Makita PJ7000 Biscuit/Plate Joiner
My old Ryobi Biscuit Joiner finally gave up the ghost. To its credit, it had cut a lot of biscuits. The Makita PJ7000 had very good reviews on Amazon and is reasonably priced, so I bought one.
I've tried it out on some old hard bluegum boards I'm joining up for a bench top. What a difference from the Ryobi! chalk and cheese. The Ryobi needed a ton of force to overcome the resistance of the spring when making a cut, which made it hard to keep square to the edge at the same time. The Makita glides easily into the cut and as the barrel is thinner and easier to grasp, it adds up to much better control. Also, the Ryobi was always a bit dodgy when it came to holding the depth of the cut below the surface of the board consistently, which is the whole point of a biscuit joiner. Toward the end of its life, the nut which was supposed to do this became impossible to tighten adequately.The Makita has a cam lever arrangement which tightens very securely. I also like the bright red guidelines which indicate not only the centre of the cut, but also the edges, so you won't make the mistake of cutting too close to the end of your board and exposing the biscuit. Whoops! I made that blunder a couple of times with the Ryobi.
And now, as a bonus, how about this? Bunnings advertises the PJ7000 for $249, while Sydney Tools has it for $220. So, off to the big green shed with a copy of the Sydney Tools ad. Now about that line we've heard a million times: "if you find the same item at a cheaper price, we'll beat it by ten percent". True to their word, Bunnings gave me 10% off the Sydney Tools price, ie $198! So if you're in the market for a biscuit joiner, now's the time, before Bunnings changes their price.
Having asked Makita the question...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
stewart59
Others on the forums have commented that Bunnings tools sometimes have unique model numbers, perhaps differing by one digit. In that case, it might be reasonable to act as if they are a different product. But I agree with The Hun-going to all the trouble and expense of setting up a separate production process in order to deceive customers sounds fanciful.
Best
I don't think Bunnings nor Makita could be accused by anyone of deception. Bunnings do not state that a Makita product sold in their store is the same as that which may be purchased from another retailer. But a call to Makita does clarify things. According to Makita Australia's own customer service line, some Makita tools do differ between the model sold by Bunnings and the model sold at other retailers. The unique Bunnings tool will have different specs from the standard model and it will display a different model number on the unit.
Makita could not provide a list of those tools, but were happy to answer any queries as to model differences by calling their customer service line on 1300 361 690 and providing the model number of the tools in question.
The example given by Makita of possible differences between the unique Bunnings model and the standard might that the Bunnings unit will not have a deadman's switch, but to stress again that, according to Makita, the differences vary between each product and not all products have a unique Bunnings model available. Bunnings do apparently directly import those models that are unique to their inventory from the manufacturer having had them made specifically for Bunnings.
It may well be that the biscuit joiner that stewart59 bought from Bunnings is exactly the same as you'd buy from another retailer if Bunnings don't directly import their own version. The model number listed on the Makita website is PJ7000 which is the same model number that Bunnings are showing on their webpage here. There is one small problem though - not one of the Bunnings stores in Canberra carry the tool and let's just say they're not too keen on special ordering anything either. :rolleyes:
