For alignment when building cabinets I've mostly gone to building them with the offset tongue and groove method that Marc Sommerfeld seems to have pioneered. He now has complete cabinet making videos on YouTube where he explains his methods for making cabinets including this offset tongue and groove system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klv0jzWD26w
Those wanting great alignment of cabinet parts should watch his cabinetmaking videos. He sells the bits for doing this, but similar bits are also available elsewhere. I've been using most of his methods for building cabinets and furniture for about 15 years now. Once you learn it, it becomes quite natural and fast to do it this way. He uses pocket screws and biscuits too, but only where they are the best choice for the application and won't be seen in the final assembly.
Charley
I use my old Skil biscuit joiner when making large panels and sometimes for cabinets. I built a painted cabinet this year for my bathroom. It is primarily plywood and the corner joints are 3 pocket screws and two biscuits. The biscuits help the joint A LOT by preventing the pieces from sliding as you secure the screws. The combination was quick and strong. Most of the pocket screws do not show but on a middle divider, I had to fill the pocket holes on the bottom of the divider before applying paint.
Richard:
Here you go.
biscuit joiner table.JPG
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2013...ips-and-tricks.
The link shows a great trick for using the base of a biscuit joiner to register against two case miters put together in a vise. Makes for a great spline joint.
As a lot of people said above, biscuits are great for miter splines.
I may have the most unusual use for a biscuit joiner. I made an adjustable plate that bolts to the bottom of a Dewalt, aluminum about 20 inches long. It rides on the studs on interior frame walls in log homes and cuts a slot around exposed log joist at exactly the thickness of the wood paneling. I then chisel out a groove and slip my paneling in the slot so that the house shrinks there is never a gap as the paneling is floating in the slot.
I use a biscuit joiner with a special fence to attach extension jambs to windows. do the jambs, then change the setting by the amount of reveal that you desire and glue in place, fast and perfect, no worries about nails getting into the lift mechanism.
To answer the thread question - I must confess, I use biscuit joiners. Though I may be cast to the corners of decent woodworking society, I will steadfastly stand by the usefulness of biscuit joiners, at least until Santa brings me a Domino and all the biscuits I could possibly use in a lifetime.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness..." - Mark Twain
Julie
No reason to be "cast into any corner". It's a very valuable tool when used for it's intended design function. I also wouldn't get rid of it, if you do get a Domino.
I don't use mine very much,as I stated before, but it's part of my tools and will remain so. I have some cabinets to build next year and it will be the perfect tool for that job.
Like others, I do not compare a biscuit jointer to a Domino. They're not intended, nor designed, to perform the same function.
"The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)
I still use mine. Mostly for aligning edge glue-ups and for mounting face frames on cabinets.
Last edited by Steven Powell; 10-14-2018 at 10:12 PM.
I have 3 of them . the freud a got 25 years ago, A newer porter cable and a delta stationary one I got cheap at an auction recently Use them a lot for face frames and glueing up face panels for doors. I dont really care for the kreg pocket screw way of glueing up face frames.