I've just bought a biscuit jointer (plate jointer in some circles), but I'm having problems so I thought I'd check with the various woodwork skilled people here.

First, let me say this is the first real wordwork I have done since the age of 15. All the wordwork I did at school didn't involve any power tools (actually that is wrong, there was a band saw and a table saw, but we weren't really encouraged to use them). So, I could be doing something stupid...

I need to replace the double glassed partition in my back door (because we are getting cats and this seemed to be the easiest way to fit a cat flap). The panel is 530x675mm, so I obviously can't get a piece of dark hardwood that size at my local timber yard. So I bought two metres of 20mm thick hardwood and a biscuit jointer so I can join the pieces.

The biscuit jointer I bought was the Clarke International BJ600 (heh, that could be a character from a porn parody of Terminatior). It is a all in jointer, not one of these ones that fits to an existing angle grinder. It cost me about £70.

Now to the problem. The jointer has a fence height adjustment which adjusts how far from the edge of the wood the cut is. It adjusts with knob and has a hand tightened lock nut to secure it.

Unfortunately the lock nut does not secure the fence. As soon as you cut into the wood the lock nut loosens and the fence moves. The result being that your cut ends up anywhere but where you want it. With each cut the fence moves further.

Am I doing something wrong? I have tightened the lock nut as far as I can, I can't see what else I can do.

I'll have to take it back to the shop on Monday, unless anyone has some suggestions?

Why does Norm never have problems like this

Norm uses a GBP300+ priced Lamello joiner!

I use a GBP70 joiner by Dewalt. It has a rack & pinion assembly for moving the fence while maintaining parallelism (very very important), with a lock knob. The fence stays put when the lock knob it tightened.

Return it to the shop!!

Cheers

It has a rack & pinion assembly for moving the fence while maintaining parallelism (very very important), with a lock knob

Mine has a similar design, clearly not similar enough though.

Return it to the shop!!

Will do. Thanks Mark.

The fence should not move and you should not have to tighten the lock nut down with excessive force. You should be able to just finger tighten the fence down and it should stay. I would suspect there is something wrong with the fence if it is moving on you that easily. I haven't used that brand of biscuit jointer, but the DeWalt and Porter Cable models have fences that lock well. Take it back to the shop where you bought it and describe the problem, maybe they can help.

I haven't bought a biscuit jointer yet (I used to use my father's) but depending on the forces exerted on the wood you should be able to edge join the pieces if you have enough bar clamps.

The Dewalt jointers in the UK appear to be a similar price to Norm's nice one.

For example here is the 600W one at £227 (and according to their UK website that is the only model they do):

http://www.diy.com/bq/product/product.jhtml?PRODID=203742&CATID=203521

which is a bit more than I really want to spend

Another case of rip-off Britain ?

Norm uses a GBP300+ priced Lamello joiner!

Norm typically gets his toys for free...

Another case of rip-off Britain ?

Ah yes, looks like the Dewalt costs $150 in the US (although it lists at $300), which equates to about £100. So even with import duty and VAT someone is getting a 100% mark up. Lovely

Thought I'd look around to see if there was anything between the £70 one I bought and the Dewalt. Turned up this one which is B&Q's own house brand:

http://www.diy.com/bq/product/product.jhtml?PRODID=87378&CATID=62428

Surprise, surprise it is identical to my Clarke one. Obviously the output from some OEM in Taiwan or China.

Mmm... in the >200 GBP market, there's this relative of Norm's jointer:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/default.asp?part=CLASSIC

Hey.. they have a 99GBP one there, too:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/default.asp?sub=581

Well, I just now disassembled the electrical connections (in the handle) of my DeWalt joiner, to see if a USA version can be switched over for 240V operation -- the switch inside has both voltages marked on it, but I didn't see any way of converting the wiring over, so nogo.

As for the one you have now, there should be three (3) adjustment knobs in total, I believe. So, do the obvious and make sure you're "locking" it with the correct knob!

Cheers

There are four knobs in total: depth of cut, fence height, angle and the locking nut for the fence height. I am locking the right one unfortunately.

They also sell the 110V version in the UK, at the same price as the 240V version (list price is £370, that is about $600).

Mmm... in the >200 GBP market, there's this relative of Norm's jointer

That one doesn't have 1 degree markings on the angle setting, just stops at 22.5°, 45°, 67.5°and 90°. Is this likely to cause me a problem (at the moment I can't think of a reason I'm likely to want to cut at another angle).

I've found another "mid" price one the Trend T20K at around £160.

http://www.trendmachinery.co.uk/t20k/

It doesn't have a rack and pinion height adjuster (but then my Clarke one does have one, so that is no guarantee of anything).

I've managed to find the Dewalt one a little cheaper as well, £182.77 (including delivery) at:

http://www.newproducttechnologies.com/webcat/frame-detail.asp?PAGE=/webcat/details.asp&ProductCode=DW682K&ID=335

I even found a cordless version of the Dewalt for £185:

http://diytools.com/store/detail.asp?productid=62339

Well, we know the DeWalt design is good. Not as well constructed as the Lamello brand ones, but certainly sufficiently well made.

I have never (in 10 years) used any settings other than 0, 45, and 90. But were I ever to use the "in between" settings, I would not rely on the degree markers regardless. Instead, I'd just wrap the fence around the item(s) being joined.

Cheers