Domino or biscuit jointer?

[slemishwoodcrafts]

As the title says, foregoing all comments about cost etc I'd like to hear from users of both and which they would recommend.

Cheers


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[morturn]

Both of these machines are incredibly versatile and useful, however neither of them are a one size fits all. It would help if you could share with us the type work you intend to do.

 

[Adam9453]

Domino.
"Everything is just a toy" - small soldiers film

 

[Neil S]

The two machines serve very different purposes.
Dominos are for 'loose tenon' joints. The dominos provide structural strength to join the two pieces together.

Biscuits on the other hand provide much less strength to a joint. Biscuits are there primarily there to provide alignment of the pieces being joined. The glue provides most of the strength in a biscuit joint.

You will find biscuits commonly used to align long boards that are being edge jointed.
You should not see biscuits used to butt joint a rail into a stile like a domino can.

Money no object I'd have both

BTW I have a cheap biscuit jointer and would love to have a domino but cant afford it.

-Neil

 

[Doug B]

Bought my first domino 7 years ago & sold my Lamello biscuit jointer a while afterwards as I just wasn't using it, I can't think of a single time I've thought I should have kept the biscuit jointer as the domino has done everything the Lamello could do & far more.

 

[MattRoberts]

I have both. I could chuck the biscuit joiner away in a heart beat, but you'd have to pry the domino out of my cold dead hands

There's nothing a biscuit joiner can do that a domino can't, but plenty a domino can do - including edge joining boards.

There is a massive price difference though - in the region of £400-500 more expensive when you factor in cutters and dominos etc.

 

[Distinterior]

I bought my Domino a couple of years back and have never used my Elu biscuit machine since. I haven't had the heart to part with it though, but it is just collecting dust.

 

[petermillard]

Domino. Though I'm finding myself drawn towards the Lamello Zeta P2 for the potential of knockdown fittings - seems like they'd be very useful for my kind of work. Then again, it makes the Domino look like a bargain, in comparison...


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[Doug B]

Domino. Though I'm finding myself drawn towards the Lamello Zeta P2 for the potential of knockdown fittings - seems like they'd be very useful for my kind of work. Then again, it makes the Domino look like a bargain, in comparison...


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Talking to one of the Festool blokes at W16 it sounds like it won't be long before there are Festool knockdown fittings for the df500 to compliment the fittings already available from them for the df700

 

[DiscoStu]

I can't think of a time when a domino couldn't be used but a biscuit could. However there a plenty of times when a domino can be used and a biscuit can't. Most of the time that I use my domino is a time when a biscuit wouldn't work or certainly isn't recommended.


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[Beau]

Not yet bought a Domino but use biscuits all the time for joining up boards. There is a lot of wiggle room with a biscuit ie the slot is wider than the biscuit but Dominoes I think only have 2mm or nothing. Obviously easy enough to be accurate but I do just slap them in knowing I can realign the boards a bit when the glue is on.

 

[custard]

It's a bit like saying do you prefer a 24oz claw hammer or an 8oz warrington hammer. Sure, there's plenty of overlap between them, but there are times when one is obviously a better choice than the other.

If I'm making cabinet furniture from veneered sheet goods (and I'm talking pretty upmarket items using saw cut veneers) then I'd tend to use biscuits more than dominos. A domino will often cause some localised swelling in the component, which on occasions can telegraph through the veneer surface. Another example might be fitting a drawer divider, too many dominos and you can find that your previously piston fit drawer is starting to bind, and by this stage you really don't want to be sanding that back with 80 grit on a veneered surface that you can barely reach deep in the bowels of a cabinet. These are the occasions when a good quality biscuit jointer really earns its keep in your workshop.

On the other hand, if you're mainly using solid timber construction, then a Domino, or traditionally cut M&T joints, will normally be what you'd choose. But even with solid wood there can be exceptions. The fashion is moving towards thinner and thinner legs, there are occasions when jointing the apron to the legs that two stacked biscuits makes more sense than dominos. The purists will squeal, but with a side table leg that has a straight taper from 28mm down to 15mm, plus with veneered "socks" at the feet further nibbling away at the integrity of the legs, the truth is that it's not going to be a particularly robust piece of furniture anyway, so stacked biscuits probably aren't the weakest link in that particular piece of furniture.

One other thing I don't like about Dominos, you have plenty of choice in the thickness and the length of the dominos, but virtually no choice in the width. Consequently you end up designing your furniture to fit domino dimensions, which quickly looks really "samey". Sure, you can extend the mortice width and machine up your own loose tenons (which I do all the time), but then you're just using the domino as a portable morticing machine and you've lost all the cost saving efficiencies.

Just my 2p's worth.

 

[chippy1970]

Domino. Though I'm finding myself drawn towards the Lamello Zeta P2 for the potential of knockdown fittings - seems like they'd be very useful for my kind of work. Then again, it makes the Domino look like a bargain, in comparison...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Talking to one of the Festool blokes at W16 it sounds like it won't be long before there are Festool knockdown fittings for the df500 to compliment the fittings already available from them for the df700

What like these http://www.dominofix.com



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[Doug B]

Domino. Though I'm finding myself drawn towards the Lamello Zeta P2 for the potential of knockdown fittings - seems like they'd be very useful for my kind of work. Then again, it makes the Domino look like a bargain, in comparison...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Talking to one of the Festool blokes at W16 it sounds like it won't be long before there are Festool knockdown fittings for the df500 to compliment the fittings already available from them for the df700

What like these http://www.dominofix.com



Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk

No 8-[ 8-[

 

[slemishwoodcrafts]

I build a lot of furniture using frames and I would normally use biscuits to reinforce the butt joint, similar to how we would see norm do it in the new Yankee workshop. I use a bit for my router to cut the biscuit slots.
I've always thought about buying a biscuit jointer but then everyone loves the dominos so I thought maybe I should save up and buy one of them because hey seem so versatile.
I do a lot of mortise and tenon joinery too and it would be nice to have a speedier process for that too


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[flh801978]

Slemish
I can almost guarentee that when you have tried a domino you will never use a trad mortise and tenon again
I bought the 500 first ,when the 700 came out I bought that and sold my mortiser as i could never imagine using it again
I do still use biscuits however for certain jobs
Ian

 

[sploo]

One thing to consider with the Domino is the Seneca RTS-500 adaptor; that allows 500 bits to be used on the 700. You might regret lugging the extra weight of the 700 all day (if the 500 would be a better choice) but I prefer the ergonomics of the 700, and the greater versatility meant I was happy to save the cost of getting a 500 too.

 

[custard]

Slemish
I can almost guarentee that when you have tried a domino you will never use a trad mortise and tenon again
I bought the 500 first ,when the 700 came out I bought that and sold my mortiser as i could never imagine using it again
I do still use biscuits however for certain jobs
Ian

Ian, I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree.

I also use both the 500 and 700 Domino machines, love 'em to bits. But I still use a morticer nearly as much as before, that's chiefly because of haunches and also the twin tusk tenons you generally need on the rail beneath traditional drawers, neither of which a Domino can deliver. I also still cut plenty of mortices by hand or with a router, they're mainly through mortices which look carp when done with a Domino and often look scrappy with a morticing machine if the auger runs out past the chisel as it so often does.

It really comes down to what sort of work you do. For the furniture I make a Domino certainly has it's uses, but it has pretty severe limitations too.

 

[slemishwoodcrafts]

I used to use a lot of biscuits, and now I've taken a lot to using pocket screws, when making frames. I like being able to cut timber to length and not need to add extra on for tenons etc. That said, I do still like tenons as features such as pegged through tenons, but its not often I use them. From what I have read and seen online, plus from the responses I've got I think I will save up and get a domino, but also a biscuit jointer in the meantime to speed up work

 

[sploo]

I also use both the 500 and 700 Domino machines, love 'em to bits. But I still use a morticer nearly as much as before, that's chiefly because of haunches and also the twin tusk tenons you generally need on the rail beneath traditional drawers, neither of which a Domino can deliver. I also still cut plenty of mortices by hand or with a router, they're mainly through mortices which look carp when done with a Domino and often look scrappy with a morticing machine if the auger runs out past the chisel as it so often does.

It really comes down to what sort of work you do. For the furniture I make a Domino certainly has it's uses, but it has pretty severe limitations too.

I think that before I started watching Paul Sellers' videos I'd have thought a Domino would do everything you need in terms of replacing mortice and tenon joints - but obviously there was much I didn't (and still don't) know about traditional joinery methods. As such, I see how the Domino is perfect for the "get it together" type jobs (which is mostly what I do when I'm building), but I can understand how a craftsman joiner would still use other methods.

As with any tool, I guess it depends on what the maker is mostly making; with the Domino, biscuits, a morticing machine, and a hammer and chisel, all having their place.