Domi_no or Domi-yes

[thecoder]

I have heard quite abit about dominos on this site, so had a look at the prices, when I came round from the shock, I wondered if those folks that had bought them thought they were a worthwhile investment ?

 

[clk230]

unless your a pro earning money from wood then their a total luxury .

 

[Chems]

unless your a pro earning money from wood then their a total luxury .

I agree with clk, this is true.

But the same can be said for almost every woodwork purchase, why buy that LN plane when a ebay record would get the job done. Why buy that Cast Iron table saw when a site saw will probably get the job done. Its a personal thing.

My domino paid for itself very quickly whilst I was making furniture as a business.

 

[thecoder]

I think your right chems, I could think of enough reasons to not have bought quite a few things in life lol. I'm no pro golfer but I have decent set that I could have spent less on. What I was wondering was what does the domino give you for all that cash, how versatile is it ? What type of things could you make with it ? How much does it differ from a biscuit jointed.? And so on.

 

[Dodge]

I have refrained from buying a Domino, I did have one on trial for a week or so but found myself still going down the traditional route of Mortice and Tenons where grooves for panels or rebates for glass are required.

With that said though I'm sure it is a piece of equipment that would soon get used alot if I had one - its what you are used to I suppose.

Basically I always advise people to buy what they want - at the end of the day they will be the one using it but do your research first.

 

[clk230]

i suppose it also comes down to what other tools/machines you have and what you make ,as Chems said its a personal thing , maybe give us a bit more info i.e tools already have and what you make or want to make.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Nobody needs a Domino. We managed for centuries without. But.
If you ask those who have them and use them, would they want to go back, I suspect very few would. It's a tool to do a job. It does it superbly well. There are many other ways of achieving the same end result, and all of them are slower, many are less precise and all are cheaper.
If you do the sort of mid-size joinery for which it was designed, then you won't find a more cost effective way of working. Provided, of course, that you cost your time in an economically robust manner. If you time as a hobbyist is "free" then it's a different equation. Only you can make that evaluation.
S

 

[petermillard]

Nobody needs a Domino. We managed for centuries without...

Speak for yourself Steve, I only managed decades

As you say though, I don't know anyone who's bought a Domino and regretted it. I bought mine for a specific job that essentially paid for it, and to be honest I don't use it that often these days - but when I do, it saves me hours of work. If you think you can find a use for it, buy it; if it turns out you can't justify it, then sell it on - chances are the 'learning experience' won't have cost you much.

If you're not averse to buying used then it's worth keeping an eye on eBay as well, as they come up every so often - there's a few on atm.

HTH Pete

 

[doctor Bob]

I have one and as a pro they are worth every penny but they are so fragile, mine is just about buggered now, fence is out of square in both directions, arms are bent, lead is broken.
I can drop dewalt and makita tools all day long, festool tools are just to precious, wish some of the money went into making them stronger

 

[Lord Kitchener]

I have one and it's the first time I've been a bit disappointed with a Festool product, it simply isn't as accurate as I expected. I still use it, but only in situations where I don't need things to line up perfectly.

 

[JonnyD]

I have one and it's the first time I've been a bit disappointed with a Festool product, it simply isn't as accurate as I expected. I still use it, but only in situations where I don't need things to line up perfectly.

Probably down to your technique i would think, the machine itself is extremely accuarate.

I agree with Bob about them being a bit a bit fragile. Im on my second one now the fences twisted and then the gearbox got stipped but in fairness it did a lot of work.

cheers

Jon

 

[thecoder]

I have one and it's the first time I've been a bit disappointed with a Festool product, it simply isn't as accurate as I expected. I still use it, but only in situations where I don't need things to line up perfectly.

To be honest if I was paying that kind of money for a powertool I would expect accuracy and a decent amount of sturdy engineering as standard. I think given those 2 issues alone are enough to put me off buying one.

 

[Lord Kitchener]

I have one and it's the first time I've been a bit disappointed with a Festool product, it simply isn't as accurate as I expected. I still use it, but only in situations where I don't need things to line up perfectly.

Probably down to your technique i would think, the machine itself is extremely accuarate.

