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I am not a pro and I may only use this 1 or 2 times, but I wanted one that would do a good job and was not a peice of junk. Moderately priced, good quality and got the job done. I shopped around and this was the best deal going. This was perfect.
The size of the chip chute connection doesn't fit any standard hoses I've got. The motor's fine, the balance is good, the fence is pretty good as well although the lock on both the height and angle adjustments are easily knocked out of position unless they are very tight. The price is a plus the accuracy is more than adequate. I'd fairly recently bought a Freud router which compared favorably with my Porter Cable units so I tried this. Would spring for the PC next time but this thing does the job so I am not likely to replace it any time soon. Things that are a little troublesome are the easily plugged chip chute, the sawdust catch bag which does not stay on the machine - falls off immediately.
Just some rough edges. I bought this to upgrade from a Ryobi unit which was functional enough but which has a pretty crude fence arrangment. The machine is an upgrade but it's got its annoying issues. The switch on the motor can best be described as funky requiring a sliding and rocking motion.
The placement of the switch could be better as one reviewer pointed out but you get used to it after a while.Bottom line, you can not beat what this joiner gives you for the money and you can get excellent results if you use it right. If you use the lower quality biscuits, make sure you check them for fit before assembly time. It is easy to setup, all the important parts are solid cast metal and no flimsy fit here. The best biscuits I used have been the Bosch ones but they are usually significantly more expensive than the Porter Cable ones. I don't know what was the issue encountered by the person who could not adjust the blade but all the tools that came with the joiner fit fine on mine but I would use my higher quality tools when I work on machinery rather than the inferior ones that come with the machines with very few exceptions. If you are doing woodworking and using a plate joiner, you must have a few tools around to take care of minor adjustments.Dust collection is practically non existent unless you connect a shop vacuum to the unit in which case you will not get any external dust. the issue with the fence slipping is one minor annoyance but can be dealt with easily by either replacing the rubber washer that gets pinched between the fence and the body or by tightening (ever so slightly) with pliers. This joiner cuts extremely accurate and consistent slots but biscuits can vary in thickness if they are of poor quality or if they have been exposed to the air and have absorbed some moisture.
You will end up throwing some biscuits (maybe 5%-10%) but that is not bad considering the price difference. All the biscuit joiners (and for that matter all woodworking machinery) will have dust problems if you decide to use the built-in collection mechanisms.The noise level is high but that is the case with almost every machine in a woodworking shop so you better be wearing your ear plugs. The quality, fit and finish of this joiner are excellent. If you are having fit problems with the thickness of the slots, look at the biscuits you are using and not at this machine. However, if you are doing some fine work, go with the high quality biscuits because the difference may show then.Adjustment is very easy and cuts are very accurate.
I originally bought Freud because I trust the name. This is a versatile tool that is built to last. This is a very good quality item. I wasn't disappointed.
This tools is good for a novice that is not sure whether they will use biscuits or not. Pros should start with a better model. The solution for this tool is to only use it resting flat and then to only use the fence as a guide. This happens no matter how hard I tighten the fence. I first noticed that the fence 'slipped' when I was doing some fine work. I have used this tool for over a year now to do a wide variety of projects. The fence slips when you rest it upon your work (when you measure the biscuit slot from the top of the fence plate). Since I do the kind of work that requires more precision, I will be moving up to the Porter Cable 557 in a few months.
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