Panels, carcase alignment
Biscuit / plate
A compressed oval swells in a pair of slots and keeps two faces in plane.
Use when
- You want alignment more than raw strength.
Don’t use when
- Do not use biscuits as the only joint on a racking chair.
- Keep
- Waste, hatched on the drawing
- Dimension
- Long parts are broken. The 1 in bar is true scale.
Stock
Thickness steppers move by 1/16 in, or 0.5 mm. You can type 3/4 or 1-1/8.
Sizes
| Mark | Size | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Biscuit | #20 | #0 up to 1/2 in, #10 near 5/8, #20 at 3/4 and thicker |
| From the ends | 1/2 in | Keep the first slot 1/2 in in from each end |
| Spacing | 7 in | Then every 6 to 8 in |
| Biscuits | 6 | Ends plus the spaces that fit |
Cut sequence
1A biscuit wants a joiner
There is no honest hand version that is faster than a spline. If you are cutting by hand, plow a spline instead.
Setup: Size #20.
2If you still cut slots
Saw a short kerf and chisel the oval. It is slow, and the biscuit still only aligns the joint.
3Dry-fit, then glue
Close the joint dry. Check that shoulders and faces meet, then glue. If this is a frame or a box, check both diagonals before the glue grabs.
Stop when: Dry-fit is tight with hand pressure, square, and the diagonals match.
Glue
Long grain to long grain
Strength
alignment
Movement
A biscuit swells and keeps two faces in plane. It is alignment more than raw strength.