Leigh FMT or Domino

[Brian Livingstone]

Hello,

About two months ago, I bought a Leigh FMT jig.  Just after buying it, I heard about the Domino.  I can return the FMT within 90 days.  I like the FMT, but do not find it is a bit time consuming to use, and not as easy as the Domino.  I am thinking the Domino would be much faster, and suitable for the types of woodworking I do (cabinets with face frames, doors, smaller furniture items). 

Really leaning towards the Domino, but I would appreciate some advice on the choice between the FMT or the Domino. 

Thank you.

 

[bassman00]

This should be an interesting thread.

I was faced with a similar decision.  I was all set to get an FMT until the Domino came out.  I never got a chance to try an FMT but did fool a little with the Domino.  I ordered up the Domino.  The big reason is the projects I have in the pipeline could be accomplished easier with it.  It seems the FMT's major advantage is being able to create very large to tiny integral m&t joints whereas the Domino is limited to the 5 sizes of dominoes.

PaulD

 

[Dave Rudy]

My FMT goes on Ebay within the week.

Dave

 

[clintholeman]

Hello,

About two months ago, I bought a Leigh FMT jig.  Just after buying it, I heard about the Domino.  I can return the FMT within 90 days.  I like the FMT, but do not find it is a bit time consuming to use, and not as easy as the Domino.  I am thinking the Domino would be much faster, and suitable for the types of woodworking I do (cabinets with face frames, doors, smaller furniture items). 

Really leaning towards the Domino, but I would appreciate some advice on the choice between the FMT or the Domino. 

Thank you.

My guess is that you will find that Domino is quicker and easier to use, with less set-up time than the FMT for your applications.  It is really fast.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I'm thinking thru the same issue.  Can't speak for the Domino since I don't have one, but the FMT's strengths are that the mortise/tenon can be just about any size you want, which is very important to me when I'm making chairs and such.  FMT also excels at multiple tenons, haunched tenons, etc.  Not sure about this, but I would think the FMT has a slight edge on repeatability since you only do the setup once and place your stock against fixed stops as opposed to taking the tool to the stock like a biscuit jointer.... ???  Cost to acquire is about the same, since you also have to buy a router for the FMT.  Cost to operate should be lower for FMT since you don't have to buy the proprietary tenons - and who knows what they will cost next year :  On the other hand, it seems like the Domino requires less setup and sure is more portable than the FMT.

I'll probably wind up with both.

 

[HowardH]

I sold my FMT two weeks ago to make room for the Domino.  I used it a couple of times, it did a great job, exactly as advertised, but it was a bit cumbersome to set up.  It was also more difficult to cut exact joints when framing end joints.  I'm sure it was operator error but I would always have a little hang over, I couldn't get it to flush up perfectly.  I could instantly see how the domino would make it much easier, especially with larger sized boards.  I will have the Domino on order within the week. 

 

[Brian 57]

There has been some discussion on this on the Australian site "ubeaut", in the Festool forum.
The Domino has been available in Australia for some time and so that debate has been going on for a while.
Some have elected to give up the FTM, some have not made a planned purchase of the FTM and a few, maybe only one or two, regard the two as complementary. That latter approach may become more rare as already there would appear some movement to make the work fit the tool, i.e. pieces are being designed with the Domino's capabilities, (sometimes ingeniously extended), in mind.
As an aside, not many seem to be contemplating buying biscuit jointers in the near future!

 

[stvrowe]

I have had the FMT for almost 3 years and have the Domino on pre-order.  The FMT is an excellent jig that yields excellent results and like all Leigh products has an outstanding manual.  I intend on keeping the FMT primarily to do the smaller M&T joints that the Domino will not do.  I will use the Domino whenever I can as I am sure the speed will be much greater than with the FMT.
Steve

 

[clarkdp44]

Unhappily, my dream of winning the Domino has vanished.  Nor do I own the Leigh FMT.  Until now, I chop mortises with a Sorby chisel and cut tenons with a Darlington back saw.  Since I retired from teaching school (high school mathematics), I have begun to do woodworking projects for others -- but not in any quantity yet.  I have tried several Festools in the past year and have been very impressed, but haven't gotten the courage to grease the souls of my boots.  Clearly, I don't do quantity; and nearly every job is different.  The Leigh FMT seems to have the advantage to me, as a novice and beginner, because of the variability in sizes and angles of the tenons.  But now I have several entrance doors to make, and I wonder how to make large tenons in the ends of long pieces (nearly 1.5 meters) -- except by hand cutting.  Could an experienced woodworker out there offer suggestions, please?

