Plate Joiners Reviews

There is no denying that this is the best plate joiner on the market. It can produce repeatable, accurate and precise joinery in ways that the other plate joiners simply can't match. The laminated card with settings that allow precise centering of biscuit slots for varying thicknesses of wood will be really handy. I have zero complaints about this machine...except...when I ordered it from Amazon I was sent a unit that had obviously been opened and resealed. On delivery the wooden case was severely damaged (the bottom was pushed off and the center divider was fractured) and the angled dust chute guide had been mounted on the machine, and was broken. I tried to repair the case, but then why should I settle for damaged goods? I have to send the unit back for a replacement. I appreciate Amazon's return policy, but I really don't think I should have to go through this. There was no damage to the outer box it was shipped in, or any visible damage to the manufacturers box. I think this machine was damaged before shipment. I don't think we expect to receive "refurbished/damaged" goods when buying from Amazon, and I'm disappointed. I'll reserve final judgement until after I get a "new" unit.

Great product, delivers consistant result at all the time. cons: No dust bag. I mean it doesn't come with one. You may have to order from the company, and the dust outlet has a plastic holder. Mine was broken when I received it. I'm going to glue it back on.
I haven't contact Amason.com about it,but that outlet should have been a better material anyway. It comes strongly Recommended. You want a good product? as a civil engineer I strongly recommends it.

Lovely machine and as smooth as advertised. glad I purchased. The wood case is a little much. It just holds the joiner loosly. Not at all a custom fit. Would have thought this expensive a toy would be cradled somehow rather than left to just rattle around.. Oh well, hope it didn't represent a major $ amount in the purchase 'cause it's kind of "cheesy"

That should say someting right there! Guess I will make it 8! I spent more money on a biscuit joiner and a bag of biscuits than I did on this tool! I had a drill by the way! Received both at the same time, was not sure which would work better. Anyone out there looking to buy a buscuit joiner (new condition, only used to cut 2 joints, still in it case collecting dust now)?

The DowelMax jig is going to make biscuit joining a thing of the pastas soon as more people realize how great this jig is. Biscuits = sloppy joints in one axis along the length of the buscuit. Dowelmax gives you an accurate alignment in all 3 axis of the joint and is almost as fast as a plate joiner once you get the hang of using the jig (watch the video that comes with the jig and then spend 5 minutes practicing and you should be a pro.. it is that simple).
Take a chance on the price... it is worth it!

One additional thought, if you think the price is a little spendy, consider the price of a biscuit joiner collecting dust instead of making some! I am still trying to find Some use for that joiner.

This is easily the most versatile doweling jig on the market. It lets you place dowels relative to a reference face with great precision. Note that this is a lot more useful than a standard doweling jig that only places dowels in a self centering location. Also, you can place sequential dowels with similarly excellent precision.

The tool is easy to use and the accompanying documentation and video is excellent. The jig is well made and sturdy.

My only gripe with the product itself is that it would be somewhat easier to use if it were slightly larger. The jig is only about four inches long.

Having said that, it is an excellent tool and a nice complement to biscuit and pocket hole joinery. It adds a lot of flexibility to woodworking. I would buy it again.

I am relatively new to building furniture and decided to try out dowel joints. Based upon research and other reviews, I decided to try out the Dowelmax. What a surprise! Even us who are considered a novice had success with the very first joint. It is so amazingly simple and accurate, its unbelievable. I have several furniture projects lined up and plan on using the Dowelmax extensively. The folks at Dowelmax had my jig to me in exactly one week, so I can't say enough about their responsiveness. The overall quality of this tool certainly speaks for itself. (It should have come packed in a fine mahogany box as it looks more like a piece of jewelry.) I expect it will last long after I am gone. Thanks Jim and the rest of folks at Dowelmax!

Excellent product. It comes strongly recommended. Good engineering. I strongly recommend it.

