From: ameres@ithaca.cat.rpi.edu (Eric Ameres)
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Subject: DeWalt Plate Joiner 1st impressions
Date: 15 Dec 92 15:07:15 GMT
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY

rec.wwer's,

Well as promised my shiny yeelow DeWalt Biscuit (Plate) Jointer showed
up on Friday.  I opened it up and was immediately impressed with the
quality of the thing.  I should first say that I have never used a
biscuit joiner other than the DeWalt but have read a few reviews and
of course seen Norm A. use his.  I do have other DeWalt as well as PC,
Skil and Ryobi tools and would put the DeWalt high up (if not at the
top) as far as quality.

The joiner is plenty powerful in working with oak veneer (luan core)
plywood.  At first I couldn't tell when the blade was entering the
wood! 

The included plade is very capable and I believe is carbid tipped.

Adjustments are precise and very smooth.  The fence height adjusts
with some type of geared mechanism that locks in place with a screw.
Fence angle settings are also seem simple, although I have only used
the 0 and 90 settings, it can be set for any angle (0 -> 90).

The dust collection system is good as long as you are using it in the
normal horizontal orientation.  Using it vertically (when making
T-joints) The throat to the dust bag has a tendency to clog if not
carefully watched (Not a big deal).

The plunge action uses the common 2 rail approach (as opposed to the
Elu arc).  Only one rail has a spring to return to blade to the
retracted position. The body can be rocked slightly on the rails but
this is minimal and I found that in normal use (i.e. fence to the
workpeice) did not affect the alignment of the cut.

The depth of cut has four settings. 0, 10, 20 and "M" for maximum
depth.  Which DeWalt says is for future expansion, hmnnn...

As shipped with steel (compartmentalized) case, accessories and 250
#0s (ordered separately) the unit weighed in at ~16 pounds.  I had no
problem slinging the beast around from slot to slot.  Accessories
include a wrench and adjustment tool as well as the dust bag and
standard chip deflector.  The case is nice and, unlike the case for my
PC random orbit sander, is compatmentalized to keep things in place
and accessories easy to find.

In use the tool delivered exactly as promised.  The slots were
precisely plaaced, biscuits fit well, and operation was quick and
clean (with the exception of the occasional dust clog mentioned above).

All in all, so far I'm happy with the $229 purchase and with DeWalt in
general.  They also offer a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so if for
any reason you are unhappy with the tool you can return it to where
you bought it for a 100% refund (I'll be keeping mine, thanks!).  They
also have some type of weird buy 5 tools get the sixth (from a
selection) free, imagine that, I though only pizza places had that
kind of offer!

At this point I'd heartily recommend it if you're looking for a
biscuit joiner.

I'm using it for kitchen cabinet joinery and am still slightly
apprehensive about the strength of biscuits in my application but the
DeWalt makes things so much quicker and precise than dowels and I'll
probably throw in a couple of screws anyway (for paranoia's sake).

My cabinet design is frameless and the doors are modified raised
panel/rail&stile so the biscuits probably won't see any use there,
but...

More news as it develops...

Eric.
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Ameres,  Software Engineer                 ameres@cat.rpi.edu
New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Automation & Robotics
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - CII 8313, Troy, NY 12180-3590