i was more concerned about that bastard fly

Good choice! I recently bought the newer DeWalt 20V Max biscuit joiner, and sent it right back when I compared the two of them side by side. The Makita has a much better build quality.

John Heisz has a great video where he puts his full weight on a shelf be built held up only by biscuits. Lile you said, they're really strong when used correctly!

I recently bought the DeWalt 20V brushless version, but ended up taking it right back once I could compare it side by side. The Makita just feels and looks higher quality.

Glad I could help!

I've been really happy with it, it's a pretty solid tool.

Bare tool is $200 and comes with the tool, thin stock guide, dust bag, and blade wrench but no batteries or charger. If I didn't already have Makita batteries, I probably would have gone corded. The equivalent Makita corded tool is $175.

It was 3/4" plywood, so probably somewhere between 11/16" and 3/4" thickness. I would think you'd be fine using biscuits in the same manner I did for 90° corners if you make sure to use small enough ones that they don't break through the far side of the plywood.

I've just been using Porter Cable biscuits: amzn.to/2YnqkvZ There are probably others that are higher quality, but those have been working well enough for me and they're relatively inexpensive.

LOL, I ended up with it cutting through a few times before I figured it out myself as well!

Biscuits won't be as strong as dowels, but they're stronger than a lot of people give them credit for. I wouldn't use them for a high demand application like attaching chair legs to a seat, but they should be fine for something light duty like a nightstand. I use them primarily for alignment myself.

@@DoresoomReviews thanks for the reply,

I have used biscuit joints to produce benches and tables. I would never used them on their own for a large dining table but you could easily use them for smaller coffee tables and side tables. Even Mortise and Tenon somethings is not as strong as dowels. You can also combine biscuits with pocket holes or screws. You could also make up the joint with biscuits and glue it and then drill a dowel joint through. Biscuit joints are one of the most useful joints out there and are far stronger than most people realize. The plywood would probably break before the actual biscuit joint does.

It might be possible, but I doubt Makita would do so. They want to sell both tools!

Ordered this last night as already have Makita 18V stuff. As I need to make a lot of shelving, desk and some other things this will get a huge workout. Bought a lot of tools for renovating last year with ~0 carpentry skills and through videos like this have become confident enough to tackle most things with great results. This included restoring an old shed by replacing/fixing rotten studs and making the walls square etc. Reframing windows, replacing rotten sections with new and waterproofing. 1st purchase was a dewalt tablesaw as the old one my grandfather use to use was labeled as a "widow maker" as had 0 safety features. The saying "need the right tool for the right job is so true. Also, the money I spent on tools has already paid for itself as local carpenters charge > $100 per hour. PS - keep up the great reviews!

That's the way to do it! The more projects I tackle, the less I have to look up how to do. Never done learning though!

I don't think they've made a newer version of this. A brushless one would be great, but I doubt they sell enough of these to warrant an upgrade.

@@DoresoomReviews a Claro debe ser por la demanda, y que sabes de otras marcas hay mejores que esta? Por ejemplo una bosch o mellwaeeke.

I think DeWalt is the only other brand that makes a cordless biscuit jointer, but theirs is on their obsolete 18V NiCd platform. They never made one in 20V lithium ion.

I used blue tape at the corners. A strap clamp would work just as well or better though.

Slow way would be to create a jig that you would glue up and do one joint at a time but you would need to wait for the glue to set. Fast way would be to get string and put some protection on each corner and then tighten the string. I am sure there are other ways as well. I am certain you could create a jig that allows you to tighten it at each joint but this would be for multiple productions and not one offs.

Elastic bands work great too

I doubt it, since the stock blade it comes with is half that thickness at 4mm. I haven't tried it myself though, so I can't say for sure it won't work.

@@DoresoomReviews Looking at some pictures of the Makita, I don't think the slot in the housing will allow a thicker blade to protrude through unless I mill it out.

Thanks! I don't know of a FF blade that Makita makes. The only brand I know of (and I Googled extensively) is the Porter Cable 883099 blade, which is insanely expensive for what it is. The Makita has the same 7/8" arbor size, so it should be compatible, but there's no depth stop for FF slots on this tool. Here's a link to the Porter Cable blade if you still want to give it a shot: amzn.to/2gt1HIe

A little bit of wobble / play is correct. It's not because of "cheap biscuits" you use. Biscuits are made of pressed beech wood and are (should be) very dry. During application a 4 mm biscuit turns back into 5 mm thickness once it gets water from glue. It's a a feature not a bug ;-)

Thank you so much...!!! (And yes, I is insanely expensive for what it is)

@@harrisedgar LOL if you want to see insanely expensive checkout the Lamello Zeta P2 😊 but having used Lamello biscuit jointers they are in a league of their own the build quality is perfection, but they did invent the biscuit jointer after all.

+Edgar Harris These things are not expensive if you use them commercially and if returns are greater than the input cost.

The Flymo lawnmower? I don't think so. Although it sounds like Makita does make some tools in the UK: makitauk.com/about-us-1

It’s $247 in 2023

I don't think it's a big seller for them, so no need to spend time updating the design. Although DeWalt has released a brushless cordless model since I did this review, so maybe Makita will start feeling the pressure to update.

This is a tool that would not be used enough to warrant a brushless motor in my opinion

I haven't tried the DeWalt myself, so I can't say for sure. Just from looking at it though, I like the dual rack and pinion design of the DeWalt's fence, and the paddle switch style trigger looks like it will be easier to use than the slide switch on the Makita. If you already have batteries for one platform, I'd think that would be the deciding factor for me though.

@@DoresoomReviews I really like the paddle switch and I have batteries for both which make it difficult. I think I will just wait for the dewalt to drop in price and get it. Thank you for the response. I dint know the switch was uncomfortable to use.

The switch on the Makita isn't bad, I just think the design of the DeWalt looks better.

@@DoresoomReviews Gotcha

I bought the bulk Porter Cable variety pack. Seems like some fit snug and some are a little loose - I figured it was the biscuits. You could always leave them out in the humidity a while and let them swell.

It's normal if the biscuit is thinner, they are made to expand with glue

They're just larger biscuits used for specialty applications like hinges and special connectors. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit_joiner#Standard_biscuit_sizes Some of them likely correspond to Lamello's (inventor of the biscuit jointer) custom hardware: www.lamello.com/product/lamello-system-verbinder/clamex-s/

Thank you

I don't recommend trying to make your own. The biscuits are compressed and will expand when in contact with moisture from glue for a stronger joint. Just buy them as a consumable, here's some 0 size, you should be able to find similar listings for 10 and 20 too: amzn.to/2TFwD8y

Haha, thanks! And no sisters, sorry.

I'm not sure what you're talking about. At 5:00 I say there's NO play in the sliding mechanism. That's good - it means accurate cuts.

With the same sturdiness of the fence? And the same squareness of cut? And cordless? There's a reason all the quality biscuit joiners are in the $170+ range.

Thanks for the feedback.

Each have their advantages. Biscuits are great for alignment on panel glue ups. They're faster than dowels for that application because you don't need the horizontal spacing to be perfect.