These biscuits work very well, but I don't understand why a box of ASSORTED BISCUITS is so much more expensive (with the same number of biscuits) as any of the boxes of biscuits that have the same number of biscuits, but all one size. For example, 1000 # 0, 10 or 20 is 37 dollars or so, and the assorted 1000 (500 20s, 250 10s and 250 0s) is 55 dollars. What's up with that?

What more can I say?

I have been using the Porter-cable plate joiner for about 4 months. I ran out of the Porter-cable biscuits right in the middle of a project on a sunday afternoon. My regular shop was closed so I bought a "generic" brand of biscuits at the local mega home destruction center just to finish the day. What a mistake. Most of these things did not fit due major variations in thickness and poor quality. Most would split when tapped into place. I ended up throwing away 2/3 rds of these defective biscuits. I have never had any problems with the Porter-Cable biscuits. These are always high quality, consistent thickness and much stronger. My daughter says they taste better also !

I purchased the Freud JS102 biscuit jointer in 1998 and have used it to build many furniture projects in the time since. It is a quality built machine that is worth its modest price tag. The only fault I can find with it is that the dust port leading to the cloth bag tends to get clogged up. This is not a big deal though, as it is easy to clean out. I would buy this tool again in a heartbeat for its reliability and the value per dollar spent.

I know this is a popular tool and has garnered good reviews in comparison tests. I liked it when I first started using it but after about 500 cuts I noticed the plunger wasn't working as smoothly as before, and I keep my tools clean & oiled. The sliding mechanism was wearing out far too rapidly than a 'professional' tool should. Then one day at work it just went dead; hadn't been dropped, wasn't overheated. So I probably got about 1000 cuts on this machine. The replacement? A Lamello, what I should have gone for originally.

This is the first plate joiner I have ever owned. I'm getting lazy, and no longer feel like cutting stopped dadoes for splines when edge gluing boards. So what to do? Buy a plate joiner! After all the positive reviews on Amazon, and the recommendations from a few people, figured the Porter Cable is the one to buy. Overall, this is a solid tool. The fence is long, and sturdy, the plunge mechanism has close tolerances so there isn't any "wiggle" (that is a highly technical term), and the micro adjust is great. If only using the dust collection bag, good luck! The tube leading into the bag clogs up, and the wood chips wind up everywhere except in the bag after cutting a few slots. Hook it up to your shop vacuum or, for you high end folk, your dust collection system, and there will be no problems.

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OK, it's my first biscuit joiner, I'll admit, but I have only nice things to say about it. It received an excelent rating in the Taunton Press tool guide and was one of the mid priced models, so I took the plunge (so to speak) and it has definately proved itself . I've used this tool for quite a few projects and it has worked smoothly and flawlessley. joints come out tight and perfectly aligned. There is only one drawback that comes to mind. It seems to be an excepted fact that the dust collector, as with most biscuit joiners, is not worth using. If you use the dust bag it will plug instantly. As someone else here recommended, I just turn the discharge nozzle away from me or to the floor and sweep up the chips later. I did connect it to my home central vac system with a rigged up adapter once and that seemed to work well but isn't always so convenient for me.

All things considered, I appreciate quality tools and am not dissapointed by this one. Highley recommended!

I looked at the PC, and did not like the plastic components on the fence. I already had a DW, and was not happy with the alignment problems between the fence and the blade. Of all three, the Makita is the best. The fence is attached to a surface machined parallel to the blade, and is also more substantial than the DW. Don't worry about the lower amp motor, as the blade is very high quality, and the wood from the slot comes out as shavings, not chips as in the DW. I like this tool. I would buy it again. I can't say that about the other two.

Like a couple of other posters, I'm not a huge fan of using biscuit joiners but on large glue-ups, mine still gets quite a bit of use, mostly for alignment.

I have used another popular brand of biscuit joiner and find the Makita top notch. I like it because it's not overly complicated at all and the chips really fly as opposed to clogging up in the chute. The fence is substantial, easy to adjust / lock and it's very straight forward to use. I don't want to have to "refresh my memory" for its use on those few occasions when I need biscuits. If for some reason I needed another, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Makita for this tool.