Your machine might be extremely accurate, but mine isn't. And it's certainly got ****all to do with my technique!, as the only way I use it is bolted down to a flat surface and it only does one type of joint.

So either I've got a rogue machine, which is, I daresay, possible, or I am more demanding than average in terms of what I consider to be sufficient accuracy.

 

[Oryxdesign]

Festool will have it collected from wherever is convenient, check and teat the tool and then send it back to wherever is convenient. Seems mad not to get it checked and find out for sure.

I have been very happy with my domino and if it broke I'd buy another, it doesn't seem that expensive if you compare the price to lamello biscuit jointers or the mafele duo dowler. I think most precision tools don't take kindly to being dropped but everything including gearbox parts are available as spares so if you do drop it and break something it'll be repairable.

 

[Lord Kitchener]

Festool will have it collected from wherever is convenient, check and teat the tool and then send it back to wherever is convenient. Seems mad not to get it checked and find out for sure.

If you are referring to me then thanks for the info (I already knew, I've been dealing with Festool for years) and I expect that I will get around to doing that eventually. But I do already know that as is it is below my accuracy/repeatability requirements, so they may well opt to change it or alter it, but I won't be finding out anything for sure, I already know.

 

[Oryxdesign]

Festool will have it collected from wherever is convenient, check and teat the tool and then send it back to wherever is convenient. Seems mad not to get it checked and find out for sure.

If you are referring to me then thanks for the info (I already knew, I've been dealing with Festool for years) and I expect that I will get around to doing that eventually. But I do already know that as is it is below my accuracy/repeatability requirements, so they may well opt to change it or alter it, but I won't be finding out anything for sure, I already know.

Which part of the tool do you find inaccurate?

 

[Lord Kitchener]

Festool will have it collected from wherever is convenient, check and teat the tool and then send it back to wherever is convenient. Seems mad not to get it checked and find out for sure.

If you are referring to me then thanks for the info (I already knew, I've been dealing with Festool for years) and I expect that I will get around to doing that eventually. But I do already know that as is it is below my accuracy/repeatability requirements, so they may well opt to change it or alter it, but I won't be finding out anything for sure, I already know.

Which part of the tool do you find inaccurate?

The mortise that it cuts is not parallel with the base of the tool, and the paddles (mine is a recent model) do not reliably index the position of the cut from the edge of the workpiece. Most times they do, but not every time, and that's despite considerable care being taken by the user.

 

[softtop]

In response to the original poster I am not a pro but bought one second hand on the 'bay for a specific job and intended to put it straight back on and hence only really pay the postage. However it was very fast and easy to use... I have since used it for a number of other things and won't be selling it any time soon! Yes it's expensive but makes creating quick M&Ts so fast. If I was doing things solely for pleasure I'd enjoy doing things "properly" but given we all have limited time and I have a lot of things to get done I really appreciate the speed.

Clearly it's a luxury and expensive item though. And once you've started on the Festool slope... ouch!

That's my tuppence-worth. Perhaps you can find someone nearby to show you/lend you one?

Henry

 

[billybuntus]

What type of jointing do people use them for? I understand they make a mini Mortice and tenon but how strong are they? Could you for example make a chair and joint it with a domino?

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Billy they was making chairs years ago with just 2 dowels per joint so making a chair with domino i would think is fine joints would be fine. (im not a domino owner)

As a "pro" I find the dominos themselves are to expensive. As a business your trying to keep costs down and although it may be faster then a M&T its not as strong and if your bulk M&T'ing its only marginal faster when the joint requires 2 or 4 dominos per joint. The only time I can see me using one would be in saturations when a biscuit could be used and really a domino is no faster then a biscuit jointer. Biscuits are far cheaper and the jointers are many 100's cheaper so for me that was the end of the look at the domino. Also there are times when even the smallest of domino's are too large and you will be reaching for biscuit jointer anyway.

Like post 2 says, its a luxury item and for hobby workers its a means to get accurate floating M&T joints without much skill. My personal opinion of them is summed up by calling it a toy. After all its a real easy way to join wood, there is little skill required and no "carpentry" skills are used. The carpenter then really is just a joiner hehe .