Festool Domino - late to the party

[John Piwaron]

I know, this is very late to the party. I recently got a Domino, have nearly completed my first project with it, and have some remarks. The experiences of others is probably different. These are mine.

Where I come from is that I'm a hobby guy. In my day job I work in engineering. I design small mechanisms.

First, it wasn't ready to use out of the box. The primary problem was the fence slipping. Initial use showed that the domino slots were not all at equal height from the registration faces of my work. After making about 40 of them it was clear that each one was becoming progessively farther and farther away. I just couldn't seem to tighten the hold down enough to stop that. After a little research I found some info that suggested that the lock down surfaces might still have a bit of oil on them from the machining process and the locking surface might be too smooth as a result of the die casting process. So, I disassembled the lock, used a small file (ignition, from the days of points in automotive distributors ) to take a couple of careful swipes to rough it up a tiny bit. Then with a rag, wiped it with a simple green solution to get rid of any filings and any possible oil only on the locking surfaces. Following reassembly, it now seems to grip much better. After a further 100 or so domino slots, all are at the same height. I couldn't be happier about that.

Second, I'm wondering how tight I can go on the lock down levers. I'm thinking primarily about the fence height, but this also applies to the bevel gauge. the locking action is really held only by a machine screw into the aluminum casting. And a fine thread screw at that. Aluminum's a pretty soft metal, I'm wondering at what point that strips. And then how hard is it to get a new piece to replace the stripped one with. Or maybe dream up a modification to that.

Third, the indicator and height scale seem kinda "Mickey Mouse" - fat indicator lines combined with a fairly indistinct fixed position aluminum pointer. A bit less than great. I can imagine myself designing alternate solution to that.

Those are my primary issues and concerns. The rest, I think, is just a matter of technique.

I'm not going to use those spring loaded doohickeys on the front. I like using a skinny pencil line to locate the machine. The indicator lines for this on the Domino are just fine for that. I had no problem locating a group of 7 dominos all cut with the narrowest setting in both parts over 23 inches (3/4" plywood) and then assembling the joint. A little persuasion with my hand and they slipped together.

The fact that the cutter is metric and it locates height wise with a metric distance doesn't mean much to me. My work overall will continue to be in the traditional inch system I'm accustomed to. I think of the dominos as located some distance relative to the appropriate surfaces. Not really exactly in the center, but close enough. It couldn't be perfectly centered anyway given the height gage and the incredible variance in the real thickness of plywood on a sheet to sheet basis at HD. No, we won't go there, lets leave it at this - they were the only store open when I wanted to start on my project.

That's about it. It's a good machine that once all the features work as intended, is adjusted suitably, and is connected to one of the Festool dust extractors, works quickly, accurately, and as a bonus, makes no mess or put any dust in the air. I really like that part. No mess whatsoever.

As long as it continues to do so, I'm happy with my Domino.

[frank shic]

what are you building? would love to see pics!

[Peter Hawser]

I had one, then sold it. However, mine worked perfectly out of the box and I was making some pretty nice and fast joints. As an also hobby person it was very seductive, but in the end a bit of overkill for me (and I bought a boat load of other tools with the proceeds). If I ran a cabinet shop and/or production speed was an issue, I could see this being very useful. The problem with Festool is they are so slick and so innovative many people get sucked in - it is as if you become brainwashed and obsessed to the point of madness. I still own and use their sanders and a vac and I would never give them up, but I am a little less frantic every time they come out with something new.

[John Piwaron]

As a hobby person it was very seductive, but in the end a bit of overkill for me. If I ran a cabinet shop and/or production speed was an issue, I could see this being very useful. The problem with Festool is they are so slick and so innovative many people get sucked in. I still own and use their sanders and a vac and I would never give them up, but I am a little less frantic every time they come out with something new.

I agree to a point. I've looked at the rest of the lineup and don't see much else there that I'd spend the kind of premium $ required to buy. I mean, a drills a drill. It spins the bit. Not much else it needs to do. The rest of it just doesn't fit with how I work. The vac - love it. I don't need their sanders, the PC random orbits I have connect just fine to that vac. And cost a lot less. Their systainers are really cool. Stackable, locking together, a dolly to roll them around. Nice. But if I get to where I want that I'll make my own. That's one reason why I have this hobby.

One other thing I'll use the Domino for is edge joining boards to make panels. I want those dominos to help align the boards. I'm pretty good at it now without anything but completely flush would be better. No, I'm not interested in a plate joiner. I had one, found it's fatal flaw and got rid of it. It's fence was difficult to make parallel to the blade. It was far too time consuming to deal with that so I sold it. And I don't want another.

[Rick Lizek]

Curved cauls are all you need to make perfectly flush panels. I plane to finish thickness and all I need to do is scrape off the glue beads and sand. Dominos only add to the time factor. Curved cauls should be in everyones shop as they are multi use tools and cheap and easy to make.

[Jerry Miner]

Second, I'm wondering how tight I can go on the lock down levers.

I love my Domino, but I learned early on that it has a weak point in the bevel setting lock. Mine broke in the first week. I called Festool and said I needed a part. Before i could even describe the problem, the Festool tech asked if it was the bevel lock nut. They sent a new one right away (I think I got it within a week---I had meanwhile fabricated a replacement of my own)--and the tech advised me not to over-tighten the lock: snug, not tight. No problems since then, but I'm careful not to over-tighten. Just thought you should know.

---Jerry

[michael case]

I had a lot of initial problems with mine too - slipping fence, broken bevel lock, misaligned indicators. The fence slipping can be a killer and is a very common complaint. Festool refuses to learn they employed the same flawed design on their new larger joiner. John, before you build too many things be aware that the dominos with their impressed sides don't hold nearly as well as smooth shop-made tenons. All the impresions do is drastically reduce the effective glue surface. Join a rail to a stile with a domino and another with a conventional smooth floating tenon then lever the rails on each and see how they hold up. You'll be surprised at the difference in strength.

[John Piwaron]

I've read that about the Festool floating tenons (dominos) compared to shop made ones.

I guess I'll have to keep that in mind when I'm building and considering how I want to assemble something.