help with biscuit jointing

[muttley9050]

I know im a couple of days late but thought id share with you my experiences.

Jointing a piece of timber for a butt joint is a hard thing to do and a biscuit jointer isnt going to help, they only give you a stronger joint andhelp with allignment of faces. If you dont want to buy a surface planer/jointer, then you should learn to do it the old way with a shooting plane also known as a bailey( a stanley no5 or no6).

Cut as straight and square an edge as you can manage with a table or circular saw. with the timber held securely in a vise with the straight side up. Run the shooting plane along the edge with even pressure and a fluid motion,you must also be careful to hold the plane square.When you can run the plane down the wood and get one continuous piece of waste come off for the whole length ofthe timber then you know it is straight. You can buy a secondhand no5 for around £20 andit is one of the most important tools you will own.

Iwould not use an electric plane for this as they can be too fierce and can tend to dig in at the ends, although with a steady hand and some skill it is possible to do it.

James

[Quickthorn]

I've never used an electric planer, but I'd guess a good hand plane would do a better job. However, I think you'd be lucky to get anything decent for £20, because people now collect these, and that has pushed prices up. Anything at that price often needs an awful lot of work to make it usable, and probably would have been low quality fresh out of the box.

 

I've had quite good results jointing boards with my Stanley No.7 jointer.

 

 

It cost £80 from a bloke based just outside of Horncastle, who refurbishes old tools. This one dates back to the 1920s, I believe. I've put in a thicker iron as well, and it can easily take consistent shavings of a few thousandths of an inch. In short, it's a joy to use.

 

You can compare it with a No.5 plane - the one in front in this shot.

 

 

The No.5 shown is not so good for jointing, as it's a bit shorter, plus it's a lower quality plane. It probably dates from the 70's, and the quality of hand planes in general went downhill after the war as manufacturers sought to cut costs.