"What the hell is a biscuit joiner?"
"Biscuit joiner" is the carpentry slang for a plate joiner.
"What the hell is a plate joiner, jerkface..."
There are different ways to join two pieces of wood together. The main methods involve nails, screws, glue and fancy joins. Another method is to use a dowl, or basically a wooden rod, wherein you drill a hole into each piece and join them using them using said dowl. (Think "Tinker Toys" and you're half way there.)
Biscuits are just a fancy alternative to dowls, offering a number of benefits. Here's what a biscuit joiner (the tool) looks like (if you buy a cheap no-name knock off from countries unknown):
Ebay special!And here's where the term "biscuit" comes from:
Yeah... it's doesn't remind me of a biscuit, either.
The biscuit joiner cuts a groove into the wood a set distance from the top surface of the wood, and at a set depth into the wood. You then fill each half with some glue, insert the biscuit and well.. "join" them. This can actually take a little effort... The biscuit will slowly expand from the glue and provides a surprisingly strong bond, once the glue is dried.
The important part is that each groove is a set the same distance from the top of the wood surface, so that when you join them together you have a flat and level top surface.
See, normally, you would lay them flat on a surface to join them, but then only that surface is "flat". This avoids the problem entirely.
Getting the pieces together and holding them together tightly requires that you clamp the pieces together, while also clamping them "flat" so you don't end up with a bowl, instead of a desk. Here I'm clamping the first two lengths together.
Ooooo.. Ahhhh.. Show me more