PORTER-CABLE Plate Joiner Kit, 7-Amp (557)

I own and have owned a variety of power tools, among them, Porter Cable. Porter Cable is hit and miss. Not a fan of their drills but, the price point is enticing and they get the job done. Table saw? I'll pass. Their circular saw is the best I have ever owned. Although I have upgraded my router, I still consider Porter Cable the standard for that tool and their dove tail jig, although requiring some fiddling, is heirloom quality. On to the joiner. The plastic case is as adequate as most. Open it and the quality form, fit and function of this tool immediately jumps out at you. What I got: Of course the tool, a hex key and a dust bag with its adapter. That's it. No manual, no product registration card and NO ALIGNMENT PLATE! VERY disappointing! Off to the internet to find a manual and print. On page 12, it clearly states the alignment plate is, (furnished with tool) NOT! There's even a handy place to keep it in the case, IF ONLY I HAD ONE!. All the negative things you've heard about the dust bag are true. In this case, the word "useless" is not just a handy run-of-the-mill adjective. You can say it literally. The spring clamp and the adapter simply don't belong to one another. I've rarely used any of the dust bags that came with my power tools unless I'm away from the shop with them but, at least I could install them and get them dirty a couple of times. You can't even do that with this one. Your own extraction? The port is an odd diameter. You'll be playing dominos with all your vac adapters to get this set up for extraction or go outside and aim the port at the neighbor's house. This is truly puzzling because it is way out of character considering the theme of quality and precision otherwise evident in this tool. The rest of the tool is obviously ready to produce out of the box. The grips feels great to the hand and the look, feel, sound and operation of the trigger and it's lock is robust. The motor is very well vented and I expect will never get hot. You can hear and feel the wind blowing through it. I'm confident that this tool will be in my family long after they kick dirt on me. The top handle is right where it should be and its mounting is well engineered, solid and, above all, stationery. The configuration of the fences and adjustments say that, not only will there be accuracy, the applications will be nearly limitless without any jigging creativity. I think the only instances where this tool will be limited will be where I wouldn't want a biscuit anyway. In spite of the clear miss on the dust bag and the absent alignment plate, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this purchase. At this price point there is nothing better. I'm not the send-it-back type so I'll create my own alignment plate. I'll mention it to Amazon and PC so, if there is a favorable response, I'll update the review. Enjoy.Updating first review. Followed the online process to let PC know that the alignment plate was missing. They apologized and shipped me one no questioned asked. Brand new in the bag. That was impressive. I'm going to 5 stars because I'm not going to quibble over a dust bag I would likely never use anyway.

The Porter-Cable Plate Joiner 557 (Type 4) is a fantastic tool! Its power, versatility, and accuracy are all top-notch! I have used this multiple times in the past week with super results.The only negatives are commonly reported items. When I first opened the package I found the anti-skid material on the joiner face torn and terribly misaligned. I was able to very carefully correct the positioning of the anti-skid material and make it functional.The other issue was not damage but possibly poor design. The dust collection deflector and dust bag are not very effective. Even when operating the tool very slowly, the dust clogged the chute quickly. I was able to remedy the issue by using a small shop-vac with a one inch nozzle.Overall, a great tool addition to my shop!

Purchased this to replace a plate jointer that grew feet and walked away. This is not a tool I use often. Did the research before the purchase. This model proved the most adaptable and reasonably priced for my use. Used this tool to complete cabinet face frame install for a new client. Cabinets were assembled in a shop so plenty of clamps and glue used in a controlled environment. When able to I prefer biscuits over pocket holes just feel like the alignment is easier and overall product is better. I decided on this kit partly because it was an actual kit. In my experience specialized tools should come in a case. Willing to pay more for a case when buying tools like this. The positive locking fence positions and seemingly endless adjustability was a huge plus over other similarly priced tools. The depth position know and range is great. Range of biscuit sizes and micro adjustment were also big selling points as well. Overall I doubt I'll ever use this tools full potential, but definitely happy with what I used it for.

For years I wondered what the big deal was with Biscuit Cutters - properly called Plate Joiners. Then I finally bought the PC 557 because rumor was that it was the best. Now I wonder if the thousand biscuit assortment was enough!The PC557 is totally smooth and easy to use - trivial would be a good descriptor. Stops available for all the common settings - 90 degrees, etc. Click stops for the depth of the biscuit, and a simple screw adjustment for how far from the edge of the wood. Some of the cheaper units just slide into position and tighten, which is far harder to set accurately.For years I have biased my designs to allow plywood or tile table tops, but the biscuit cutter makes it trivial to have beautiful glue-up wide tops. No more design compromises for me! The number 20 (large) biscuits have remarkable strength - ample for the base of end tables, where the joints were all done in a minute, rather than the hours for mortise and tenons.The face frame biscuits (sometimes called oh-so-small) are short enough to make the fronts of cabinets without time-consuming lap joints - but remember that it takes the smaller diameter cutter blade provided with this unit (but not even available in some of the other units I saw).It had a hard time justifying a special purpose tool like this. Boy was I wrong. I use it far more than I expected, and am glad that I bought such a smooth operating high quality unit.