Festool domino: benefits + price

[Jake]

The real truth is probably closer to there are many ways to skin a cat which end up with a skinned cat, but a lot of cat skinners will tend to think their own way of skinning a cat is greatly superior. And sometimes, there's an added element of something about blaming tools.

 

[Jake]

The LNF is a jointer. The Mafell DD40 is a duo Doweler
I was referring to the DD40.

I’d prefer the Domino over the LNF too but the Lamello is also a biscuit jointer.

Yes I know. I'm not stupid. I am talking about putting an 8mm blade in the LNF to use the clamex fittings precisely because it, like the Lamello, is a biscuit jointer. You are the one who said you bought the biscuit jointer first so you prefer it.

 

[Delaney]

Yes I know. I'm not stupid. I am talking about putting an 8mm blade in the LNF to use the clamex fittings.

I thought you said you preffered your Domino over your mafell biscuit jointer and I was talking about a Mafell DD40.
Hence the confusion on my part

Re: cat skinning. There just are superior ways of doing things. It’s what humans have been driving at since the stone age.
I used to spray entire apartment blocks instead of rolling them by hand.
You use a Domino to save time and make work easier.

It seems saving time and making work easier, are the biggest two objective in both examples.
If you need to make cabinets, buying a tool that means you have to glue things, isn’t a big a pay off, as you might believe. £700 on a Festool to save a few hours or £1000 on a lamello to save you days.

 

[Jake]

If you are looking at it from a small business trade perspective putting that sort of cabinet together, the economically rational way might be a cheaper biscuit jointer, £25 on the CMT blade and save the Lamello tax for packs of the clams. I do think those Tenso claims look great, but would only be trying them for myself out of curiosity really, couldn't justify on a time/money basis.

 

[Delaney]

If you are looking at it from a small business trade perspective putting that sort of cabinet together, the economically rational way might be a cheaper biscuit jointer, £25 on the CMT blade and save the Lamello tax for packs of the clams. I do think those Tenso claims look great, but would only be trying them for myself out of curiosity really, couldn't justify on a time/money basis.

I’m not sure how you would turn a normal biscuit joiner into a zeta joiner by simply adding a cutter. What makes the zeta cutter add a trough at the back of the cut, for the connecter to fit into, is a mechanical movement in the machine.

It’s perfectly reasonable to make a cost benefit analysis. Small companies make small investments. Big companies make big ones.

 

[Jake]

Ah OK, I was wondering if I was missing something. I now see the little divots at the end. How does it cut those? What's the mechanical movement?

Edit: now see it oscillates at the end of the cut, presumably up and down to shove the sides of the blade tips in to groove the back of the initial cut. Oh well, that puts those Tensos well out of my interest zone then. Can well see their value in a pro cabinet shop.

 

[Delaney]

Ah OK, I was wondering if I was missing something. I now see the little divots at the end. How does it cut those? What's the mechanical movement?

Edit: now see it oscillates at the end of the cut, presumably up and down to shove the sides of the blade tips in to groove the back of the initial cut. Oh well, that puts those Tensos well out of my interest zone then. Can well see their value in a pro cabinet shop.

Yeh you got it. It’s quite cool to see it make the cut. I now use a CNC machine and have the Lamello cutters on CNC.

Regarding small or large workshops. A workshop and your ability to do work, is based on what you buy and therefore what you can do.
I didn’t have any work as a paint sprayer, until I bought a spray gun. The intitial investment on my part was considered ‘insane’ by others, until I started getting all the work and making more moeny.

A small workshop is simply run by a small mind. That’s why it's a small workshop. Think big, big things happen.

Cheers

 

[JKM]

I really cannot justify buying one of these. I know they're probably very handy for small cabinets, frames and the like, but the pricing is extreme.
2nd hand they're going for 700+. And thats even for 110v

However your point on 2nd hand values is exactly how I justified purchasing one.

The majority of the money spent is recoverable by selling the domino, it's just money tied up in a very slowly depreciating asset which can be liquidated with relative ease at any time.

It's probably down to years of working in finance, but I always have a mental balance sheet in my mind of what assets I have and I am not bothered by those assets not being liquid.

I am a rank amateur in woodworking, I do it to keep myself from being idle and I have no real need for expensive tools, but I went from zero tools to a relatively well equipped workshop with festool tools purely because they seem to have the lowest depreciation. Many I bought new on 0% finance with a reasonable discount.
It was prompted by a house move where I thought it would be interesting to see how many of the improvements I wanted could be done myself.

We all have different relationships with money, but I simply thought I can buy it without having to go without something else, and with relatively little loss if I decided to sell after a while, there was not much risk attached. The excellent warranty and guarantee (Inc theft etc) helped my peace of mind also

 

[TRITON]

it's just money tied up in a very slowly depreciating asset which can be liquidated with relative ease at any time.

And the reason i picked Festool for my sander, track saw and sliding mitre saw. If i eventually need to sell them, I'll recoup a fair amount.
Especially if you look after them and don't go scraping the casing.