Festool Domino eliminate mortiser?

[George Lohnes]

Let's see if I can ask a Festool question without starting a food fight

I just purchased a used Domino and have been playing with it a bit. I do not pretend to know all the ins and outs.

However, my question is this: As a hobbyist, is there any reason that I need to keep my tennoning jig and/or my table top mortiser?

Not trying to be provocative at all... just thinking this could free up some space and maybe some cash.

thanks
George

[Bob Luciano]

Keep if for bigger stuff or when you want them to be part of the design instead of hidden

[george wilson]

Dominos and dowels are not as strong as real mortise and tenon joints. If the reduced level of strength is ok with you,use it. Do not use it when you need real strength,like in building a workbench. ( that would be the ultimate in needed strength,of course.)

[John Thompson]

I build a work-bench every summer to sell for wood money. They all have 4" x 4" legs and through mortises. A Domino is good but it won't get you that wide or that deep. I would keep it but I have no clue just what you do and how often.

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Rick Fisher]

I seem to do a lot of aprons. I used domino's for aprons the first time this year. I was really dissapointed.

I really like making mortise and tennon joints. I am way too slow at it and probably not that good at it either .. but I can tell you that if your fussy about strength, there is no comparison.

[Bob Childress]

Leaving aside the strength argument for now, it depends on what you are doing and what you enjoy. For people who enjoy the process, milling traditional M&T joints is satisfying in itself. For those driven more by the end product, the Domino is the bee's knees.

Yesterday I was able to cut 28 mortises for a headboard in about 15 minutes using my Domino. For me, that's a real plus.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi George, I know you're going to laugh at my answer, I always seem to be out in left field on this one.

I don't own a Domino, I own a hollow chisel mortiser, the General International model.

I have the utmost faith that the Domino is a high quality machine, that does work of exacting standards, however I'll probably never own one, just like I don't own a router or a biscuit joiner.

It's not the money aspect, I own primarily General equipment, along with a Hammer J/P.

It's the noise of the hand held tools like the biscuit joiner and router that turn me away from them.

I use a shaper for the rare times I need biscuits or splines, and of course it does edge treatments.

So I think I'll keep using the hollow chisel mortiser for the mortises, and the shaper for the tenons since I like the relative quiet of the stationary machinery.

Like most of my decisions, it probably wouldn't stand scrutiny, however it's what I'm familiar with, and used to using.

Regards, Rod.

[Chris Padilla]

I own a Domino and I like it quite a bit. I have a tenoning jig for my TS but have yet to use it. I may one day but I dunno. I don't own a hollow-chisel mortiser. I also own a nice set of LN mortising chisels...rarely used.

The Domino is great for fast floating tenon joints where one feels they are adequate for the application. There have been a few times where I wished the Domino could hold a larger bit and delve deeper than it does but certainly there are limits to what a handheld mortising tool can do.

Really, only YOU can decide if you'll ever need the other mortising tools you have or if the ca$h is more important now.

[Paul Johnstone]

I have a domino, I am keeping my seldom used benchtop Mortiser for a couple of reasons..

1. They just don't seem to be a good seller used. I think I paid around $300 new for mine. I have seen them listed at $175 used and not sell. So I'm thinking I'd have to price at $150 or so to sell. Now $150 isn't a trivial amount of money, but for that amount, I might as well keep the mortiser in case I need it.

2. Someday, down the road, I might replace my interior doors and make my own. I don't think I'd trust the domino with that. Maybe it's fine, but I think I want something stronger.

If I didn't already have a mortiser, I probably wouldn't buy one. Although I have no regrets, the mortiser helped me out enough in the pre-domino days.

[Mats Bengtsson]

I own a Domino and I like it quite a bit. I have a tenoning jig for my TS but have yet to use it. I may one day but I dunno. I don't own a hollow-chisel mortiser. I also own a nice set of LN mortising chisels...rarely used.

The Domino is great for fast floating tenon joints where one feels they are adequate for the application. There have been a few times where I wished the Domino could hold a larger bit and delve deeper than it does but certainly there are limits to what a handheld mortising tool can do.

Really, only YOU can decide if you'll ever need the other mortising tools you have or if the ca$h is more important now.

One disadvantage of the domino I found is going the opposite road as the previous replies. The Domino is not good at handling mortises into thin pieces, it needs a minimum cutting depth.

--- Mats ---

[Tim Malyszko]

I have a Domino and Mortiser and almost sold the Mortiser because it went unused since buying the domino. Last week, however, I needed to cut a full mortise for a lock i was putting in a humidor door. The Domino wouldn't do it. Yea, I could have drilled it out and cleaned it up with my hand chisels, but it was much easier to grab the mortiser and do it with that. After that experience, I'm glad I didn't sell it.

[Joe Meazle]

I am a hobbyist, pretty much. I have a hollow chisel mortiser (with and modified x-y vise), a slot mortiser (homemade multirouter thingy) a set of Ray Iles pigstickers and I used a borrowed Festool Domino just last night, on my bowling alley workbench project, sorry George. I must confess dominos were used for alignment and not strength. If you are looking for a simple fast way to make joints the Domino is great. If you want to enjoy the process of making a piece of furniture or enjoy the look of exposed joinery then the domino falls short. I happen to really like the look of a tusk tennon, a through wedged tennon or a draw bored tennon.It is hard to do those things with a Domino. Think about the arm of a classic Stickley Morris chair with is through tennon rising proudly in a pyramid shape from the vast flat desert like plane of the broad arms. It adds interest for the eye and the hand.
For me a huge part of the hobby is figuring out and trying different processes. To the chagrin of SWMBO producing furniture quickly is not.

For me it is more like riding an old motorcycle down the back roads on a vacation. Some folks just want to get there as quick as they can (screaming kids in the back seat can do that to you) so they hop on the freeway with the very same things on every other exit. I tend to prefer the back roads and a cup of coffee from a real cup and saucer poured by a waitress that still calls you “hun” or “sugar” at some old roadside cafe with an old lunch counter that has the pattern just about worn off the old Formica . But like most of sometimes I have to go through the drive through at MickyD's and hit the Interstate.

Joe

[Chris Padilla]

Joe,

I don't mean to start a holy war here, but I'm curious about the application in which you used dominos for alignment and not strength. Can you expound on that?

[Chris Padilla]

One disadvantage of the domino I found is going the opposite road as the previous replies. The Domino is not good at handling mortises into thin pieces, it needs a minimum cutting depth.

--- Mats ---

Interesting, Mats! I've been going through my 50 mm x 10 mm dominos like popcorn and all my smaller dominos have yet to be touched. You are correct, however, that there is a minimum depth of cut. However, with some ingenuity, I think you could set up the Domino to cut shallow if you need it to. Since you control the plunge action, this is possible.

I haven't yet tried cutting mortises into small pieces but there are some doohickys sold on eBay that can make this easier. They are essentially aluminum spacers with magnets that attach to the fence/face of the Domino that are supposed to make this job easier. I have them but haven't tried them.

[Larry Fox]

Ditch the mortiser and buy a set of chisels with the $$ and save the tenon jig. The resale value of the tenon jig vs the utility of having it for "those times" makes sense to me. I have a Domino and both use it and like it. I had a dedicated mortiser and don't miss it. For the number of mortises that I cut it is sometimes easier to chop them by hand than setup the mortiser. Ymmv though!