The biscuit joiner is a very effective tool for aligning and affixing material in a secure manner. If you are fresh on the market for a biscuit jointer, the DeWalt DW682K is a popular plate joiner solution used by many professionals out there. It has a solid build construction and promises ease-of-use. But is this product the right one and is it worth the money? Here is our review of this DeWalt biscuit joiner.

DeWalt DW682K Plate Joiner

Technical Feature

Motor Power: 

This DeWalt Plate Joiner sports a very decent motor rated at 6.5 Amps. A powerful motor is important in a plate joiner so that it can carve through material in a professional and accurate manner. It does not leave splinters and the end result is a professional split that allows the biscuit to fit nice and tug inside. The 6.5 Amps of the DeWalt DW682K allows this unit to generate a rapid 10,000 RPM at the blades. At this speed, this plate joiner can cut through material cleanly, regardless of whether you are using It on hardwood or softwood. Bottom line, the motor and blade rotation alone is enough to produce a professional and clean cut in material. It even works well in material like PVC.

Capacity:

This jointer has a maximum cutter capacity of 100 mm offering a maximum cutting depth of 20 mm. It allows you to work with commonly available biscuit sizes of #0, #10 and #20 and the size can be adjusted in a seamless manner.

Fence:

The fence of this DeWalt plate joiner allows a lot of versatility, especially when working with miter joints. The fence is a single design with a non-marring aluminum shoe that allows angular adjustment of 0-degree to 90-degree. The fence angle is very easy to adjust and can be locked in position with a knob. It is not as versatile when making a miter biscuit like say, a 135 angle plater jointer, but can perform the job just as easily.

The depth of cut with a grooving setting of 20 mm can be calibrated with the gauge. It allows fine adjustments of the jointer nose and fence to match common biscuit sizes as well as blade alignment.

​​The fence is non-removable and remains solidly attached to the device. It is a sturdy metal fence that sits perfectly flush with your material. There is no wobbling and erratic movements during the cut for extreme accuracy.

Design:

The DeWalt DW682K is a spring loaded biscuit joiner. It has a rack and pinion system that is adjustable from the top, and the biscuit size adjustable at the left side of the unit, below the handle. The handles themselves are large and made from a soft plastic, providing a comfortable grip when activating the device. It is weighs only 6.6 lbs which is an excellent weight proving great maneuverability especially when operated at odd angles.

Other Features:

• Middle marking: The exact height of the nose and center is clearly marked with a red guide line. This makes it easier to align the device for a faster cut.
• Location Notch: The 45-degree location notch on the inside of the fence makes it easy to make outside miter joint cuts. It is non-slip and easily grips on the edge of material for better ease of use and accuracy.
• Dust Bag: This model comes equipped with a cloth dust bag that absorbs dust and debris leaving a clean work area. Additionally, the dust bag port can easily be connected to an external vacuum extractor with the provided vacuum adapter for heavy-duty biscuit joinery work.

Accessories:

Straight out of the box, this unit comes with a few accessories. It is still a basic “set” but offers a lot of bang for the buck, especially for the price that it is offered. You get 1 carbide blade, a cloth dust bag, a vacuum adapter, 1x Torx key, 1x wrench and a solid plastic carry box.

Price of DeWalt DW682K Plate Joiner

The DeWalt DW682K is offered at a very competitive price and offers a rich set of features that makes it easy and handy when doing biscuit joinery. Of course, it is not as versatile as the Porter Cable 557 biscuit joiner that has a better fence angle of 0-135 degrees and a slightly more powerful motor rated at 7 Amps. Between those two, we personally prefer the Porter Cable 557 because of the slightly greater versatility. However, if you are on a very strict budget, the DW682K can be just as performing especially for casual and general purpose joinery work. For heavy-duty biscuit cuts, we give the Porter Cable 557 a slight advantage because it handles itself better, in our opinion.

Expert Reviews

Since this DeWalt plate joiner is a popular model, many experts have bought and reviewed it extensively. We value the opinions of other experts since they provide an insight that can be invaluable to someone who has never owned this product before. Once such experts are the guys from ToolStop who reviewed this biscuit joiner on their channel.

The reviewer goes in depth providing a detailed overview of the various features and ease of use of this device. He starts with the fence and demonstrates how easy it is to make adjustments. Then on with the biscuit depth and size adjustment and finally the fence alignment and gauge get reviewed. We note how easy and straightforward this model is. It also has a very apparent solid build construction, something that we can expect from a premium tool from DeWalt.

Finally, he gives a hand-ons demonstration how easy it is to make a biscuit cut in material. Both aligning the tool and making the cut is very easy and straightforward. From watching the video, we are confident that even absolute beginners will find this DeWalt biscuit joiner very easy to use. You can watch the attached video below:

Pros/Cons of DeWalt DW682K

Pros:

• Offers all 3 standard biscuit sizes of #0, #10 and #20.
• Powerful 6.5 Amps motor easily cuts softwood, hardwood and plastic.
• Fence can be adjusted with a rack and pinion for greater ease of use and accuracy.
• Angle gauge let you see the angle and it can be tightly locked in position.

Cons:

• Fence cannot tilt beyond 90-degree for miter joint versatility.
• Fence plastic adapter is not provided. It is not the most stable when cutting obtuse angles and will require a DIY 1/4” hardwood auxiliary fence attached to provide stability.

Who Should Buy?

This DeWalt DW682K is a competitively priced biscuit joiner. It is easy to handle and work with. It also has a good build quality that will last. The only downside is the fence only swings between 0-90 degrees, which can be tricky when working at odd angles on miter joints. However, it can still be made to work by simply changing position.

Resource: woodmagazine.com, thisoldworkshop.com