 

[clintholeman]

There has been some discussion on this on the Australian site "ubeaut", in the Festool forum.
The Domino has been available in Australia for some time and so that debate has been going on for a while.
Some have elected to give up the FTM, some have not made a planned purchase of the FTM and a few, maybe only one or two, regard the two as complementary. That latter approach may become more rare as already there would appear some movement to make the work fit the tool, i.e. pieces are being designed with the Domino's capabilities, (sometimes ingeniously extended), in mind.
As an aside, not many seem to be contemplating buying biscuit jointers in the near future!

The OF 1400 with guide rail works fine for cutting large tenons and the mortises for them as well.  I have some pix on the old site, and am not sure how to bring them over - or maybe they already are here.  I'll check tomorrow and, if they are here, point you to them.  Domino is much faster and easier, but the 1400 works pretty well in the absence of Domino.

 

[Loren Hedahl]

Unhappily, my dream of winning the Domino has vanished.  Nor do I own the Leigh FMT.  Until now, I chop mortises with a Sorby chisel and cut tenons with a Darlington back saw.  Since I retired from teaching school (high school mathematics), I have begun to do woodworking projects for others -- but not in any quantity yet.  I have tried several Festools in the past year and have been very impressed, but haven't gotten the courage to grease the souls of my boots.  Clearly, I don't do quantity; and nearly every job is different.  The Leigh FMT seems to have the advantage to me, as a novice and beginner, because of the variability in sizes and angles of the tenons.  But now I have several entrance doors to make, and I wonder how to make large tenons in the ends of long pieces (nearly 1.5 meters) -- except by hand cutting.  Could an experienced woodworker out there offer suggestions, please?

What I use is loose tenons via the Beadloc system.  It uses larger size tenons than the Domino so might be more suitable for door manufacture.  It is inexpensive and marketed more for the hobbiest such as I am, than the pro.

The mortises are drilled with a standard drill.  They sell their loose tenon blanks, but I just make 'em.  You can buy a special router bit for shaping the tenons, but I get a "reasonable facsimile" with standard bits.

You might consider checking them out.

I am still "on the fence" concerning the Domino system.  I have tried it and can assure you it is good.  I can see it is perfect for the furniture builders.  If I had one, I would likely use dominoes on my kitchen and bath cabinet remodel instead of biscuits.  But I have a perfectly good biscuit joiner and a box of biscuits of various sizes that I would have to sell for a dime on the dollar if I made the change now.

Concerning the Domino vs the FMT, at first thought it would seem the FMT might be more universal.  But after giving the Domino a try, I'm not so sure.  The Domino guy would win handily in a "joints-per-hour" race.  That's for sure.  Also the Domino might win in accuracy of mortise placement.  If I were to upgrade, it is almost certain it would be to a Domino rather than an FMT.

Loren

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Unhappily, my dream of winning the Domino has vanished.  Nor do I own the Leigh FMT.  Until now, I chop mortises with a Sorby chisel and cut tenons with a Darlington back saw.  Since I retired from teaching school (high school mathematics), I have begun to do woodworking projects for others -- but not in any quantity yet.  I have tried several Festools in the past year and have been very impressed, but haven't gotten the courage to grease the souls of my boots.  Clearly, I don't do quantity; and nearly every job is different.  The Leigh FMT seems to have the advantage to me, as a novice and beginner, because of the variability in sizes and angles of the tenons.  But now I have several entrance doors to make, and I wonder how to make large tenons in the ends of long pieces (nearly 1.5 meters) -- except by hand cutting.  Could an experienced woodworker out there offer suggestions, please?

