The Biscuit Joiner Project Book: Tips & Techniques to Simplify Your Woodworking Using This Great Tool

Rating:
Summary: Read it for the examples
Review: I bought Hugh Foster's "Biscuit Joiner Handbook" at a firesale at the local bookshop and read it from start to end. Foster's book is about the biscuit joiner as a machine, how it operates, and outlines the different kinds of joints one can create.
Next, I bought Jim Stack's book and I was pleased because it has lots of project examples that showed me where and how, in many different types of wooden furniture construction, I could apply biscuit joinery. This is the kind of information Hugh Foster's book does not have. As a result, I was able to pick up a Furniture & Cabinetmaking magazine, look at a project for a blanket chest that had 20+ mortise and tenon joints, and figure out how to replace those joints with biscuit joints!
The other benefits from the book were the good, sharp photographs; Hugh Foster's book has black and white photographs that are murky and indistinct and I had trouble distinguishing the workbench, the wood and the tool in lots of the photos
I did not give Jim Stack's book higher stars because there are a few subediting mistakes (e.g. wrong project and steps used in cross references - its annoying to be directed to project "x" to see how to do something when project "x" does not show this), I think it lacks an end-to-end example of how to make a panel door using biscuits and the (to me) dangerous examples of the use of circular saws (no riving attachment, no cover over the blade, fingers awfully close to the moving blade) and the jointer (fingers too close to the moving blades). I would have found the last acceptable if there had been a notice at the front saying the riving attachment and cover had been removed temporarily to make the pictures clearer.
Lastly, a suggestion for the next edition. Please add in the warning that the biscuit joiner must be up to full speed before the plunging is done in order to prevent kickback and cutting your hand - there is a nasty accident detailed on the Internet somewhere (Mick's Woodworking Tools page???) that was caused by the person plunging before the machine was at full speed.
Summary: complements Hugh Foster's Biscuit Joiner book really well, buy it for the examples of when and how to use, be aware of the dangerous circular saw and jointer photos.

Rating:
Summary: Read it for the examples
Review: I bought Hugh Foster's "Biscuit Joiner Handbook" at a firesale at the local bookshop and read it from start to end. Foster's book is about the biscuit joiner as a machine, how it operates, and outlines the different kinds of joints one can create.
Next, I bought Jim Stack's book and I was pleased because it has lots of project examples that showed me where and how, in many different types of wooden furniture construction, I could apply biscuit joinery. This is the kind of information Hugh Foster's book does not have. As a result, I was able to pick up a Furniture & Cabinetmaking magazine, look at a project for a blanket chest that had 20+ mortise and tenon joints, and figure out how to replace those joints with biscuit joints!
The other benefits from the book were the good, sharp photographs; Hugh Foster's book has black and white photographs that are murky and indistinct and I had trouble distinguishing the workbench, the wood and the tool in lots of the photos
I did not give Jim Stack's book higher stars because there are a few subediting mistakes (e.g. wrong project and steps used in cross references - its annoying to be directed to project "x" to see how to do something when project "x" does not show this), I think it lacks an end-to-end example of how to make a panel door using biscuits and the (to me) dangerous examples of the use of circular saws (no riving attachment, no cover over the blade, fingers awfully close to the moving blade) and the jointer (fingers too close to the moving blades). I would have found the last acceptable if there had been a notice at the front saying the riving attachment and cover had been removed temporarily to make the pictures clearer.
Lastly, a suggestion for the next edition. Please add in the warning that the biscuit joiner must be up to full speed before the plunging is done in order to prevent kickback and cutting your hand - there is a nasty accident detailed on the Internet somewhere (Mick's Woodworking Tools page???) that was caused by the person plunging before the machine was at full speed.
Summary: complements Hugh Foster's Biscuit Joiner book really well, buy it for the examples of when and how to use, be aware of the dangerous circular saw and jointer photos.

Rating:
Summary: Push the envelope on biscuit joinery
Review: I can see why other reviewers were disappointed in this book, but I was not. I believe this book is true to its title, The Biscuit Joiner Project Book / Tips and Techniques to simplify your woodworking using this great tool. It promised to be a project-oriented book, not a tutorial on the tool.

