Using A Biscuit Joiner To Make An Interior Barn Door

In an edge to edge glue up such as for a raised panel or visible m inlineop two well jointed edges with adequate glue will create a joint stronger than the surrounding material even without a biscuit.

Using a biscuit joiner to make an interior barn door.

I used a picture frame clamp to keep the door frame square while the glue dried. Use the largest biscuit possible for maximum strength 2. All the same rules of finish carpentry apply you just have a stronger joint that wont ever open up. Then line up the centerline on your gauge with the layout line on your workpiece for a quick reference on which to use.

First you have to clamp drill glue then screw then fill or plug then sand then finish. While you can almost never go wrong adding a biscuit to a joint i ve found from talking to woodworkers in my classes that biscuits are often overused. If it is set too deep the biscuits will be too far embedded on one piece and won t deliver the holding power that we want. Wood magazine s craig ruegsegger shows you not.

The biscuits i used were actually a tad wide for the boards. A biscuit joiner also known as a plate joiner is an electric woodworking tool. Did i just make any sense. Cut first slot sut second slot glue insert biscuit.

I guess my gripe with the kreg method is that i have to fill the holes and i pretty much dislike anything that requires extra repairing of the wood. As far as the tool goes i can take a 100 00 jointer and a 500 00 jointer make a biscuit joint with each tool using the same quality and type of biscuit and glue and they will both have the exact same strength. The biscuit is thin off the bat and the joiner hole is larger there is play and the joint will move. Learn how to make a biscuit joint just one of the nine essential joints you should consider for your project.

Turn on the cutter and make the cut. Biscuits are not a magic way to do joints that will be tight and perfect with no effort. The additional 1 32 provides a little wiggle room as well as room for glue. A biscuit joiner uses a small blade 4 inches or 101 6 millimeters to cut a crescent shaped hole in the opposite edges of two pieces of wood.

When adjusted properly the biscuit joiner will cut a slot 1 32 deeper than half the width of your biscuit. Fill the slot with glue a small paintbrush works well and insert the biscuit. Simply mill a slot for each size glue in a biscuit making sure you push it in only halfway and mark a centerline for each. Apply glue to the slot in the corresponding piece then insert the other end of the biscuit.