Hi David,
There are several methods to cut tenons on long stock.  If you tell us what equipment you have (table saw, router, band saw, just hand tools) we could offer some options.

 

[clarkdp44]

Hi David,
There are several methods to cut tenons on long stock.  If you tell us what equipment you have (table saw, router, band saw, just hand tools) we could offer some options.
[/quote]
Thanks, Loren and Jesse, for your input.  Jesse, power tools I own are:  router table (Bench Dog with PC 7518); SCMS (Hitachi C10FSH); old, smaller Milwaukee router; Fein turbo 2; Rockwell 404, PC and Rigid random orbit sanders; Bosch jig saw.  All my other tools are hand tools; I am more familiar with them, so I feel very inefficient with my power tools -- but I'm trying to improve, looking to the day when I can begin buying Festools.  Next practice project is a replacement set of garage-size doors for my son.  The existing doors are through tenon, and I’m wondering how best to cut these so that the doors are flat and the tenons fit the mortises without unsightly gaps on the outside edges.  Dimensions are (I’m estimating) 4 feet by 8 feet by 2 inches thick.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Hi David,
There are several methods to cut tenons on long stock.  If you tell us what equipment you have (table saw, router, band saw, just hand tools) we could offer some options.

Thanks, Loren and Jesse, for your input.  Jesse, power tools I own are:  router table (Bench Dog with PC 7518); SCMS (Hitachi C10FSH); old, smaller Milwaukee router; Fein turbo 2; Rockwell 404, PC and Rigid random orbit sanders; Bosch jig saw.  All my other tools are hand tools; I am more familiar with them, so I feel very inefficient with my power tools -- but I'm trying to improve, looking to the day when I can begin buying Festools.  Next practice project is a replacement set of garage-size doors for my son.  The existing doors are through tenon, and I’m wondering how best to cut these so that the doors are flat and the tenons fit the mortises without unsightly gaps on the outside edges.  Dimensions are (I’m estimating) 4 feet by 8 feet by 2 inches thick.
[/quote]

Hi David,
My inclination, following Chris Schartz from Popular Woodworking, is to use power tools for the coarse and medium coarse functions in woodworking that take forever with hand tools, then go to the hand tools for the final finesse.  Cutting a long through tenon perfectly straight with a hand tool is very hard.  But you can get a good straight tenon thats a close fit with a tenoning jig on your tablesaw or with a router running on a guide rail (like a festool).  Then you can sneak up on that perfect fit with a shoulder plane.  Similarly, you can make the mortise by working with the router from one side and then the other, cleaning up with a chisel if the router bit doesn't make it all the way through.

 

[clarkdp44]

Thanks again, Jesse.  I plan to try a sample mortise with my router table, with chisel to clear out the center.  The tenon I think shouldn't be a problem with the router.  I don't own a table saw; my thinking is that the TS55 or TS75, with an MFT, will do what I need.  After September, tuition payments should be over and I'll be rich, rich I tell you!  At least, I hope I'll have enough left over to consider a Festool purchase.  Maybe by then I'll have figured out this quote thing as well -- seems to work fine for everyone but me.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

  Maybe by then I'll have figured out this quote thing as well -- seems to work fine for everyone but me.

Hey David,
To use the quote thing, when you are reading a post you want to reply to, look for the "Quote" icon on the right hand side near the title of the post.  Just click it and the quoted message will appear in a "Post reply" box.  You can edit the quote if you like, for instance, I deleted some of your original post to highlight just the part about the quote thing.
Jess

 

[Ned]

  Maybe by then I'll have figured out this quote thing as well -- seems to work fine for everyone but me.

Hey David,
To use the quote thing,

What Jess said.  After you've got the quote in the Post Reply window, make sure that the comments you add come after the "[ /quote]", so that your comments don't become part of the quote.

Ned