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BUTT JOINTS
A butt joint is made by mating the end grain of one board
with the edge grain of another. The bonding of glue on
this type of surface is poor. However, by using biscuits
you can create a strong joint that gives a mortise-and-
tenon effect.
MAKING
BUTT JOINTS
See Figures 11 - 12.
•
Unplug the biscuit joiner.
•
Place the two pieces of wood to be joined on a level
workbench. Align them against each other in the ar-
rangement in which they will be assembled.
•
Using a square, determine the location of each biscuit
spline joint and mark the center of each joint by draw-
ing a line across the edges of the two boards.
•
Loosen the locking knob and set the fence angle at
90 °.
•
Set the fence height at the desired dimension on the
scale by rotating the height adjustment knob.
NOTE: The scale indicates the height of the fence from
the center of the blade.
•
Tighten the locking knob securely.
•
Select the correct depth of cut setting to match the
biscuit size you are planning to use. Make a test cut
in a scrap piece of wood from the same workpiece if
possible.
•
Clamp the workpiece securely so that it will not move
during the cut.
•
Plug the biscuit joiner into a power supply and prepare
to make your first cut. Grasp and hold the biscuit joiner
securely with both hands.
•
Place the fence against the board and align the indica-
tor marks on the fence with the centerline mark(s) on
the board.
•
Depress the switch trigger to turn on the biscuit joiner,
then push it forward to extend the blade into the wood.
•
When the base assembly bottoms out against the
depth of cut adjustment knob setting, pull back to
release pressure on the spring. The blade will retract
from the biscuit slot.
•
Repeat this procedure for cutting the slot in the mating
workpiece.
•
Once all biscuit slots have been cut, place a biscuit
in each joint and dry-assemble
the workpieces.
Make
sure each joint lines up and fits.
•
Finally, disassemble the workpieces and place a bead
of glue in each slot. Also, spread a bead of glue over
the entire surface of the joint. Reinsert the biscuits and
assemble the workpieces as shown in figure 11.
•
Clamp the workpieces together until the glue sets up.
BUTTJOINTS
UIT(S)
I
J
MULTIPLE
BISCUITSSTACKED
BISCUIT
SLOT(S)
CENTERLINE
MARK(S)
Fig. 11
OFFSET
BUTT JOINTS
See Figure 12.
The rails of a table or workbench
are often offset from
the front of the table legs. When offsets are required, it is
necessary to cut the slots in the rails first, then readjust
the fence to cut the slots in the legs.
Keeping this one exception in mind, the procedure for
cutting offset butt joints is identical to the procedure for
cutting butt joints.
For example, if a 1/4 in. offset is desired, you would mark
the centerlines for cutting a butt joint as mentioned in the
procedures for cutting butt joints, and cut the slots in the
ends of the rails. Next you would raise the fence 1/4 in. to
the desired offset and cut the slots in the legs.
OFFSETBUTTJOINTS
BISCUIT
SLOT
BISCUIT
CENTERLINE
MARK(S)
Fig. 12
15
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