Mafell DD40

[johnelliott]

Anyone got one? looks interesting, and might be very useful to me, involved as I am with kitchen manufacture

John

 

[LyNx]

i know someone with one and they claim it's great. They are in swindon too, so a preview could be arranged

Andy

 

[Chris Knight]

John,
There is that new Festool thingie too - I forget what it is called (for that matter what it does exactly) - sort of cross between dowels and biscuits. IIRC it even has a separate Festoool website.

 

[RogerS]

Domino!

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Domino!

Yes.

The speed of the Domino is amazing, as you don't need to measure each cut. The depth and thickness of cut all have pre-set stops.

I was very impressed when I saw it a couple of weeks ago.

Cheers
Neil

 

[johnelliott]

I'm aware of the Domino, but am not interested in it. There are a number of reasons, not the least of which is the cost of the domino biscuits themselves. At the rate at which I would get through them, the cost would be significant.

John

 

[Scrit]

I'm aware of the Domino, but am not interested in it. There are a number of reasons, not the least of which is the cost of the domino biscuits themselves. At the rate at which I would get through them, the cost would be significant.

I'm with John - the big plus point of the DD40 is that it drills at 32mm centres - the basis of all commercial system carcassing - which makes it ideal for rail ends, etc. And beech dowels cost me less than 4p a pop, so Dominos are hugely expensive in comparison. Sorry John, not got one, but I have had a play and the quality is good (typical Maffell, really) and I think it could be a viable small shop alternative to a boring tub or a PTP. For the extra versatility it really needs the indexing rail, though.

Scrit

 

[Scrit]

I just wondered if any of our American colleagues had tried the Allen Field Gizmo 32? This is a portable equivalent to the DD40, albeit not as sophisticated.

It's just a thought, but this is yet another task for the Record #148 dowelling jig :roll:

Scrit

 

[engineer one]

i have a dd40, and think it is a good piece of kit.
However unlike a biscuit joiner, there is a very long front face on the tool, so unlike a biscuit jointer, you cannot rest it on the floor of a unit and cut the dowels only 18mm up. but once you understand this, it is a very versatile tool. you can set it up to provide single dowel holes, as well as using it for instance in laying out shelf holes with 32 mm vertical centres which is useful too.

in fact for me the only real problem is getting dowels. the pack price is quite high, but you can of course make your own i guess, the mafell ones have slots down the side to allow for glue spread.

another good thing is that it is quite quiet for a woodworking tool that drills holes. it is definately very accurate.

for many things it is i think a decent price performance ratio tool as long as you do not need to work on the bottom of the cabinet.

paul :wink:

 

[Scrit]

For dowels try Woodfit - they do them by the 1000. I tend to buy trade bags of 8 x 30s (about 10,000 per bag) and they're even cheaper. We've been offered pre-glue coated French ones recently - dip in water before you insert and the glue is activated.

E1 do you have the template "bar". If so, what do you think of it?

Scrit

 

[engineer one]

yes scrit i do have the template bar. i think it is vital, but
must confess i expected it to go the other way if you see what i mean??????

it actually goes across the workpiece, and i kind of expected it to be
vertical in use.

where i think this product scores is for bookshelf type cabinets
where you need accurate shelf location in multiples.

will try re the dowels
paul :wink:

 

[menatnma]

cd roms are available for the dd40 which shows the full useage of this machine and are available free of charge from ourselves at NMA on 01484 400488.

 

[engineer one]

yes it is a nice cd, and being free has benefits, HOWEVER, it does not make clear the distance from the holes to the bottom of the machine.
and learning that is a big difficulty with the machine.

having said that i do think it is a great machine, and i like the way nathan sells it :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

paul :wink:

 

[Joe90]

Hi

I have the DD40 and I think it's great... As soon as I saw it demonstrated at a tool show I wanted one. I've used it a lot over the last few years and besides having to buy new dowel drills twice it is still perfect. I don't have the layout rail as I don't really need it and it does cost quite a bit of money.

I make custom cabinets and wardrobes from pine and it greatly speeds up the process and the cabinets are very strong... I also use pocket hole screws a lot, drilled using the Axminster jig, I have drilled thousands of them and the jig is still good with no sloppiness, happy days... I mention this because the dowels and pocket holes work well together.

The dowels are a great aid in assembly, no douth about that.

People have said that dowels are expensive, I buy them from Hafele, 15mins from my workshop and they're very cheap, last time I got 2,000 by 8x30mm dowels and it was €16.00 + VAT... that's a lot less than 1p per dowel. Mafell also sell bulk dowels by weight and I think the price is good.

I'd highly recommend the DD40 for people doing custom pine cabinets in a smaller workshop.

Cheers