Dewalt DW682K Plate Joiner
Invented by Hermann Steiner, a Swedish woodworker, back in 1968 by the company we now know as Lamello, it was created to join together the recently invented chip board… The chip board is sadly today a major component of most of American furniture. Chip board is essentially recycled wood chips and wood glue pressed together. It’s a great way to reduce lumber waste and its existence helps drive down the cost of furniture. The downside is that it is incredibly weak compared to hardwood.
Flashforward a couple decades and a few company acquisitions, and the company Dewalt started producing, what we know today, as the DW682K Plate Joiner. Its purpose comes from a simple thought. What is the fastest and easiest way to create uniform connection points between two pieces of wood? The biscuit joiner definitely satisfies that question. If you have a joiner, all you need is a pencil, wood glue, and some “football” shaped biscuits to start making joinery.
That being said there are 5 criteria I judge every tool around.
Cost - I place Cost above all else because you’ll find that there is no end to how much tools can cost. When you go down this rabbit hole, you can probably find a super expensive version of this tool that will do what you want, 20x’s faster, be automated, and tell you where you left your keys.
Performance - Does it do what I paid for it to do? Can it perform the task I need it do well?
Durability - How long will it do what I ask it to do? Is it flimsy? Does it feel “cheep?” It can be a little difficult to use as long as it’s going to stand the test of time. A new tool that’s easy to use but breaks immediately is worth less than a tool that is “fidgety” but lasts forever.
Ease of use - After I buy a tool the first thing I do after opening it is throw the instructions immediately into the trash. This is because I’m a man… and that’s what we do. It’s to test the tools ease of use. Is this thing easy to use? Is it intuitive? Does it have a million parts? If I have to put this thing together, does it make sense? If, the answer to any of these questions is unfavorable I run to the trash and get the directions out.
Aesthetics - I’m not too picky. Aesthetics doesn’t mean much as long as the other 4 criteria are met but I don’t want a tool hogging up space in my shop that looks like it came from the stone age.
For simplicity's sake each criterion can only get up to 1 Star. At the end I’ll add the stars up. No scale and no math. Highschool was almost 25 years ago. I’m not using any equations to review tools.
1) COST - 0 ⭐
At the moment it appears that you can get the Dewalt DW682k for about $185. Full disclosure, I got mine off Facebook Marketplace from a guy in a Wal Mart parking lot for $100. Even at a price that low I have to give this biscuit joiner a zero star on cost. As I’ve stated before cost is the by far the hardest thing to judge. I got this tool at an incredibly low price… but I NEVER use it! I’ve had this biscuit joiner for two years and I’ve used it once. I have fiddled with it and experimented with it a bunch but used it only once to reinforce some edge trim.
2) PERFROMANCE - 3/4 ⭐
This tool performs absolutely as you would expect it to. Every aspect it advertises performs exactly as it you would want. I just simply don’t use it. With today’s technology and its ability to create modern tools, I just never think to myself, “Where’s that dang biscuit joiner?”
3) DURABILITY - 3/4 ⭐
After two years of minimal use, the tool itself feels like it will undoubtedly stand the test of time. The attachments however will not. The kit comes with different plastic connections that go from the tool to dust extraction. The adapter I used broke. It wasn’t from being weak… but it also wasn’t negligent abuse. After the dust collection adapter broke, I hopped online and found a replacement for $10 at www.eraplacementparts.com
4) EASE OF USE - 1 ⭐
For me using this tool requires no instruction manual. Its operation works very intuitionally. There’s not much more to say beyond that. Adjusting the depth of cut, angle of cut, and height of cut is easy to visually perceive.
5) AESTHETICS - 1 ⭐
This tool looks sweet, it feels great in the hand, and performs as advertised
