Festool Domino or Mafell Duo Doweler?

[Beau]

Went to the show at Exeter with the intention to but a Festool Domino but not entirely sold on the idea now. The Dominoes are serious money and then I see the Mafell Duo doweler. Not so different but uses regular dowels which I am presuming are much cheaper. Also the Mafell looked better made. Any views of the pros and cons of the two and are there any other similar type machines out there?

 

[AJB Temple]

My father in law (who is German) has the Mafell tool and it is outstandingly good twin dowel solution with variable depths. Uses dirt cheap standard dowels and is fool proof for accuracy. What is like about it is you don't need to clamp and it is ever so quick to use.

Here is a demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUj-zsxu3DY

I have not used a Domino as I don't have any Festool gear. I do have some Mafall gear (track saw) and it is very well made. Not what you might call cheap though.

 

[custard]

The Mafell Duo Doweller is a great piece of kit for specific applications, but it isn't quite as versatile as a Domino. In particular it has two major limitations,

1. The Dowels are a fixed distance apart (I think from memory it's 32mm) which limits the minimum width of rails you can use for frame construction. For example add an 8mm drill diameter to the width between centres, and add say another 8mm outside each dowel hole, and the minimum rail width is then 56mm. That's pretty restrictive, I use plenty of rails that are narrower than that.

2. There's no "sloppy" setting on a Duo Doweller, so the layout has to be spot on as there's no possibility of adjusting components during the glue up.

I'm certainly not trying to sell you on a Domino (you can't make a haunch for example with a Domino) but at least it's more flexible than a Duo Doweller.

Good luck!

 

[MattRoberts]

Do you mean that the domino dowels are expensive, or the machine? The machine is, sure, but the dowels themselves aren't much more than normal round dowels.
Aside from that, custard pretty much covered it. If you can afford it, you won't regret the domino at all.

 

[Lonsdale73]

I'm not familiar with the Mafell but I love my Festool Domino. I'm not a great or even decent woodworker but the Domino is so easy to set up and use that even I can tun out projects from photo frames to jewellery boxes quite quickly and effectively. Will never win me any awards but fit for my purpose and as confidence grows so too does the quality and complexity of projects.

 

[Roughcut]

There is a guide rail available for the Mafell that looks like it would be useful.
http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/product.php/s ... xptt-T2bIU

 

[Beau]

Do you mean that the domino dowels are expensive, or the machine? The machine is, sure, but the dowels themselves aren't much more than normal round dowels.
Aside from that, custard pretty much covered it. If you can afford it, you won't regret the domino at all.

Yes looks like you are right about the dominoes. Thought dowels would be a lot cheaper but looks like that is not the case. Both machines are expensive

 

[Roughcut]

Do you mean that the domino dowels are expensive, or the machine? The machine is, sure, but the dowels themselves aren't much more than normal round dowels.
Aside from that, custard pretty much covered it. If you can afford it, you won't regret the domino at all.

Yes looks like you are right about the dominoes. Thought dowels would be a lot cheaper but looks like that is not the case. Both machines are expensive

hmm not sure I would agree.
Dowels (even using 2x 8mm dowels to 1x 8mm domino) should be 25-30% cheaper

 

[MattRoberts]

Do you mean that the domino dowels are expensive, or the machine? The machine is, sure, but the dowels themselves aren't much more than normal round dowels.
Aside from that, custard pretty much covered it. If you can afford it, you won't regret the domino at all.

Yes looks like you are right about the dominoes. Thought dowels would be a lot cheaper but looks like that is not the case. Both machines are expensive

hmm not sure I would agree.
Dowels (even using 2x 8mm dowels to 1x 8mm domino) should be 25-30% cheaper

Sure, but when you're talking about a difference of £4 or so, it's not a huge deal...

 

[Wuffles]

Huge Mafell fan here, and I buy the right tool, I'm not a brand wh0re. You will love the domino.


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