the Parkside job every day. The only thing on the horizon is a basic, rectangular wooden box/small chest for some tools. I'm not copying a Louis Xiv cabinet that I spotted in Versailles...
It's good enough for what I want it for. I don't need a zircon encrusted job that costs a small fortune.
All the no doubt well-meant advice involved buying "better quality" - in other words, spending more - and in a few cases having to also buy a supplementary tool as well! A router, at God knows what cost. If I'd suggested a Lidl/Aldi job, no doubt the same well-meant folk would've cried "Oh! You don't want one of them! Get one of these!"
I won't be using the Parkside job every day. The only thing on the horizon is a basic, rectangular wooden box/small chest for some tools. I'm not copying a Louis Xiv cabinet that I spotted in Versailles...
It's good enough for what I want it for. I don't need a zircon encrusted job that costs a small fortune.
robgul
Barry Bucknell is my hero
Indeed - people seem to think that a biscuit jointer is a substitute for a Festool Domino - horses for courses, biscuits have their place, even the cheap ones.
HOJ
Established Member
My interest comes from mentoring others, hobbyists and DIYer's who come to me for advice on their projects. I've passed on quite a few "budget" tools that I get given by others, so in this case I could recommend a tool that would suffice and get them making in the absence of the skills to do complicated joinery.
HamsterJam
Let’s take it apart to see what’s inside….
IMHO probably not as it loses some of the flexibility too, but might be a work around if anyone needs a budget option or has bought one and found the fence lacking.
A biscuit jointer that has any slop at all is nae gud. Biscuits only work if the wee tongues of wood are tight in the slots; and the slots can be accurately placed.
I used biscuits of all four sizes for over a decade as my main M&T substitute. Initially I used a router with a slot cutter but soon bought a Mafell, after reading endless chat and reviews of less expensive (but not particularly cheap either) jointers that all tended to have stories of slop-makes-bad. As another poster points out, there's a reason that Lamellos cost so much - accurate not-the-slightest-slop makes a difference between tight strong joints and joints that fail or make a piece itself go flop.
The Festool Dominoes replaced my Mafell biscuit jointer many years ago. I sold the Mafell for £197, which was £3 less than I'd paid for it 10 or 12 years before. It and the Lamellos did, at that time, keep their value. I suspect that the Domino has torpedoed that 2nd hand value retention, though.
It sounds like you'd be wasting your time and money with the Parkside thing - as is likely with any tool needing very good engineering and manufacture to work as intended. A bit of tree bough makes a good mallet for hitting a froe but this approach doesn't work with things like biscuit jointers and several other similar tools, such as routers, jigsaws and tooth brushes.
I used biscuits of all four sizes for over a decade as my main M&T substitute. Initially I used a router with a slot cutter but soon bought a Mafell, after reading endless chat and reviews of less expensive (but not particularly cheap either) jointers that all tended to have stories of slop-makes-bad. As another poster points out, there's a reason that Lamellos cost so much - accurate not-the-slightest-slop makes a difference between tight strong joints and joints that fail or make a piece itself go flop.
The Festool Dominoes replaced my Mafell biscuit jointer many years ago. I sold the Mafell for £197, which was £3 less than I'd paid for it 10 or 12 years before. It and the Lamellos did, at that time, keep their value. I suspect that the Domino has torpedoed that 2nd hand value retention, though.
It sounds like you'd be wasting your time and money with the Parkside thing - as is likely with any tool needing very good engineering and manufacture to work as intended. A bit of tree bough makes a good mallet for hitting a froe but this approach doesn't work with things like biscuit jointers and several other similar tools, such as routers, jigsaws and tooth brushes.
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NeiljohnUK
Established Member
Yet to play with mine, repairing my £50 mini-mill (list price ~£700) takes precedence, but the Parkside router bought at the same time has been very useful, especially the micro-adjustable fence that fits my Makita 18v trim router, at a third of the price of the Makita fence complete with a useable mains router free!
flying haggis
Established Member
Reading this thread got me searching Facebook and Gumtree. There are lots of second hand jointers out there, some good makes at decent prices as well.
And if anyone in the Ringwood area fancies a lamelll p2 there is one for sale on f/b for 1800 quid.
There is also a lamello c2 in bracknell for 260 on ebay and another c3 for 300
And if anyone in the Ringwood area fancies a lamelll p2 there is one for sale on f/b for 1800 quid.
There is also a lamello c2 in bracknell for 260 on ebay and another c3 for 300
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