Lonsdale73
Established Member
As it's almost that time again, thought I would light the blue (or maybe green and grey) touch paoer a stand back ready for the show so is the Festool Domino anything more than an expensive biscuit jointer?
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Zeddedhed
Established Member
Yes.
Lonsdale73
Established Member
Hmm, not sure that damp squib will convince the boss the additional outlay is justified. Anyone care to expand on that?
RobinBHM
Established Member
You need to explain how buying a domino is saving you money, as you dont need a morticer and tenoner 
DiscoStu
Established Member
How do you join narrow rail and stiles with a biscuit jointer?
custard
Established Member
If you're a competent and experienced woodworker, capable of consistently producing furniture components that are absolutely square and straight, then a Domino will speed up your production.
If you're a cack handed newbie who's hoping that a Domino will magically transform their rubbish efforts into something presentable, then you'll be disappointed. The Domino references off the components themselves, so unless those components are dead true then your Domino joints will be just as horrible and gappy as your current joints. So don't get a Domino to cover up faults in technique, get a Domino because you want to do the same quality work you currently produce, only a bit faster.
If you're a cack handed newbie who's hoping that a Domino will magically transform their rubbish efforts into something presentable, then you'll be disappointed. The Domino references off the components themselves, so unless those components are dead true then your Domino joints will be just as horrible and gappy as your current joints. So don't get a Domino to cover up faults in technique, get a Domino because you want to do the same quality work you currently produce, only a bit faster.
I wonder if there's anyone who's got a morticer and tenoner but also found the need to warrant buying a domino aswell ?RobinBHM":2h99exqw said:You need to explain how buying a domino is saving you money, as you dont need a morticer and tenoner
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Lonsdale73
Established Member
pcb1962":1k2ieh7a said:
It's a brave guy that will label himself halfinchshy! Had a look at his four part intro to the domino and can see it offers greater versatility than a biscuit jointer, stronger joints too I would guess. Nicely presented too, not zany like Mr Ramsey and not incredibly dull or patronising like a host of others.
Lonsdale73
Established Member
custard":kque8kd5 said:
Yes, yes, yes and oh bugger.
I can cut (or shape) tenons with the router and can even fashion a mortice of sorts with the same, I don't think my basic skills are improving as much as my ability to compensate for a lack thereof but both are certainly better than they were a year or even three months ago. Perhaps not ready yet for a Domino.
custard
Established Member
ColeyS1":5lrtw3ug said:
Absolutely. I use a Domino 500 and a 700...plus a hollow chisel morticer, plus a biscuit jointer, plus I'll use dowels as well, plus I'll M&T entirely by hand. They all have their strengths and limitations.
Dominos are great for fairly standard component sizes, or where you've designed a piece to fit the Domino. But they struggle with the kind of smaller components you'll encounter in modest sized pieces of furniture like occasional tables. In addition there's very little flexibility in the width of a Domino tenon, so you'll often encounter components where it's a bit too wide for one Domoino, but too narrow for two Dominos.
Then you'll have a situation where you're say jointing a solid wood shelf into a solid wood cupboard. You may well want to go onto the "sloppy" width setting to give yourself a bit of latitude when it comes to lining up the components during glue up. If you use a Domino for this it's going to be a pretty weak joint as there's no long grain to long grain glue surface. Either a hollow chisel morticer or even dowels will give you a far stronger joint.
Or take the small rails that run above and below a drawer. The best joints are a dovetail above and a small, square sided, double tenon below. You could do it all with a Domino, but it would produce a vastly inferior piece of furniture.
Like I said, there's no one silver bullet solution to all your jointing needs. And in any event you must learn to do it all accurately by hand first because there'll be many occasions when a machine cut joint just isn't possible or is woefully inferior in strength terms.
petermillard
Established Member
I thought Lamella made the expensive biscuit jointers?
Custard thanks for your reply. I was hoping you were going to say I didn't need one it's on my list of tools I'd like one day, just not sure if I actually 'need' it. Occasionally I need to join alot of mopstick handrails at various angles. Currently I use dowels for joining but it's a bit of a faff, I wonder if a domino would be good at speeding up that process?
Coley
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it's on my list of tools I'd like one day, just not sure if I actually 'need' it. Occasionally I need to join alot of mopstick handrails at various angles. Currently I use dowels for joining but it's a bit of a faff, I wonder if a domino would be good at speeding up that process?Coley
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custard
Established Member
ColeyS1":3tpuqqze said:
Hello Coley, it may well help. I use a Domino regularly in chair making and that's a comparable exercise, non square component jointed to another non square component at odd angles. The thing is though, it's not a "straight out of the box exercise". You'd almost certainly need a couple of jigs, or rather you'd need a couple of fixtures (because they're for holding the workpiece and tool in a specific relationship rather than actually guiding the tool), but anyone who can do the joinery for handrails could easily manage that!
Good luck
mailee
Established Member
You have probably seen the speed I work at.........................need I say more. :lol:
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