Since early man discovered just how useful wood can be for fashioning objects to improve his life such as chairs and tables, the search has been on to find a simple method that would produce strong wood joints.
In modern times this research has lead to something called the biscuit joiner.
Also known as a plate joiner this tool appeared during the late 1970s and has since been improved and is now a staple of many woodworking shops both professional and amateur.
To the non-woodworker all this talk of joining wood may seem silly.
"Whats the big deal.
Nail the boards together and get the project done", they may say.
Every woodworker from the earliest to the modern cabinet maker realizes that wood joinery is one of the most important parts of any wood project.
As versatile as wood is known to be it also has it's faults.
It will expand and contract depending on the environment in which it is placed.
Wood products will swell when exposed to humid conditions and shrink when in warm dry environments.
Yearly seasons in many areas will expose wood products to such varying conditions that the wood will in some cases move so much that it tears the product to pieces.
This can be easily noticed in old wide top tables with long cracks.
Chairs whose joints have loosened and cabinets and even musical instruments that have developed cracks.
Wide boards have a tendency to warp and split and wood joints will become loose or even tear themselves apart as they expand and contract.
To solve these problems man has tried every method imaginable.
The first joiners may have bound wood pieces together using twine made from reeds or leather thongs.
Adhesives of every kind have been concocted over the years from glues made from fish to modern synthetic adhesives.
Glue by itself has never provided a satisfactory solution for the problem.
The reasons for this are many.
Joining end grain to cross grain such as would be done when placing shelves in a book case will most likely fail if glue alone is used.
End grain is very porous and will quickly absorb the moisture from adhesives making the finished joint very weak.
Gluing boards edge to edge to provide wide finished boards is another problem.
Modern glues can provide strong joints but the usual practice is to add additional support.
Methods used might be a spline which is a narrow strip of wood which is placed into grooves machined into the board edges.
A more modern technique is to drill mating holes along the edges of the boards and then insert dowels coated with glue to add strength.
This technique was used for years and may still find use in modern wood shops.
However the technique does have it's limitations.
It is a fairly laborious task calling for care in lining up the drilled holes.
The dowels because of their limited size provide a small glue surface.
Because of all these problems other methods have been developed.
One of the better known solutions is the biscuit joiner mentioned above whose name is derived from the shape of the inserts it allows the woodworker to place in wood joints to add strength.
The machine itself in it's most basic shape is a hand held tool about the size of a hand grinder.
It allow it's user to machine very exact size pockets in any portion of wood pieces.
These pockets are elliptical in shape and can be fairly deep.
Into these pockets are placed the biscuits which are purchased in volume in various sizes.
The benefits of this type of joinery are it's ability to add lots of additional glue surface because of the shape of the biscuits compared to the earlier dowel joints.
The joiner itself is constructed in a manner that makes locating the matching pockets a simple tasks and the depth of each pocket is precisely controlled.
Over the years since it's appearance the tool has been updated and manufactured in sufficient volume to make it available to all woodworker even the home crafts person.
Newer methods such as the Pocket Hole Jig system have been developed and offer the advantage of very strong easily made joints without the necessary of using glue or additional clamping force.
While many of these methods cause traditional artistic and extremely talented and experienced crafts persons to sneer at their use, these tools have made many quality finished wood products a reality for not only professional manufacturers but also the amateur crafts person.
There is no doubt that wood products and systems and systems such as the biscuit joiner will be the choice of many persons for years to come and one wonders what new techniques will be developed to join pieces of this beautiful versatile material together.
In modern times this research has lead to something called the biscuit joiner.
Also known as a plate joiner this tool appeared during the late 1970s and has since been improved and is now a staple of many woodworking shops both professional and amateur.
To the non-woodworker all this talk of joining wood may seem silly.
"Whats the big deal.
Nail the boards together and get the project done", they may say.
Every woodworker from the earliest to the modern cabinet maker realizes that wood joinery is one of the most important parts of any wood project.
As versatile as wood is known to be it also has it's faults.
It will expand and contract depending on the environment in which it is placed.
Wood products will swell when exposed to humid conditions and shrink when in warm dry environments.
Yearly seasons in many areas will expose wood products to such varying conditions that the wood will in some cases move so much that it tears the product to pieces.
This can be easily noticed in old wide top tables with long cracks.
Chairs whose joints have loosened and cabinets and even musical instruments that have developed cracks.
Wide boards have a tendency to warp and split and wood joints will become loose or even tear themselves apart as they expand and contract.
To solve these problems man has tried every method imaginable.
The first joiners may have bound wood pieces together using twine made from reeds or leather thongs.
Adhesives of every kind have been concocted over the years from glues made from fish to modern synthetic adhesives.
Glue by itself has never provided a satisfactory solution for the problem.
The reasons for this are many.
Joining end grain to cross grain such as would be done when placing shelves in a book case will most likely fail if glue alone is used.
End grain is very porous and will quickly absorb the moisture from adhesives making the finished joint very weak.
Gluing boards edge to edge to provide wide finished boards is another problem.
Modern glues can provide strong joints but the usual practice is to add additional support.
Methods used might be a spline which is a narrow strip of wood which is placed into grooves machined into the board edges.
A more modern technique is to drill mating holes along the edges of the boards and then insert dowels coated with glue to add strength.
This technique was used for years and may still find use in modern wood shops.
However the technique does have it's limitations.
It is a fairly laborious task calling for care in lining up the drilled holes.
The dowels because of their limited size provide a small glue surface.
Because of all these problems other methods have been developed.
One of the better known solutions is the biscuit joiner mentioned above whose name is derived from the shape of the inserts it allows the woodworker to place in wood joints to add strength.
The machine itself in it's most basic shape is a hand held tool about the size of a hand grinder.
It allow it's user to machine very exact size pockets in any portion of wood pieces.
These pockets are elliptical in shape and can be fairly deep.
Into these pockets are placed the biscuits which are purchased in volume in various sizes.
The benefits of this type of joinery are it's ability to add lots of additional glue surface because of the shape of the biscuits compared to the earlier dowel joints.
The joiner itself is constructed in a manner that makes locating the matching pockets a simple tasks and the depth of each pocket is precisely controlled.
Over the years since it's appearance the tool has been updated and manufactured in sufficient volume to make it available to all woodworker even the home crafts person.
Newer methods such as the Pocket Hole Jig system have been developed and offer the advantage of very strong easily made joints without the necessary of using glue or additional clamping force.
While many of these methods cause traditional artistic and extremely talented and experienced crafts persons to sneer at their use, these tools have made many quality finished wood products a reality for not only professional manufacturers but also the amateur crafts person.
There is no doubt that wood products and systems and systems such as the biscuit joiner will be the choice of many persons for years to come and one wonders what new techniques will be developed to join pieces of this beautiful versatile material together.
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