I haven't got either. Need to make a table top in upcoming project, and its out of some nice materials, so I was hoping to get something to make sure I don't waste a lot of wood. Wondered if getting the domino would help me avoid buying a biscuit joiner.
Domino Owners: Do you still use your biscuit joiner?
- Thread starter Jon3
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Bob Marino
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I am not sure about wasting wood, but the Domino is a waaaaaaaaaaaay more versatile tool than the biscuit joiner. Though it shares the same basic appearance as the biscuit joiner, the Domino is in a league of its' own. Just take a look at the pics already posted by Rick C, John L, Bill E and others.
Bob
Bob
Jesse Cloud
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I'm with Bob on this one.
But, if you still want a biscuit joiner, I'll bet you could get one cheap by posting a WTB ad in the classifieds. You can have mine for half of what I paid for it.
But, if you still want a biscuit joiner, I'll bet you could get one cheap by posting a WTB ad in the classifieds. You can have mine for half of what I paid for it.
I have a biscuit joiner for sale in the Classifieds area 
Would I buy a Domino only to use it as a biscuit joiner....while it will perform that task better than a biscuit joiner I'd say no. But to perform the task of a loose mortise and tenon machine as well as biscuit joiner tasks...absolutely.
Would I buy a Domino only to use it as a biscuit joiner....while it will perform that task better than a biscuit joiner I'd say no. But to perform the task of a loose mortise and tenon machine as well as biscuit joiner tasks...absolutely.
Dave Ronyak
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Jon3 said:
You actually don't need either, and you don't need form T&G or splined or interlocking routed edges, either. All you have to do is line up the boards (with jointed or Festool cut straight edges) that you want to glue up into a panel, e.g. a table top side-by-side with their good side up, with one of the "panel" ends overhanging your work bench. Run a pencil line across the underside of the boards. Apply wood glue (Titebond original and newer formulae work fine) to the edges to be bonded, doing one pair at at time, and flip the board pair as you place them in your bar (or pipe clamps) so the "good side" is down, and force the "good side" to be in full contact with the bars of the clamps. I have constructed cabinet tops 10 to 12 feet long this way out of oak and cherry and have never had a joint pop open. If the bar/pipe clamps are arranged on a true flat surface, and the boards being glued up are fully pressed tight against the bars, when you remove the panel from the clamps, you will only need to scrape off the glue squeeze out and do only a little sanding due to elevation mismatch of the "good side" of the boards. If the boards are all flat and their edges jointed square, they should stay that way as you tighten the clamps. I have also used this procedure successfully to "tame" some boards that were not truly flat. The key with them is to initially glue up only a pair of boards, then progressively add one or two additional boards to create a panel of the width needed. I have had no problems with releasing the clamps after 1/2 to 1 hour or so to add another board and reclamping. Some of the pieces I made using this method have been in service >30 years and none have experienced any joint failures, despite moving between Ohio and Florida (Gulf Coast) and Ohio, Austin, Texas and "upstate" New York which definitely experience different climate and humidity conditions. Domino joint will make much of the above described procedure obsolete because it will enable accurately aligning all of the "good sides" so all of the boards can be glued up at once, assuming you can apply the glue and the clamps quickly enough! A slower setting glue may be needed.
No, I suppose I don't NEED one.
But, I haven't bought any kind of mortise machine, biscuit joiner, tenon jig, FMT, etc yet.
I was thinking I might be able to justify the 6 bills buying this if I skip all the others. I can always do Big Giant Tenons if I need to on the table saw.
But, I haven't bought any kind of mortise machine, biscuit joiner, tenon jig, FMT, etc yet.
I was thinking I might be able to justify the 6 bills buying this if I skip all the others. I can always do Big Giant Tenons if I need to on the table saw.
clintholeman
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Jon3 said:
I would say YES - why bother with the biscuit cutter when you can get a Doino which will do that and WAY more. Like a few others, my biscuit cutter will languish, gathering dust until I sell it.
Peter Teubel said:
I have done very few M&T's since I started using the Kreg system. With the Domino, i can see eliminating several clamping operations for each pannel & pannel door. Clamping for shelving can be simpler also. I have been making a lot of large mirrors lately. I can see a simplification to allignment of corners over both butt, pocket screw and less work in doing M&T @ corners. I can see a lot of time saved for other operations. not just added strength. I have made many wide shelves and other wide board applications with no M&T, T&G or any other joinery other than smooth edge to edge as noted in a previous post. i think the Domino should make allignment for such joints a whole lot quicker for allignment. I gues I don't really need the Domino, but, if the tax guy goes easy on my, i will sure add it to my list of toys.