After an introductory chapter on the biscuit joiner and how to use it, why biscuits work and areas where they are not so appropriate (the tutorial), there are 12 project chapters. The projects range in style and complexity and the beginner or the expert can find a skill-appropriate project.

In each of the projects, the biscuit joiner plays a key role in the construction process in ways traditionally done by other means. So the author leads the reader to exploring new uses for the tool. The astute reader will pick up on a number of techniques related to the use of the tool, but also great hints and techniques such as laminating curved work, angled work, free-form work, clamping odd shapes, and jigs and fixtures not only for the joiner, but routers and other tools. As such, it doesn't just come out and say, there are 17 ways to use a biscuit joiner and then go into detail on each (which I find a bit boring), but leads the reader on a path of discovery. With woodworkers I've talked to each has used a biscuit joiner, but has a few applications where they regularly use it. This book encourages us to expand our thinking the same way the author did when writing the book.

The author starts off by saying, "This book was a test to push the limits of the biscuit joiner. It did not fail anywhere."

Rating:
Summary: Push the envelope on biscuit joinery
Review: I can see why other reviewers were disappointed in this book, but I was not. I believe this book is true to its title, The Biscuit Joiner Project Book / Tips and Techniques to simplify your woodworking using this great tool. It promised to be a project-oriented book, not a tutorial on the tool.

After an introductory chapter on the biscuit joiner and how to use it, why biscuits work and areas where they are not so appropriate (the tutorial), there are 12 project chapters. The projects range in style and complexity and the beginner or the expert can find a skill-appropriate project.

In each of the projects, the biscuit joiner plays a key role in the construction process in ways traditionally done by other means. So the author leads the reader to exploring new uses for the tool. The astute reader will pick up on a number of techniques related to the use of the tool, but also great hints and techniques such as laminating curved work, angled work, free-form work, clamping odd shapes, and jigs and fixtures not only for the joiner, but routers and other tools. As such, it doesn't just come out and say, there are 17 ways to use a biscuit joiner and then go into detail on each (which I find a bit boring), but leads the reader on a path of discovery. With woodworkers I've talked to each has used a biscuit joiner, but has a few applications where they regularly use it. This book encourages us to expand our thinking the same way the author did when writing the book.

The author starts off by saying, "This book was a test to push the limits of the biscuit joiner. It did not fail anywhere."

Rating:
Summary: Jim Stack's Biscuit Joiner Project Book
Review: I was disappointed in this book for several reasons. First, there was little in the book about how to actually use a biscuit joiner.

Second, when the author explained how to do something, he would say something like, "there is several ways you could do this, try it a few different ways and see what works for you." I could have done that without buying the book.

Third, I was looking for information on how the experts use biscuit joiners. That is not what I got. Instead, the author clearly states that he really did not know much about using a biscuit joiner when he began writing the book. He learned as he went along.

Forth, most of the book is devoted to several projects the author used to learn enough about biscuit joining to write the book. The concept is fine, but I did not think the projects were that exciting. I would have loved to see the projects based on some exceptional designs.

The best thing about this book is that it was well laid out and the pictures are sharp. Overall, this book is not worth the asking price.

Rating:
Summary: Jim Stack's Biscuit Joiner Project Book
Review: I was disappointed in this book for several reasons. First, there was little in the book about how to actually use a biscuit joiner.

Second, when the author explained how to do something, he would say something like, "there is several ways you could do this, try it a few different ways and see what works for you." I could have done that without buying the book.

Third, I was looking for information on how the experts use biscuit joiners. That is not what I got. Instead, the author clearly states that he really did not know much about using a biscuit joiner when he began writing the book. He learned as he went along.

Forth, most of the book is devoted to several projects the author used to learn enough about biscuit joining to write the book. The concept is fine, but I did not think the projects were that exciting. I would have loved to see the projects based on some exceptional designs.

The best thing about this book is that it was well laid out and the pictures are sharp. Overall, this book is not worth the asking price.