Get Festool Domino style joinery for pennies!

Sure yeah, if you aren't using it for a business or your business hasn't found enough jobs to justify the tool. I own one and I'm glad i chose to purchase the domino. There's more uses than just floating tenons with this tool, by the way! But yes, if you are a weekend woodworker or just started a business it may not be an option and that's okay. But it's definitely worth the price.

Time is money especially if woodworking is a source of income a domino is worth every penny

Festool TS55 and Domino, and CT36E are basically the only Festool I’ll own.

I think Festool forced us to get the creative juices flowing and we are creating cheaper alternatives, cause I am not paying that much for a single use type tool.

The df 700 is almost 1,700. But the 500 is only 1,200. The 700 is for large dominos and the 500 is for smaller ones like for cabinets etc.

Yeah try that at a 45 degree angle in 1/2 wood 😂

I like my $30 yard sale biscuit joiner for alignment, and dowels and glue for my joints. Heck of a lot cheaper, and pretty nearly as strong as a Domino thingy. Dowels have been around for several thousand years. Will Dominos last that long? All you need is a drill and a jig you can make for yourself or buy for a few bucks. My plunge base is gathering dust in the cabinet, since my router is all-but permanently mounted in my table, and a new one for my trim router costs $100. Just sayin'.

Thanks Stumpy

The Domino is done before any of the substitutes get started. Perfect every time, and lots of choices for sizes. Plus, one kitchen project pays it off.

Great idea and help to visualize the process. Thanks.

Honestly if you’re doing this a lot, the festool is way better. No making or replacing jigs or having an uh-oh with your router

Great idea James. My rule: if you’re doing a process more than twice - make a jig for it. I like your method much better than Domino wanna be tools which are often hundreds of dollars, and make joints that are half as strong as a loose tenon. Thanks for keeping our imaginations alive.

Let's wait for the patent to expire. I'm looking forward to the Milwaukee or makita version

I got around using a domino for along time and that’s fine of course. I used one once at a friends shop and I was hooked. The domino makes joining pieces so fast and exact that it’s a real game changer in saving TIME. If you got time to kill there’s no point in the domino but if you are limited on time it’s impossible to beat.

This video has been done a thousand times but domino still wins.

thanks

Brilliant. As much as I want a Festool, I don’t do woodworking enough to justify a 1700$ device for a dozen use a year

my man you diffently can not destroy festool with this teqnice festool us the king of tools and can make anything more accurate and fit fast .

How do you know if a woodworker has a Domino?
Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.

I very much appreciate your meticulous, clear instructions. I always find I have a better understanding of “how and why” after I have watched your videos. You have a way of simplifying and incrementing your explanations that helps me very much. Thank you.

Its defo not worth the money😁

How many of those Dominos are sitting in their boxes, under benches and have only been used once, twice or never? Tool snobbery is crazy these days. Excellent woodworkers make solutions.

Traditional Japanese carpenters are crying.

I love using the domino. I just recently got access to one, I can borrow for a few days so it's nice. I just buy the dominos and promise to be gentle :). With that said, it's like 1800 after tax for that damn thing. With that said, I'd try this.

The patent festool has is supposed to be running out soon and you will be able to buy one from a different brand for a cheaper price. Cant remember exactly when but soonish.

Simple, logical, and useful.
Thanks for another good one!

Festool is overrated and overpriced.

The router method is always a good option especially when you need a larger mortice than your domino can cut. You can't beat the domino for speed and accuracy in a production workshop where time is money. Unfortunately the domino appears overpriced to most amateur woodworkers however in my experience as a professional woodworker the domino has paid for itself very quickly in time saved. I believe that taking the time to learn how to cut joints by hand gives you a much better understanding of the process before moving on to using power tools and machinery.

Would the jig be strong enough if it was built with the 3or4 inch piece of plywood glued to the spacer strips then glued to a piece of plywood a little thinner than the offset you wanted (from the face of the work piece to the closest edge of the mortise), glue the fence on and finally add another piece of plywood to provide support to the router?

Wouldn’t you want to have your “show” face down on a flat even surface? That way if a part is slightly thicker or thinner the assembled piece would be even, flat and true on the “show” face because it was referenced to your flat, even and true work surface

Nice jig. I do already own most of the required items. Also, I want to see this beard go to a a foot at least. Grampa Nubs needs to be!

This is what people did before they made a handheld floating mortise and tenon machine.

Great job 👏🏻

A small point: make your loose tenon of the same wood as you're shoving it into, and with the grain in the same direction. 30+ years ago I splined (same technique, pretty well) maritime pine boards together to make a chest lid. I used ramin for the splines, since it was available in exactly the size I needed. 30 years on and the joints have opened because of different expansion rates and because the splines were set right down to the bottom of the slots I cut. Embarrassing.

Hey stumpy, might want to look in the mirror and wipe thr dirt off of your face before stepping in front of the camera.

Instead of scribing a line on the template just double sided sticky a block to it then screw it on

5 not skippable ads BEFORE even 1 sec of video. Disgusting

Such a great alternative. Thank you

Top notch like always! Thank you sir!

Stumpy, you’re the man 💪

The domino is not replaceable, I have both and the time it saves is massive.

Peter Millard @ 10 minute workshop did this video a few years ago and now sells loose tenon jigs. So this is by no means a new concept.

I'm a 'home tinkerer' that's been renovating and building cabinets, shelves, tables for about 20 years. I have a crap load of Festool machines, many of which I purchased 2nd hand, including the DF500 Domino. Never had any regrets or issues. That stuff doesn't seem to want to wear out. Must say though, once you've used a Domino, there's no going back!

Sorry, but "Make sure parallel, cut a slot, mark a line, get a piece of scrap, create a jig, several shallow passes, cross cut pieces for tenon, rounding them with router",etc". Nope. Go Festool.

Just for kicks and giggles...I wonder if anyone has made a "crooked" mortise and tenon on purpose???

Can you cut mortise on an angle? For example can you cut a mortise on a 22.5 degree angle and on a 5 degree angle to join three pieces of wood together?

Domino still king just another way to do the job