Customer Reviews

DEWALT DW682K 6.5 Amp Plate Joiner

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

First, the rack & pinion design of the fence makes this a very stable and accurate tool. It is powerful and the grip and switch location is convenient. When used without the vacuum attachment, this machince shoots the chips right at the operator. However I always use a vacuum attachment because I don't like having all those chips all over the shop anyway, so this is not a serious draw back. The Porter Cable which is priced competitively offer a smaller blade option for face frame construction but the handle is awkward and the fence is sloppy. This tool works great. It is accurate, dependable and easy to use. You could buy a more expensive tool and get a greater degree of refinement but if all you want is a dependable tool that does its job well. I recommend this. If you cut biscuit joints all day long you may want a quieter tool. If you only make a few pieces of furniture at a time, you will be probably be glad you saved the money.

I read a couple of negative reviews here of this tool, and Ican only conclude that they did not buy the same machine I did. Ibought mine when they first came out (five years ago?).... Everything was square and true right out of the box.

Since I wear hearing protection with ALL power tools I cannot comment on how loud it is. (My ears don't ring all the time, either.) The dust bag, as is usual with all dust bags, doesn't work and I haven't used it since the first try. The shop vac does the trick.

It has worked flawlessly on everything from positioning slats in a headboard (OK, I could have used mortise-and-tenon joints, but there were a LOT of slats) to attaching edging to plywood, to table-top glue-ups. The only biscuit failure I've had was when I tried to use it to attach the aprons to the legs on a children's play table. Some places NEED better joinery!

I am a little confused about the other reviews talking about the machine dumping dust on your feet. Mine has a swiveling plastic nozzle that I direct to the side when I cut without the vac. It seems to work fine. Have they changed this design lately?

... it, it seems like a bargain. The Lamello is unbelievably expensive (at least for a hobbyist), the Porter-Cable seems like a nice tool (that I have not tried yet), but the DeWalt seems like the value champ.

This tool was a great buy for me: I needed a plate joiner for occassional use, one that cuts square and is accurate in its settings; It has done a beuatiful job each time. It is loud, the dust bag is not worth the trouble, its a fuss to get it back in its carry-box and setting the the x and y depth coordinates precisely takes extra care. Once set, it does stay put.

Where your money is better spent if you do a lot of this work is with a high end tool. The Lamello is a silkier setup at a much bigger price: but you make up the cost on time and hassle savings.

For my purpose, I'd buy the DeWalt again.

I'm no pro with biscuit cutters, but unlike my other DeWalt tools, I found three problems with this right off the bat.

One, it clogs after about 5 cuts, sometimes after 3, for #20 biscuits in ash. The shaving port has a metal projection in the middle of it (too keep fingers out?). I'm contemplating removing it.

The fence angle indicator is not even close. Not a big deal, it is too crude to use reliably anyway.

Third, when edge joining, the cut is not parallel to the surface of the board. If I make two cuts side by side, the right-hand cut will be a bit higher on it's left side, than the left-hand cut is on it's right side. If that makes any sense to you, it indicates that the machine is not trued to the fence as is should be. If this is fixable, I have yet to figure out how. The discrepancy is fairly minor, but I'd sure like it to be better than this.

It seems to be a good product, but not as good as a DeWalt should be.

Brent

I read the reviews and had it narrowed down to two jointers; DeWalt and Porter Cable. I decided that the price was right on the DeWalt and figured it would do the job. I tested a few joints with it and noticed that the wood was a little off. I figured that it was user error and continued on with my project. Then I decided to check for sqareness off the adjustable fence. The pointer lined up just past the "0" mark and sure enough it was off. No problem, I thought, since it had an adjustment screw, I could not adjust it to where I needed it to go. I had to file the stop block to get it at "90". This failed to fix the problem with the line up of the wood. I finally measured the cut and found that it was a 32nd higher on the right side of the cut. No matter how I hold the tool to the surface it was off. A visual look at the blade and you can see the blade comes out at an angle. Bottom line, the mechanics of the tool are strong, but the machining of everything else hooked to the motor needs more attention. It is going back tomorrow. A 32nd sounds picky, but it sure racks your project when you put all the biscuits in place. Not a good tool for fine woodworking projects.
Update: Fine Woodworking magazine did a review in their September/October 2001 issue and out of 12 jointers, DeWalt had the worst score for biscuits out of parallel. Exact quote was, "although I can live with 0.017 in. out of parallel, biscuit joints assemble with less fuss when the number is 0.007 in. or lower." Lamello Top 20 came in at 0.000 and Makita came in at 0.001. The Porter came in at 0.005. They liked Lamello, Porter, Makita, and the DeWalt even after what they found. Being a casual user, I think I will consider the Makita because of the cost savings.

