Can any one tell how to work my Ryobi biscuit cutter ..?

Question

It turns on but there is nothing that moves. Am I not supposed to push it against the board? It wont push the blade wont come out. Is there some kind of saftey closing thing on it that I cant remeber? I can't find a manuel anywhere on line and the company has no way to contact them, no way to email. The web site kind of just says p**s off. I am rarely available during their limited business hours I missed it again. So I am still looking on line. They take no E-MAILS.

Does anyone know how to work this piece of c**p? It is model JM80

Answer 1

You're right, you push it against a surface and the housing moves back against a spring and the cutter goes into the wood.  Then you pull it back and the spring pulls the housing back into place.

There might be a safety lock somewhere that keeps the housing from going back, so as to keep you from cutting yourself.  That's what I would guess it is.  Look for it.  Try to push the housing back with the motor off so you don't cut off a finger or something.

Answer 2

Man!! You are correct about their website!! The worst! I tried to find the manual for your model, or even any other model that would come close and they're all "not found" error pages!! I will never buy Ryobi again!

But, the way this thing is supposed to work, you flip down the top fence on the work to set the depth, and the housing should rest against the work, and then you push the unit, which should slide the unit and advance the blade into the wood. Did you check the depth gauge on the back? that might be keeping it from sliding forward. It's not stuck, is it? can the thing slide at all? There is no safety otherwise. Is it brand new? is there something keeping the sliding from happening for shipping purposes? a clip or a piece of wire or something?

Why don't you drop into a Home Depot and have a salesman show how one works, as if you were going to buy it. They have the JM 82, which is basically the same model, just updated a little.

I have a Lamello Top biscuit joiner (from back when the European made Lamello and Elu were the only biscuit joiners available in the U.S. A.) that I bought back in the early 80s which is still going strong, believe it or not. If I had to replace it, I would probably get the Porter Cable biscuit joiner.