Tell me why I should buy a Domino

[Peter Aeschliman]

Most of the strength of apron-to-leg M&T joints comes from the cheeks of the tenon. This is because this is the section of the tenon that intersects with the straight grain of the mortise.

The edge of the tenon intersects with end grain in the mortise. As we know, end grain does not glue well at all.

The problem with dowels is that they are round. The strongest part of the glue joint in a dowel is the apex of the dowel, where it touches long grain. Everywhere else, it is transitioning from long grain to edge grain. So the strongest part of the joint is very small.

A domino, or better yet, a traditional M&T joint, has way more face grain than an equivalent dowel, even if you drill lots of dowels next to each other.

And this is why having a mortise that is every so slightly wider than the tenon is not a problem- that area of the mortise is not strong anyway.

[Steve Milito]

Anyone use an aftermarket fence system for either domino?

[Darrin Davis]

Here's your answer for why: Quick & Quality

I have one and love it. A lot of people say "you can have it built quickly or you can have it built quality but not both". They may not be able to provide both but I can. The Domino makes the quick possible with a quality joint. I never use the oversize mortise option, they are easy to line up and make a tight fit. Highly recommended. Price SUCKS but the tool itself is hard to beat. Sure beats dowel pins. Oh, did I say I hate doing dowel pins?

[Chris Padilla]

Oh, cool...I get to wax poetic about my favorite tool in my garage-mah-hal!!

I have the smaller (original) Domino 500(insert letters). When I started using it, 3 items started to gather sawdust on 'em:

(1) Porter Cable Biscuit cutter (although I use this to reinforce miters for frames...FF biscuits)
(2) Powermatic mortise cutter
(3) Table Saw tenon jig

I haven't yet but selling all those items might get you half the money for a Domino kit.

Things got even better when Festool came out with the smaller 4 mm domino & cutter. I like those for plywood carcass building.

Cool things with the domino (and M&T in general) is the ability to construct your project and actually have it hold together solidly WITHOUT GLUE. There are many reasons that this is nice. Just recently I was putting together simple cabinet door frames. Some of the wood was different thickness for stiles and rails. NO problem...domino'ed every together referencing a side and then put it together and sent it through the drum sander to flush everything. Took it apart and then cut the grooves/dadoes for the panel insert on my router table flipping it for two passes to ensure a centered cut. That was pretty cool.

I domino cabinet carcasses together in various stages and use them to gauge other pieces of the carcass accurately. Anything I can do to avoid measuring, I try to do.

Cutting mortises is FAST and DUST FREE (already mentioned...thought I'd reiterate it).

The Domino has built-in reference points so that you can place it in the exact same spot each time. When I built my frames from above, I simply mark a little R in each of the 2 stiles and rails where they meet. I then reference the Domino using its reference knob and my stiles and rails are all flush fit to each other with little thinking.

From the bottom of the Domino to the center of the cutting bit is exactly 10.5 mm. That actually works out just fine in 3/4" material. It isn't exactly centered but it is close enough in my book. So I often use the Domino base instead of the fence and I just cut the mortises right on the table top.

I love the Domino. My go to tool for quite a bit!

[Cary Falk]

You don't need to buy domino, many people don't but don't trash the product for incorrect reasons.

I said in the beginning that I was trying to find a reason to buy on but comments about having to make oversized holes gave me pause. I have learned a lot from this thread. I don't think I have been persuaded to buy one yet(and I love to buy tools).

[johnny means]

Cary, I know exactly what they mean, I was an early adapter with the Domino. My point was that a little wiggle room for the joint parts does not equal sloppy. Trust me I've used every joining method out there extensively and dowels do not come anywhere near the speed, accuracy, and ease of the Domino. Unless, that is you happen to have a $900 doweling machine.

[Prashun Patel]

Whether or not the arguments are being heard or acknowledged, let's keep the emotion and panty talk out of the discussion.

I believe the prophet, Van Morrison was foreshadowing this discussion when once he crooned, nay, preached:

I said oh oh Domino
I said oh oh Domino, dig it
There's no need for argument
There's no argument at all

[mreza Salav]

I said in the beginning that I was trying to find a reason to buy on but comments about having to make oversized holes gave me pause. I have learned a lot from this thread. I don't think I have been persuaded to buy one yet(and I love to buy tools).

Fair enough, but it might be worth repeating (one last time), you don't have to make oversized holes. The ability to be able to make, if you want, is a bonus. That's the way I see it at least.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Whether or not the arguments are being heard or acknowledged, let's keep the emotion and panty talk out of the discussion.

I believe the prophet, Van Morrison was foreshadowing this discussion when he once he crooned, nay, preached:

I said oh oh Domino
I said oh oh Domino, dig it
There's no need for argument
There's no argument at all

Bahahahaha! Now that's a good one, I haven't laughed that hard on SMC since your yoga pants comparison.

[Chris Padilla]

It might be better to say over-WIDTH holes as the dominos are still tight on the cheek face of the floating tenon but thus allow some lateral adjustment in case you weren't dead nuts on with the line of mortises you just plunged. In my example above of cutting for a simple stile&rail frame, I keep the width tight as I'm only drilling for one M&T connection. The width adjustment comes into play when you want several M&T joints in a line. Usually, tight mortises are cut in one piece. In the mating piece, one of the end mortises is cut tight to ensure alignment/flushness and the rest will be a touch wide to make up for any misalignment. Several tight mortises in a line are prone to alignment errors so having the ability to easily/quickly adjust mortise widths is quite valuable.

[Ben Rivel]

I believe the prophet, Van Morrison was foreshadowing this discussion when he once he crooned, nay, preached:

I said oh oh Domino
I said oh oh Domino, dig it
There's no need for argument
There's no argument at all

LOL you are a funny guy!

[Terry Hatfield]

As long as we all agree.

[Jon Endres]

Whether or not the arguments are being heard or acknowledged......

They are - at least by me, the OP. I will say this - I'm leaning very heavily toward the purchase, knowing what kinds of projects I have forthcoming. If I were to find a spare $1000 in my pocket today, I would not be hesitating. The price is truly the sticking point. Plus, my only experience with M&T work is on a large scale, doing timber framing, so I am looking for a relatively painless solution.

I suppose I could set up a decent router jig to do loose tenon joinery, but I have to decide whether I want to spend the time putting jigs together (does the Leigh FMT do that?) and then making my own loose tenon stock, or just diving right in with the Domino.

[Tom Ewell]

The price is truly the sticking point. Plus, my only experience with M&T work is on a large scale, doing timber framing, so I am looking for a relatively painless solution. .

Hear ya Jon, tough decision for those still looking into it. For those who already have one it's a treat to use once you get going with it and yes, it does change the way you work with assemblies.

It is just hard to put just a dollar value on what it does and the way one works with it.... and given the alternative ways to do things makes it even harder.

Don't know if you've done the biscuit joiner thing but the process is basically the same except with much tighter tolerances and stronger 'biscuits' yielding a true joint.

I hate buyer's remorse as much as anyone, can honestly say I didn't have smidge of it with this tool.

[Brian Henderson]

As long as we all agree.

It doesn't matter if anyone agrees, that's the nice thing. If someone wants a tool, get it. If they don't, don't. Everyone wins.