When this Kit arrived I was pleasantly surprised at the completness and quality. The blow molded case is not excessive in size and holds everything just right. I've used many other tools but never have I used a plate joiner. Today I can truely say I made the right choice. The adjustments are all evident and handy to reach. I made the tool ready for the cut in a snap. Placed the tool where I wanted the cut and "bam" with ease the cut came out exactly where I wanted it. I think the price and quality and ease of use makes this a five star winner!

I was advised by a friend to buy this plate joiner, and I was not at all upset with my purchase. After "fiddiling around" a bit, joining pieces of plywood and two-by stock, I have to strongly disagree with those people who say that this joiner has fence calibration problems. My first few joints went together seamlessly, until I encountered a problem with the two peices of three-quarter ply I was attempting to join. At one end of the board, the joint was perfect. at the other, almost 1/16" out. I was shocked and upset, until I looked at the fence mechanisim, to discover that I had not tightened the lock nut on the rack-and-pinion adjuster tightly enough (in fact not at all), causing the fence to slip and throw the joint off. All in all, however I am extremely impressed with the quality of this tool. It has a weighty feel, because of the solid metal construction of the fence assembly, incredible precision, and a nice long cord. Having a long cord is always nice because you can maneuver the tool about easier, and walk further around without having to shlep out an extention cord. The motor's 6.5 amps are more than enough to cut through the vermont rock maple I recently used to build a cutting board. Though I haven't tried it yet, I am assuming it will handle oak, walnut, cherry and mahogany with equal precision and cutting force. And, on top of all this, it comes with a super cool-looking carrying case. An all-around excellent tool.

I won't bore you with repeating the specs or features of the biscuit joiner as the other reviews cover them quite well. I've had this tool for about 6 months now and am delighted with it. I had the porter cable model which is quite a bit more expensive. I found it to be bulkier to use than the DeWalt and a lot more likely to slip away from your alignment marks than the DeWalt. This cutter has pins on both sides of the blade that go a long way to help keeping the cutter in line with the wood.. The only drawback is that the dust chute will clog with the dust bag installed when cutting into long grained softwoods.
Having owned both the porter cable and the Dewalt I must give a big nod to the DeWALT. Smaller and easier to use and a few $$ less.

I bought this tool before I found this review page, and I was a little disappointed with the lack of accuracy when edge-butting long boards. I had probably 1/32-1/16" difference between the two boards. requiring lots of sanding. When I read on this review page of the lack of parellel between cutter and fence common with this tool, I checked it out, and sure enough, one side was higher than the other, reference the fence. Easy to adjust---just loosen the two Torx fasteners and bring to parellel. Test boards indicate about 1/64" difference now, and I could get it closer if I wanted to continue tweeking the settings.

Other then the inaccurate factory settings, the other complaint is the joke of a dust bag. When trying to use it, the chute becomes clogged almost on the first cut. Leave the dust bag in the case, check the settings, adjust as necessary, and this really is a very nice, powerful, and easy to use tool.

This tool does a great job doing what it is designed to do. It makes nice, clean, consistent biscuit joints.
The one thing to keep in mind with this tool, even if you have used another biscuit jointer in the past, is that you will never be able to use it consistently and correctly without reading the manual. I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to using a tool directly out of the box, but It makes a huge difference when you really know how to use and adjust a piece of equipment like this. Take the extra 15 minutes, read the manual, and you will enjoy this great piece of machinery for years to come. Several of the complaints you will see listed in various reviews are due to simply not knowing how to correctly operate the unit. My father has the more expensive Porter Cable model, and finds this one superior to it. Look around on amazon and you may be able to save even more money by purchasing the less expensive reconditioned model that carries the same warranty!