Ryobi JM82G - Manual (Page 8)

8 − English
TURNING ON/OFF THE BISCUIT JOINER
See Figure 4, page 17.
To turn on the biscuit joiner, depress the switch trigger. Re-
lease the switch trigger to turn the biscuit joiner off.
When operating the biscuit joiner, hold the tool with both
hands. Keep one hand on the rear handle and place your
other hand on the fence to hold the tool steady against the
workpiece.
This tool has a dual grip rear handle that allows the operator
to choose from two different hand positions and use the one
that is more comfortable.
DEPTH OF CUT
The biscuit joiner can be adjusted to three standard cutting
depths to accommodate three standard size biscuits — #0,
#10, and #20. Adjustments are made by engaging slots on
the depth adjustment knob with tabs on the rear base as-
sembly. For example, when using a #0 size biscuit, rotate
the depth adjustment knob to the slot marked 0. When using
a #10 size biscuit, rotate the depth adjustment knob to the
slot marked 10, and when using a #20 size biscuit rotate the
depth adjustment knob to the slot marked 20.
SETTING DEPTH OF CUT
See Figure 5, page 17.

Unplug the biscuit joiner.
 Select the correct depth of cut setting for the biscuit size
you plan to use. To select depth of cut, pull the knurled
adjustment knob and jam nut in the direction of the arrow
in figure 5.
NOTE: The knob and jam nut are spring loaded. Pulling
them in the direction of the arrow puts pressure on the
spring and releases pressure from the depth adjustment
knob.
 Rotate the depth adjustment knob until the desired slot
setting aligns with the tabs on the rear base assembly.
MAKING FINE ADJUSTMENTS
See Figure 6, page 18.
Make a test cut in a scrap piece of wood. Fit the correct size
biscuit into the biscuit slot. The biscuit slot should be deep
enough to allow slightly more than one-half of the biscuit
into the slot. This extra room allows for proper alignment of
the wood being joined.
If the biscuit slot is too deep or too shallow, fine adjust-
ments to the depth setting can be made by loosening the
knurled adjustment knob and making fine adjustments with
the jam nut.
WARNING:
When the tool is not connected to vacuum, always re-
install the dust bag back onto the tool. Failure to do so
could cause dust or foreign objects to be thrown into your
face or eyes which could result in possible serious injury.
SPLINE JOINERY
Spline joinery is one of the strongest methods of joinery used
in woodworking. When glue is properly applied to a spline
and to the joint area of the wood pieces being connected,
a large surface area receives the adhesion properties of the
glue. This forms a strong joint.
Traditional spline joinery requires cutting slots with a router
or table saw. Small, thin strips of wood must then be cut to
fit inside the slots and act as splines.
Newer methods of spline joinery use a plate or biscuit joiner
to cut precise mating oval slots in adjoining boards. This
biscuit joiner is a fast, simple, and accurate plunge-cutting
tool that can be used to cut slots in hardwood, softwood,
plywood, particle board, and other pressed woods.
Football shaped wafers, called biscuits, are then placed
inside the slots with glue and used to help line up adjoining
surfaces. When a water based glue is used, the biscuits swell
in the joint, making an extremely strong and firm bond. White
glue, yellow glue, carpenters glue, hide glue and aliphatic
resin glue are examples of water-based glues.This bonding
technique has traditionally been limited to making edge-to-
edge joints. However, with the use of your new biscuit joiner,
biscuits can now be easily used to connect butt, miter, and
T-joints. Biscuit joining can be as strong as mortise and tenon,
tongue and groove, standard spline, and doweled joints. In
most cases the material around the biscuit will break before
the biscuit itself will break. A greater surface area is exposed
to glue in a biscuit joint, making the seams stronger.
A variety of spline joints can be made using the biscuit joiner.
The number and size biscuits needed for each joint depends
on the thickness of the wood and the length of the joint. In
general, the small #0 biscuits should be used for miter cuts
in 3/4 in. materials. The larger biscuits should be used for
edge-to-edge joinery.
When joining 1-1/2 in. thick materials, stack two biscuits,
one above the other. For example, use this method when
joining 2 in. x 4 in. dressed lumber. When joining even thicker
materials, use additional biscuits, stacked above each other.
When making edge-to-edge joints for tabletops, work-
benches, cutting boards, etc. the more biscuits you use,
the stronger the joint will be.
OPERATION