I got to use the biscuit joiner that I bought last weekend. Table legs are now put together, though it would probably have been smarter to have routed out the cutouts for the cross brace before attaching the angled parts. I can clamp a straightedge to them to guide the router base rather than using the edge guide.
At the Koleinu-Zamir concert last Sunday, I was discussing the project with one of the altos, who used to teach woodworking (at a school for disturbed kids — that took some guts!). She said that the biscuit joiner is one of the coolest tools invented in the 20th century. Her recommendation is to cut the slots in the center of the edge whenever possible.
Anyway, here are some progress pictures:
That’s the tool. The big hose coming towards you goes to the shop-vac. Turn the shop-vac on first, and all the sawdust that the biscuit joiner makes goes right into the vacuum canister. Joan (see above) says that a vacuum dust collector connection is kind of standard for modern power tools. This is the first tool I’ve used one with.The little bench-mounted belt sander I use for stamp mounts has a port, but I’ve never tried to connect to it.
Here’s a slot cut, ready to put a biscuit in.
And here the biscuits are in place, ready for me to glue to the matching piece.