Tinker
HowardH
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I could have used the domino today. I was making the base of an outdoor table and was joining 1.25" square legs to an apron of the same size and tested the biscuit joiner on a piece of scrap. The cut extended beyond the edge of the top edge of the leg so I decided not to use it. I suppose I could have simply extended the biscuit beyond the top edge and then trim it but a domino would have made it a whole lot easier.
stvrowe
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Les,
Knapp is an Austrian company that manufactures a number of ready to assemble (RTA) fasteners. In the US they are available from Stafast. Part of their product line is installed in biscuit cutter slots and you just slide the two components together to assemble. I have used 4 different types of Knapp fasteners in this application and they have held up extremely well even in commercial store fixtures that I have made. One type is one that you glue into each side of the slot and I no longer use these as they are a pain. The other type has a ridge along the radius and you just hammer it into the slot and it follows the arc of the slot. The link below has a picture of three of the fasteners in the center of the picture (left to right: brown, yellow, and silver) and unfortunately, is the only information available on their site.
http://www.stafast.com/products/rta.html
If you like, I can post some pictures of the fasteners that I have and it will be very clear how they work.
Steve
Knapp is an Austrian company that manufactures a number of ready to assemble (RTA) fasteners. In the US they are available from Stafast. Part of their product line is installed in biscuit cutter slots and you just slide the two components together to assemble. I have used 4 different types of Knapp fasteners in this application and they have held up extremely well even in commercial store fixtures that I have made. One type is one that you glue into each side of the slot and I no longer use these as they are a pain. The other type has a ridge along the radius and you just hammer it into the slot and it follows the arc of the slot. The link below has a picture of three of the fasteners in the center of the picture (left to right: brown, yellow, and silver) and unfortunately, is the only information available on their site.
http://www.stafast.com/products/rta.html
If you like, I can post some pictures of the fasteners that I have and it will be very clear how they work.
Steve
stvrowe
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Les,
The manufacturer link is: http://www.knapp.verbinder.com
Below are the fasteners I have used. Clockwise starting from the top left is the Champ (orange - which is glue in and shown with the alignment tool), Sunny (yellow - knock in and has tabs that lock so that joint cannot be disassembled without breaking tabs), Silver (silver which is metal, knock in and can be disassembled), and Fast (gray which is knock in and clips straight in)
Steve
The manufacturer link is: http://www.knapp.verbinder.com
Below are the fasteners I have used. Clockwise starting from the top left is the Champ (orange - which is glue in and shown with the alignment tool), Sunny (yellow - knock in and has tabs that lock so that joint cannot be disassembled without breaking tabs), Silver (silver which is metal, knock in and can be disassembled), and Fast (gray which is knock in and clips straight in)
Steve
Christian A.
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Hi Bob,
I don't own a Festool Domino yet but as the user of a biscuit joiner who has been tempted to get a Domino for a while I don't fully agree that it is "waaaaaaaaaaaay" more versatile than a biscuit joiner. Steve already mentioned the Knapp fasteners. Hinges and other fasteners are also available from Lamello. A second application a biscuit joiner can handle (opposed to a Domino) is cutting slots for patches.
Long story short, while there's a certain overlap between biscuit joiners and the Domino each of these tools can be used for certain jobs the other one is not capable of.
Regards,
Christian
Bob Marino said:
I don't own a Festool Domino yet but as the user of a biscuit joiner who has been tempted to get a Domino for a while I don't fully agree that it is "waaaaaaaaaaaay" more versatile than a biscuit joiner. Steve already mentioned the Knapp fasteners. Hinges and other fasteners are also available from Lamello. A second application a biscuit joiner can handle (opposed to a Domino) is cutting slots for patches.
Long story short, while there's a certain overlap between biscuit joiners and the Domino each of these tools can be used for certain jobs the other one is not capable of.
Regards,
Christian
Per Swenson
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I will not sell my biscuit jointer.
For the same reason I try not to sell anything that
doesn't have the footprint of Mothra.
My B jointer has paid for itself and then some.
It owes me nothing. And you just never know.
Did you know they work well as jamb cutters when installing
hardwood flooring?
Per
For the same reason I try not to sell anything that
doesn't have the footprint of Mothra.
My B jointer has paid for itself and then some.
It owes me nothing. And you just never know.
Did you know they work well as jamb cutters when installing
hardwood flooring?
Per
