Pattern Inlay With a Biscuit Joiner

A biscuit joiner is a useful tool in a wood shop for making strong joints in furniture and cabinets. But is there anything else you can do with it? How about using a joiner for creating decorative patterns, sort of like inlays. Here is my experiment to see if and how well it works. If successful I will make some cutting boards and furniture decorations in the future using this technique.

Spoiler alert: It worked great!

Biscuit joiner

Band saw or scroll saw

Planer, drum sander, or flush-cut saw

Hardwood, different species and colors

Wood glue

A biscuit joiner cuts a crescent-shaped slot into a piece of wood. It is commonly used to join two pieces of wood using a wood biscuit which fills the slots and adds strength to the joint. For this project I am using the joiner to cut a number of exposed slots which are then filled with home-made biscuits made from a contrasting wood species. You can create a wide variety of interesting patterns for wall art, cutting boards, picture frames, furniture components, etc.

A biscuit joiner has a nominal 4 inch (or 100 mm) diameter cutting blade that is about 5/32 inch (or 4 mm) thick. In this project I am setting the cutting depth for a #20 biscuit. The resulting slot is about 2-19/32 inch (66 mm) long. For other settings the slot length is like this:

1. Biscuit Size : Slot Length
2. #0 : 55 mm
3. #10 : 61 mm
4. #20 : 66 mm

I chose a flat piece of cherry and cut a pattern of slots into the surface. The pattern I created is staggered where the slot centers are 100 mm apart in the x-direction and 16 mm apart in the y-direction. Use blue painters tape to minimize tear-out from the cutting blade. A fence helps to align the joiner when cutting the slots.

On the back side of the board I created a cross pattern.

The home-made biscuits need to fit into these slots. I 3D printed a template for making my own hardwood biscuits. You can also use the attached pdf file to mark and create the biscuits. Take a strip of hardwood and resaw it to fit the thickness of the slots, about 5/32" or 4 mm. I cut the thickness a little proud and sanded the biscuits for a tight fit. The curved part on the biscuits matches the 4 inch diameter of the joiner blade. My biscuits are made from maple and walnut which will contrast nicely with the cherry board.

Glue the biscuits into the slots, arranging the different colored woods as you please. They will be proud of the surface. Press them down as far as they go to close any gaps on the ends. Clean-up excess glue and let dry.

Plane, flush-cut, or sand the board so that the biscuits are flush to the surface, and admire your pattern. After applying a finish the pattern shows up beautifully.

The technique works well and lets you create beautiful inlays for your woodworking projects.