> I will probably get one of those biscuit cutter attachments for my
> router... hope it works as well as a dedicated instrument for light
> duty use.
I bought a dedicated biscuit cutter (also called a plate joiner)
because the router attachment I saw could only do biscuits on a flat
edge (see below).
> I plan on beveling the upper edges
> 45-degrees to hide the seams, so a biscuit isn't practical there (I
> think...?).
Absolutely it is! I'm using biscuits in all my bevelled edges. It's
the way to go!
> I'm sure that bevel will end up being my worst nightmare with
> the project, but I want to try to hide seams and hardware as much as
> possible so that all the eye sees is warm wood & cool knobs!
I used a table saw to cut the bevels. I splurged a little bit and
bought a Delta for about $350, which had as one of its main features
a wheel/worm screw arrangement for being able to set the blade tilt
with precision. I used a protractor to figure out the initial angles,
divided by two, set an approximate blade angle, and then did some
test bevels on scrap wood to get the angles to match exactly. It's
one of the reasons the project is going slowly. I'm being very
careful, since the time I carefully bevelled a bunch of boards
correctly, then destroyed them by cutting them off too short. Duh!
> It seems generally taken for granted that 3/4" wood is the way to
> go, whether solid or ply. I was hoping to get away with either 5/8"
> or even 1/2" hardwood for my cabinets. They wont go on the road,
> just see studio use for the most part, but naturally I want them to
> be sturdy and last. With the cross bracing, a back on the cabinets,
> and the modules screwed in all over the place I am hoping that
> there would be enough stability with 1/2" wood.
Well, biscuits would be a little harder to use on a bevelled 5/8"
angle, but not impossible if you use the smaller #0 or maybe #10
sizes. I'm not sure you could use 1/2" with biscuits 'n bevels. Try
it on some scrap wood first.
Moe, a lot better carpenter than I was a few weeks ago