Joiner appears to be brand new. First thing I did was check/adjust everything for square. I discovered that the fence was twisted wile looking down it(perpendicular to the base). It would rock back & forth with the joiner vertical on a flat surface. I swapped fences with one off a friends and it was fine (his rocked with my fence on it).

I called Dewalt and they sent me a new fence that I should get it in a week or so.
When doing mitered face frames the joiner will often slip when cutting the slot as the piece isn't wide enough to contact the two corner stops. In this aspect the PC would be prefered as it has an abrasive bad the width of the base (also it has a larger fence surface to register with the wood piece).

Altogether I would have prefered the Porter Cable, but couldn't justify the higher price.

This unit arrived in perfect condition and was indistinguishable from a new one except for the "Reconditioned in Mexico" sticker and the "R" embossed into the housing. There were none of the alignment problems mentioned by several other reviewers.

I've been using the Plate Joiner the past several weeks to cut slots into the sides of hardwood deck boards for use with ipe clip fastening system. The wood is very dense and hard and so far the Joiner has worked flawlessly through hundreds of cuts. I've had absolutely no problem with any adjustments drifting throughout the job.

The only complaint that I have is that the dust port clogs every dozen or so cuts. Letting the Joiner reach full speed before cutting extends the cleaning time somewhat, but it's still a nuisance to have to clean it so frequently...sawdust accumulates at the junction between the cloth bag and the plastic sleeve and then backs back up into the machine. DeWalt needs to redesign the bag system to eliminate any obstructions in the air path. An active dust collection system, such as a Shop Vac, obviously completely eliminats this problem.

All in all, I highly recommend the DeWalt. It's very well built and the reconditioned units are an exceptional value.

At first this jointer did not work well. The slots it cut were not parallel to the wood piece. After reading a review of a new one, I looked at mine--same thing. The fence was not parallel to the blade. There are two screws that hold the fence to the body. I loosened them, put the body on a plate of glass and clamped it. I then pushed down on the fence portion, and tightened the screwd. After doing this, it seemed like a new machine. It works great now.

I found the Lamello plate jointer to be quite a bit like the Freud that it replaced. Don't care for the way the fence mounts, a little cheap I think. Freud was the same. And the adjusting scale was cheesy like the Freud. Can't put in carrying case unless you take the fence off. all small things, but I thought Lamello was the Cadallac of plate jointers, not much more than a
Volkswagon to me. Cuts well, guess thats what I paid the high dollars for. Maybe should have just revamped the Freud and sharpened the cutters.

I was going to buy a Porter Cable 557 until talked to friends that have one and used one my self.I measured the slot with a dial caliper and it is dead on. The jointer does not move when cutting a slot. The pads work great. I have had problems with the slots all being the same in elevation with my old Porter Cable jointer and this is real easy to keep all the same. Another feature I like on the jointer is the start switch can be locked in to keep the jointer running until you get done with all of the slots on the edge and then turn the jointer off. I also like the position detent on the fence for the different angle settings. Another nice feature is the ease of the fence removal and instalation.This is really worth twice as much as the Porter Cable 557.

As a woodworker and cabinet builder, I am constantly relying on a buscuit joiner in my work. The Lamello C2 Classic is the epitome of simplicity. Solidly built, it does not flex, giving me accurate placement of the buscuit slot. The blade design and nonslip pads make the process effortless. The case is lackluster... like an empty tackle box. The top tray was cracked, but who cares? A machine of this caliber deserves a fitted case, like Festool. Like I said, Big Bucks, but worth it!!

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I previously owned and used one of the first reasonably priced plate joiners, made by Freud. I used the joiner for many years, until it literally wore out. A friend of mine had a Dewalt joiner which I borrowed to get a job done. I was very impressed with the ease of setting up and accuracy. So impressed, that I immediately purchased one. As a cabinetmaker, I frequently use a plate joiner and highly recommend this one. Can't complain about the price either!

Open the box - plug it in - and go to work
The instructions were easy to understand and the joiner even easier to use. I had no problems with Amazon or the order.