Domino, Domino, everywhere a Domino

[Cameron Wood]

I bit the bullet and got one a while back. Don't use it a ton but really good for some things.

Like dowels or other loose tenons, layout is simplified, and less material is used since no length is needed for tenons.

I worry about the durability of the machine, and about catching the cord and sending it on a fatal plunge to the floor.

It's straightforward to make tenons of matching wood- a good idea for outdoor items.

I disagree that it's too complex for knockoff manufacturing- roto hammers have a similar mechanism, & they are common.

[mike stenson]

I disagree that it's too complex for knockoff manufacturing- roto hammers have a similar mechanism, & they are common.

I agree with this. It was too complex for a company that doesn't invest in R&D to bring to market. Now it's just protected by patent.

Mine's been bounced off concrete more than a few times btw.

[Cameron Wood]

I agree with this. It was too complex for a company that doesn't invest in R&D to bring to market. Now it's just protected by patent.

Mine's been bounced off concrete more than a few times btw.

Good to know, thanks.

[Philip Glover]

If one has a lot of face frames to make a Domino seems ideal.
I have a Hoffman doweler mostly for face frames and other situations which need accurate alignment and the Domino does the same thing as I see it.
It is not going to replace tradition M & T's. That said, I would consider a used one someday when current owners decide to sell.

Phil

[Clint Baxter]

I have, and use, mortise chisels, a hollow chisel mortiser, a Leigh FMT jig, and both sizes of the Domino. Each of them is used when it is the best tool for the job. A certain amount of work I do is for income, but as I continue to age, has been turning into more of the hobbiest type.

I tend to favor the FMT for face frames and the D500 for sheet goods. As stated here earlier, the D500 really shines in that role.

Clint

[Rich Engelhardt]

Making a spinning cutter that oscillates is not a cheap tool. The domino came out in 2007. Why would China wait 17 years if they were going to make one?

As mentioned already - patents.
The Domino & for that matter, the SawStop patents are running out real soon.
I saw mention of 2024 for the Domino and 2021 for the SawStop.

Remember back when Festool had a lock on track saws? Now everybody has one.
Or, the Fein multi tool? Remember the commercials selling those for >$700? Then Harbor Freight came out with one for under $20.

As far as the proliferation of them on YouTube goes, Dominos are just one of the things a lot of people with a YouTube channel spring for.

[Jack Frederick]

I bought a 500 last month. It was a lift. Over my working career I spent much more freely and accumulated as lot of gear for shop, home and, what? Madness? I sold a couple rifles which I no longer need/want and pulled the trigger on the Domino which so far I have used extensively. I’m just getting my hand with it. Festool products are expensive. No doubt about that, but every one (sander, 24, 55, 1400, 500) I’ve purchased has been of excellent quality. The 55 and Dust x-tractor I’ve had over 20 yrs and have used extensively with no issues. Having the parf guide, Once the jointer/planer are done things move to the MFT and I don’t have to be moving the material as much. The 500 suits the way I work. I’m with Michael and Jim on this one

[Jim Dwight]

I am a hobbiest woodworker with a DF700 and cutters from 5mm to 14mm. You have to use an adapter for the little ones but they work fine in the DF700. The domino is my only Festool power tool. I think Festools are nice and seem well made but I also think they are overpriced. I have made mortises with my plunge router and it worked well but is slow and loud. I next tried a hollow chisel mortiser and it worked but the mortises were not as nice, but fully functional, and it took up more space than I wanted to give it in my little 14x24 shop garage. The domino is fast and takes up very little space. I have not purchased even one domino tenon nor have I purchased any Festool cutters for the machine. CMT and Amana make cutters, I have some of both. They work fine but Amana may be better. I've had 14mm CMT chip and fail. I make my own tenons from scrap. I keep sticks around of the stock sizes but I also make a lot of larger, wider, tenons when that is what the project calls for.

I think domino joints get a worse than deserved reputation because it is so easy to just use the pre-made tenons even when that is not the right size for the project you are making. If you resist that and use an appropriately sized joint it will be just as strong as an integral tenon. Joints do not fail at the glue when properly made and assembled. It is a little more work to glue up both sides but only a little. It is a WHOLE lot less work to make a loose tenon than to cut a integral tenon. When I need a wider mortise I just make overlapping plunges with the tool. It does this fine, the only negative is the dust does not come out as well.

Recently I've been using my DF700 to inlet the action for gunstocks. It is just a hand held mortising tool. Works great to make all kinds of mortises. I wish there was a version with U. S. measurements and cutters but I can work with silly metric markings when I have to.

[Jared Sankovich]

It's a fast and relatively easy way to make a mortise, and is cheaper than a maka. Cost wise its about the same as a monthly payment on a new truck.

[Randy Heinemann]

Maybe the reason the Domino is so popular is because it's a unique solution that produces a quality joint. Is it a necessary tool? Not at all. However, it is enjoyable and easy to use, while allowing the user to push the envelope creatively in some situations where another tool wouldn't. Can you do without it? Absolutely! The same is true for some other tools that are not needed but make woodworking more enjoyable.

[Derek Cohen]

I have a DF500, which I purchased about 5 years ago when re-building a kitchen full of frame-and-panel frames. It received little use after this as I am a traditionalist at heart, and prefer "proper" M&T joinery. Then I needed to build a pair of beds, and it dawned on me that my mindset on the Domino needed to shift away from viewing it as a fixed set of sizes machine for loose tenon joinery. Not only can it make any size of loose tenon joinery, it acts as a movable morticing machine.

Prior to the Domino, my main method of making mortices was a morticing chisel or a router. The DF500 is nearly perfect in sizing for furniture, with 6mm, 8mm and 10mm wide bits. This covers all one needs. The perceived limitation had been the width of the fixed mortices covered on the machine. But there is a simple way around this.

For the beds I made a 10mm template to position the start and end points of a wide mortice ...



Then it is easy to make ..



Make your own loose tenons ...





I did the same for a bedhead with a multitude of 8mm thick slats slats ...



Use a hollow mortice chisel to square the ends ...







Last comment is to view the Domino and Biscuit machines serving different purposes and not used interchangeably. The Domino is, as shown, a morticer. The Biscuit cutter makes splines. Use biscuits to align boards for panels and mitres.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Randy Heinemann]

Why does the reason have to be anything other than the Domino is simply a great tool. It's not a necessity, but it sure is a great tool for joinery; fast, easy to setup, solid joints, and flexible. It encourages creativity I think. It's expensive and, if I didn't have it, I'd cut mortise and tenon joints the old way, but it would take longer, the joint wouldn't be any more solid, and I would have less time to do other projects. So, for me, it really is as simple as it's a great tool that produces greate results (and I do know how to cut regular mortise and tenon joints and did that for years before I got the Domino.)

[Michael Burnside]

Yea, the Domino is over-priced for what it is!!! Who needs it? I can do the same thing for twice the cost and nearly as quick!

<ps if you don't see this as tongue-and-cheek, perhaps the next tool you should buy is a sense of humor instead of a Domino>

[Jim Becker]

^^ That right there is funny!! ROFLOL

[Mike Cutler]

Yes, it was.