Last updated on March 19th, 2023 at 12:39 am
When joining two pieces of wood together, edge-to-edge, face grain to face grain or edge grain to edge grain, adding biscuits with the aid of a biscuit joiner can be used align the pieces being joined perfectly, and even strengthen the joint.
Although certain woodworkers don’t fancy this type of joinery, it’s actually a pretty standard joinery method which has been used for decades and it’s still being used today by professional cabinet and furniture projects.
To create the biscuit joint, a woodworker cuts segment-shaped slots into the opposite edges of the pieces of wood or panels to be joined together.
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Glue is applied to the slots or to a highly dried and compressed oval-shaped wooden piece called the biscuit which is then inserted into the slot. Both wood pieces are immediately clamped together to form the joint.
Because the wooden piece is highly dried and compressed, the presence of the wet glue expands it in the slots, thus increasing its size and strengthening the joint created.
I must emphasize however, this is not a very popular joint, and is likely not something you should be concerned about if you’re just starting out as a woodworker.
That’s because, to create it, you need a biscuit joiner, a woodworking power tool not really essential for simple woodworking projects, but for professionals finish carpentry and craftwork.
If you’re edge-joining solid wood, it’s not really necessary to use biscuits to reinforce the joint, as applying only glue and clamping them together should suffice. With proper application of glue and pressure, two or more pieces of wood edge-joined together will break before the joint does, so there’s no need for using biscuits to reinforce it.
However, they’re very effective when joining sheet goods like plywood, MDF and particle boards.
Here’ in this article, I’ve list 10 of the best biscuit joiners we’ve reviewed so you can choose the right one for your projects.
1. Dewalt DW682K Biscuit Joiner Kit
Equipped with a powerful 6.5 Amps motor which spins at a speed of 10,000 rpm, the Dewalt DW682K biscuit joiner is capable of cutting through any wood you’re working with, hard or soft.
It comes equipped with a dual rack and pinion fence system which ensures that the blade and fence are parallel so that you can make accurate repeated joints every time.
You can adjust the fence from 0 to 90 degrees easily to make any type of angled cut you want to make.
A notch exists in the 45 degree angle which makes cutting slots for miter joints very easy.
On the 0 degree angle you can make flush cuts without removing the fence, and there are positive depth stops for all the common biscuit sizes you can use for making the joints.
The non-marring heavy duty aluminum shoe allows the Dewalt DW682K biscuit joiner to be used even on delicate projects.
2. Porter Cable Plate/Biscuit Joiner Kit
With the Porter Cable plate joiner, you have a reliable tool you can use to cut slots for your biscuit joints through any kind of wood.
It comes equipped with a power 7 amp motor which rotates the blade at a speed of 10,000 rpm.
You can tilt the fence from 0 degrees to 135 degrees easily to make any type of angled biscuit joint.
It comes with two blades. A 4 inch blade for making standard sized cuts and a 2 inch blade for making finer cuts up to 1-1/2 inches.
The porter cable biscuit joiner has seven different cutting settings you can use to make your cuts, and a seven-position rotating depth stops for the different sizes of biscuits you can use for making the joints.
It’s portable and easy to handle, weighing just 7.5 lbs and measuring just over 7 inches in height.
3. WEN JN8504 Plate and Biscuit Joiner
The plate and biscuit joiner with model number JN8504 from the WEN is one of the most sought after power tool for making biscuit joinery.
It comes equipped with an 8.5 am motor powering a 4 inch carbide-tipped blade. The blade spins at a speed of 10,000 revolutions per minute, allowing quick, clean and precise cutting of slots, even through hardwood for insertion biscuits.
The WEN JN8504 also features a height and angle adjustable fence, which means slots can be cut at any height and angle, making it suitable for different sizes of workpieces.
The blade is adjustable with present stops for creating sluts for #0, #10 and #20 biscuit sizes. It can also be manually adjusted to cut other slot sizes depending on the size of biscuits you have.
Whether, you’re edge-joining panels, aligning boards or strengthening different types of joints, this plate joiner from WEN will work just fine.
It will work fine for strengthening miter joints, T-joints, corner joints, edge-to-edge joints, offset joints and more.
Included is a detachable dust bag to help contain the dust produced when using the tool, and it also cut with 24 #20, 16 #10 and 10 #0 wood biscuits to help kick start your project right away.
4. REXBETI Biscuit Joiner Kit
One of the best biscuit joiners you can use to make biscuit joints during your woodworking projects is the REXBETI REX031.
It weighs just 7 lbs. making it very portable and easy to handle. With a powerful motor producing a no load speed of 10,000 rpm, you have a very powerful tool you can use no matter the type of tool you’re working with.
The REX031 comes equipped with a 4 inche blade and it has a cut depth capacity of 15 mm.
