Domino, Domino, everywhere a Domino

[George Yetka]

When it comes to money, if the domino was $15,000 and it saved 10 minutes a day it would be worth it if it would be used everyday. Tools are cheap and labor is expensive unless you work for yourself. At the labor rate of union guys around here it would take 2 years to pay it off, assuming it lasted longer than that Id make money.

from a business perspective we don't want to send out tools unless they increase productivity. We are pipefitters so the domino doesnt apply to me but newer propress tools are much faster than older ones so replacing the $4,000 tool saves me money when they are crimping all day or Mig automated roller stands can triple a welders output.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Dominos are right there with Forrest blades. Over rated and OVER PRICED! Do some You Tube watching, and you will see a couple ideas to replace Domino's, based upon the Makita cordless trim router.! In the process of building a hand held slot mortiser. Mine will use a $25 corded trim router from TEMU. Have all the parts on hand, just need to get well so I can do something in the shop. Now Amazon offers same router as TEMU, with some 1/4" bits for $25. Look at Izzy Swan's video on building a slot mortiser, instead of buying a $1500 Domino. There is a Chinese slot mortiser, that uses trim router to cut slots. Costs without router motor is right at $200.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have an XL with all the bangles. Meh.....

I still do mostly M&T. I mostly use the domino for cabinet to cabinet locators. Have made a couple of screen doors using the biggest dominoes and they are holding up well. Best use is Azek connectors, made some dominoes out of Azek, makes alignment easy. I have close to $3K in the setup and am sure it has not paid for itself yet.

[mike stenson]

Dominos are right there with Forrest blades. Over rated and OVER PRICED! Do some You Tube watching, and you will see a couple ideas to replace Domino's, based upon the Makita cordless trim router.! In the process of building a hand held slot mortiser. Mine will use a $25 corded trim router from TEMU. Have all the parts on hand, just need to get well so I can do something in the shop. Now Amazon offers same router as TEMU, with some 1/4" bits for $25. Look at Izzy Swan's video on building a slot mortiser, instead of buying a $1500 Domino. There is a Chinese slot mortiser, that uses trim router to cut slots. Costs without router motor is right at $200.

How does that save time? I can cut mortises with any router, or any chisel really.

These are production devices.

[Edward Weber]

I'll be the Jerk.
For many, and yes I'm looking at you, YT content creators. It and easy way to connect wood without knowing anything about joinery.
It's the "makers generation" equivalent of construction paper and paste.
You don't need to know anything, just cut and glue.

They are a great tool, don't get me wrong but many buy them without knowing there actually other ways to connect wood.

[Michael Burnside]

Dominos are right there with Forrest blades. Over rated and OVER PRICED! Do some You Tube watching, and you will see a couple ideas to replace Domino's, based upon the Makita cordless trim router.! In the process of building a hand held slot mortiser. Mine will use a $25 corded trim router from TEMU. Have all the parts on hand, just need to get well so I can do something in the shop. Now Amazon offers same router as TEMU, with some 1/4" bits for $25. Look at Izzy Swan's video on building a slot mortiser, instead of buying a $1500 Domino. There is a Chinese slot mortiser, that uses trim router to cut slots. Costs without router motor is right at $200.

In a production shop, labor is likely the most costly item, certainly affecting the bottom line and final cost in a significant way. Here, "over priced" has little to do with the actual tool in question.

As a serious hobbyist I make zero apologies for buying whatever tool I want and I don't need to justify it to anyone on this forum. While I respect your approach to accomplish the same thing, I similarly respectfully disagree with your assessment of "over rated and over priced".

[mike stenson]

I'll be the Jerk.
For many, and yes I'm looking at you, YT content creators. It and easy way to connect wood without knowing anything about joinery.
It's the "makers generation" equivalent of construction paper and paste.
You don't need to know anything, just cut and glue.

They are a great tool, don't get me wrong but many buy them without knowing there actually other ways to connect wood.

I can, honestly, say the same about power tools in general. Tools do not grant skills or knowledge.

Actually, this is true of all automation. The more automated something is, the faster it can break things.

[Jim Becker]

I have to say that I'm with Michael. ^^

I bought the DF700 for a specific project a few years ago. It did what was needed, fast, easy and accurate and became a staple for other projects after that. I recently picked up a (so very slightly) used DF500 to make using the smaller tenon stock easer. If I could only have one Festool produced tool...one of the Domino machines would be it. As primarily a hobbyist woodworker (who has done some commission work for sure) I worry less about the initial cost of the tools I choose; rather, I shoot for things that do what they say they will do and do it for decades.

And it's nice to have choices...this joinery method clearly isn't for everyone just like every other possibility. We pick and choose what we like and what functions for how we want to work.

And yea, I use pocket screws too.

[Dan Barber]

I agree with Michael and Jim,
It's a tool just like any other, it has it use and one needs to understand when to use and when not. I know of several folks that lamented the purchase and then once they had it, they never look back. I think it's like many things in life; there is buyer remorse when it's expensive and it does not work and there's "buy once, cry once" when it expensive and does exactly what it claims to do. Domino to me falls in the later category.

And I might use a pocket screw or two as well
Dan

[Ola Carmonius]

The other thing I think happens is that said hobbyists latch onto it because of how prevalent it is in those channels/videos. I wonder if these hobbyists with $1500 to burn would be better off with a Pantorouter. Then you can get more than just floating M/T.

The pantorouter can sure to more things but when it comes to joining sheet goods and ease of use and short set up times the domino is a totally different beast.

Btw, I own a domino and at the moment building a writing desk with traditional mortice and tenons. Domino I mainly use for sheet good constructions and smaller things like frames.

[jack duren]

A Domino isn't a Forrest blade comparison. You can buy many CNC blades on the market. Not much comparison to the Domino.

[mike stenson]

I have a DF500 as well. I'll be honest, I don't use it often as I prefer actually cutting integral tenons (and if there are only a few mortises, I prefer chopping those). The last time I used it was making drawer boxes. For which, it was blindingly quick, but they're also shop cabs... so, I just need quick and strong.

[jack duren]

Problem is the price of the Domino. If you can get payed for it, it’s okay, if now it’s kinda a waste..

[mike stenson]

Problem is the price of the Domino. If you can get payed for it, it’s okay, if now it’s kinda a waste..

For what it's worth. The build quality is great. They do exactly what they claim to do, and they're cheaper than a Mafell doweler.

[Edward Weber]

I'm one of those strange people who generally buys tools only when they're needed
If I need one, I'll certainly buy one but I currently don't have a need.
I have a biscuit joiner for alignment/light duty tasks and a mortising machine for everything else.
When the attributes of a Domino are the only solution, I'll have one