Lamello Zeta P2, reviews and connector vendors?

[Bryan Hall]

I was pleasantly surprised to see the the orange box selling the Zeta P2 last week so I cashed in my military discount and assorted coupons to get it shipped my way. I've been eyeing this tool for a while now and have seen a fair number of online reviews and use but after my favorite finish carpenter (Spencer, Insider Carpentry) released his perspective on it I felt it was time to try.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY0lbZPk1yc

So first off, anyone using this frequently and if so, for what purpose and what connectors do you find most (and least!) useful?

Second, orange box sells the tool but not the fancier connectors so I need a new vendor to buy them from. Anyone have a vendor they recommend with good customer service, shipping times, etc that I could get both small, and bulk boxes from? I'm specifically seeing the tenso and clamex connectors as being highly valuable to me in the future.

Thanks!

[Phillip Mitchell]

Colonial Saw and Burns Power Tools are the places that I’m aware of that are Lamello “dealers” on this side of the pond, so I’d look there first and selection will likely be the best from them. Not sure about bulk purchasing and shipping times, though.

Id love to try out the Zeta P2. I recently replaced my 30 year old Lamello Top with a new Classic X and I love it for the much improved dust collection. I can see so many cabinetry / on site finish carpentry uses for a Zeta P2.

[Kevin Jenness]

Colonial Saw for connectors.

I have used the Clamex S (screw-on version) for kd connections - very useful for that purpose as long as the 6mm hole in the face is acceptable. The P system version would be way more convenient.

[Brian Runau]

By connectors do you mean biscuits? Thanks brian

[Jim Becker]

By connectors do you mean biscuits? Thanks brian

If I'm not mistaken, the unit that the OP is asking about provides support for special knock-down connectors which are "much nicer than just a plane old biscuit". :)

[Bryan Hall]

If I'm not mistaken, the unit that the OP is asking about provides support for special knock-down connectors which are "much nicer than just a plane old biscuit". :)

Yep! Fancy snap on biscuits as well as knockdown biscuits.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'm shocked that HD sells them! Price has definitely gone up since last I looked. I'll third Colonial saw. Larry Edgerton was going to get one, if he's around still. He sent me a sample kit to look over that they'd provided, looked nice. I was going to buy for a specific project, but customer decided on a cheaper millwork option so I didn't need it. IMHO, $1600 plus the quite high cost of the expendables makes it pretty hard to justify unless it's getting used more often than I would.

[Kevin Jenness]

I'm shocked that HD sells them! Price has definitely gone up since last I looked. I'll third Colonial saw.

Me too. Same price at Colonial Saw. I'd rather do business with them directly. https://www.csaw.com/

[Bryan Hall]

Me too. Same price at Colonial Saw. I'd rather do business with them directly. https://www.csaw.com/

Yep, HD shocks me from time to time with high level tools like this one. Lowes will do the same. Usually it's a pretty limited quantity and then they disappear. Hard for me to not get the tool straight from HD. After discounts it was about $1300 for me plus the ability to return for a year if I get a dud is really hard to pass up.

[Matthew Eason]

I have one. I bought it for one specific project. Attaching a pre finished face frame to painted cabinets already on the wall. I kind of painted myself into a corner, literally. It's a great machine but I've considered selling it since I haven't used it since. If i were a pro doing trim and built ins regularly it would see a lot of use.

[Scott Bernstein]

Just a hobby woodworker here. I have the Lamello zeta p2 and a festool domino (the larger one). I love them both, and both get a lot of use. I used the Lamello Tenso connectors (the self-locking ones) when I was making my kitchen cabinets...I made my cabinets with Baltic Birch and added solid wood edge banding. The tenso connectors were great to effectively clamp the edging onto the plywood while the glue dried. No external clamping necessary - a huge timesaver. For another project I built a 7-foot tall free-standing floor cabinet, about the size of a small closet. My "woodshop" is the basement-level garage so I was able to use the Lamello knock-down connectors to carry the cabinet in pieces up the stairs and then re-assemble it. And of course it can also be used as a regular biscuit joiner. The Festool gets more use in larger, solid stock where I really need a lot of strength in the joinery, since it is really more similar to traditional mortise and tenon joinery than the Lamello is.

[Matthew Eason]

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-XqRfbrM/0/4d0b6b0f/M/i-XqRfbrM-M.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WKNnVtq/0/8137c5d8/M/i-WKNnVtq-M.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-MqPwFcg/0/040315bd/M/i-MqPwFcg-M.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-vjP8hBS/0/75a5ce0c/M/i-vjP8hBS-M.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xnrbzwj/0/fec2d896/M/i-xnrbzwj-M.jpg

Here's how I used mine. I had to do the plunge cuts in place on the wall since I didn't have the machine ahead of time/wasn't planning on buying it. That was difficult. Especially the upside down ones overhead. Lots of clamping required. Once those were done to the carcasses, I inserted biscos so I could scribe where the 'face frames' met the walls. Then off to paint them and reinstall with Tensos. It all turned out great. I didn't bother using any glue and they're the same as the day I installed them a few years back.