As for the fence, it can be adjusted from 0 to 90 degrees and it’s suitable for making biscuit joints no matter the type of joint or angle with which you want to make the joinery.
There are stops at 0 degrees, 45 and 90 degrees respectively, to ensure ease of cuts at commonly used angles.
5. AOBEN Biscuit Joiner
The biscuit joiner made by AOBEN is probably one of the best ones you can get your hands on today.
The AOBEN features preset stops for the most common sizes of biscuits you use for your projects like the size 0, 10, and 20.
If you have a different size of biscuit different from the common sizes, you can put the joiner in a manual mode settings labelled as M, where you can use it to adjust the joiner and cut slots for any custom size.
Equipped with an 8.7 Amp motor which spins the blade at a no load speed of 11,000 rpm, the A0BEN features everything you need to work on any joinery you want, no matter the type of wood you’re working with.
It comes with a 4 inch diameter blade and the whole tool weighs just 7.6 lbs. In terms of portability and ease of handling, it’s surely up there with the best.
6. Ryobi-JM83K-AC
If you want to cut accurate slots for making your biscuit joinery, the Ryobi-JM83K-AC is one of the best units we reviewed.
Equipped with a sharp carbide tipped blade and accurate metal rack and pinion fence, the Ryobi cuts truly and accurately every time you use it.
It’s very easy to adjust and very comfortable to hold even when you use it for a long time, as it comes equipped with an ergonomic handle.
The Ryobi biscuit joiner features 6 amp motor which is capable of spinning the blade at 11,000 RPM and cutting through any wood you are working on no matter how hard it is.
With it you can cut slots from at different angles from 0 degrees to 135 degrees and it has positive stops at 0, 45, 90 and 135 degrees, so you can work at commonly used angles.
7. Makita XJP03Z 18V Cordless Biscuit Plate Joiner
If you want a cordless biscuit joiner you can work with on the jobsite without the inconvenience of using a cord, then you should consider getting this Makita XJP03Z.
With it you can cut slots for the different sizes of biscuits, and there are preset depth stops for making these cuts.
The XJP03Z comes equipped with a rack and pinion vertical fence system which you can use to make accurate adjustments for the joints you want to cut.
8. Gino Development 01-0102
Talking about biscuit joiners, the Gino Development 01-0102 is one of the best budget friendly options you can get today.
With a max cutting depth of 0.55 inches and a cutting angle of 0 to 45 degrees, you can use it to cut slots at different angles and for different types of joints.
It comes equipped with hard tungsten carbide tipped blade you can use to cut through any type of wood.
9. VonHaus 8.5 Amp Plate Joiner
Equipped with a hard 4 inch tungsten carbide tipped blade, the Vonhause 8.5 amp biscuit plate joiner offers one of the best solutions you can use for cutting slots for your biscuit joints.
The adjustable fence allows you to set it at different angles and cut the slots easily, and there are preset depth stops for cutting slots for commonly used sizes of 0, 10 and 20 accurately.
A large ergonomic top handle makes it easy to handle it comfortably even if you work for a long time with it.
10. Lamello Top 21 101500 Biscuit Joiner
Cut biscuit slots at angles from 0 to 135 degrees with this Lamello 101500 adjustable height biscuit joiner.
The Lamello biscuit joiner features a repeatable adjustable blade height and a stop square that mounts under the work piece for support when cutting slots close to the end of the surface.
It comes equipped with a powerful electronically controlled 800 Watts smart motor with a stop start feature and overload protection.
With it, you can cut slots on even the hardest of woods as it’s equipped with a 6 tooth carbide scoring blade.
Although it’s quite expensive compared to the other models featured in this list, it’s one of the best joiners you can ever get for your projects, and it’s definitely worth the cost.
How To Choose the Right Biscuit Joiner
A biscuit joiner is not a very complicated tool, so choosing the right one is not really that complicated if you know what you want.
Most of the time, in this type of scenario, the deciding factor is most likely the brand you favor.
As long as the one you’re looking at is not from far back as the 1960’s, most modern biscuit joiners does the job pretty well. They cut snug and tight-fitting slots pretty easily.
What I’ll look at though, apart from the brand and pricing, is the amount of power or the motor amperage and rpm of the different ones available.
This will tell you how much power it produces and how much work you can do with it at a time.
You should also decide whether you need a corded model or a cordless one. A cordless unit is usually more expensive than a corded one because it’s more portable. You can literally take it with you anywhere without worrying about a power source.
As for dust collection, all the ones I’ve seen come with a pretty decent dust bag and a dust port that extracts the dust.
Depth and bevel adjustment should also be considered. There are different sizes of biscuits you can use for your joints. That’s why the depth of cut and bevel angle are adjusted based on the size of biscuits you’re using and the type of joint being made. All the joiners reviewed in this article have depth stops for the most common sizes of biscuits available like the #0, #10 and #20, so the slots can be cut easily and efficiently.
