Biscuiting the Joints
Biscuits are flat football shaped pressed wood pieces which can add a lot of strength to the joints between each stave. We use a number 10 sized biscuit. It can be tricky with the double curve on the stave to line it up to the biscuit joiner to cut the slot. What we do is to use the line and press the stave flat at the bottom closest to the biscuit router. It is a two man job. This is why we draw those lines across the staves. Each pair next to each other will share 3 biscuits at each of the lines. Once the 6 slots are cut, we put those staves together to check. There is a little bit of wiggle room that allows for slight adjustment.