Will I miss my benchtop mortiser?

[live4ever]

I'm considering ditching my benchtop mortiser for a Domino.  The HCM takes up valuable space in my shop and I just haven't used it as much as I thought I would due to finicky setups, and often it just doesn't feel like the right tool for the job (eg workpiece is too big).

I have a number of casework projects coming up and am thinking of the Domino.  If I sold my HCM, do you think I'd miss it, or are they complementary?  I'm just a hobbyist so anything I can do to get the cost of a Festool down is worth thinking about!

 

[davee]

I have a benchtop morticer that I used frequently in the past.  However, I haven't touched it since the purchase of the Domino several years ago.  I've kept it in case I needed larger mortices, but haven't found the need to date. 

 

[Alan m]

i doubt you will miss it. iv used the loads but since getting the domino iv never thought of getting one.  maybe for large mortices  . then youl need the domino xl

 

[waho6o9]

+1 for the Domino. Later alligator for the HCM.  [smile]

 

[WoodChuckWoods]

i got a pm benchtop mortiser last year and it sits new in the box under my workbench still. i do intend to get it out once i make a mobile cabinet for it to sit on. I use my domino for almost everything, but i bought the pm to do more decorative work where the mortise is showing like on the end of a table or whatnot. I'm sure that i want to keep both, but if i had to keep only one it would be the domino.

 

[RDMuller]

No!

 

[erock]

I have one.  Has been sitting around unused for some time.  BUT then that one job comes up and you need it.  Case in point.  I had to dust mine off to make 8 replacement shutters for a house we painted.  And as Woodchuck has stated,  it goes well with decorative work.  You can never have to many tools!!

Keep it!  Some day you will need it.  Then you will be looking too buy another one.

 

[woodguy7]

Keep it. I have both Dominoes & a large floor standing morticer & there is no way I will get rid of the morticer.

 

[jtwood]

I have both, and use my benchtop mortiser for through-mortises, which the domino won't do.

I am a hobbyist that makes Arts & Crafts style furniture, where through mortises are common.  I could use the domino and then attach false tenon extensions to the opposite side of the joint, but usually the joints for tables and large pieces of furniture require larger mortises (and tenons) than a single domino will cover.  You could use multiple dominos for the required strength, but I like the true through-mortise in those applications.

Really depends on what type of woodworking you do, but I need, and use, both.

Steve

 

[Theshipstore]

I have one and like the others it is rarely used, except when I need to make a large mortise for Mission style furniture.
I would keep it for that job where I hate to say the domino just won't do it. [bite tongue]
I hope the Festool Gods forgive me for what I have said  [wink]

Sal

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Not if you trade it in for a floor model one. [big grin]

Hold it, you meant ditch it all together. 

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I sold my PM Mortiser to mostly pay for my Domino.  Do I miss it?  The finicky set up, sharpening the chisels or raggedy edges, messy cleanup, huge footprint... heck no.  But then I don't do Arts and Crafts. 

 

[live4ever]

Thanks for chiming in, everyone.  Yeah, that's what I'm trying to figure out - how much will I miss the decorative aspect of square holes and do I need a lot of really large tenons?

I don't do A&C, Mission, or G&G style stuff, at least right now.

Want to redo the interior doors in our house, but those could be handled with the Domino or even other methods.

Hmmm...will have to think about this longer.  Gut says get rid of the benchtop, get your Domino, and one day when we move to a new house with larger shop get a 719T. 

Of course, the moment I get rid of the mortiser I'll end up needing it.

 

[kfitzsimons]

I wanted a 6" Delta jointer, but I really don't have the space. A buddy of mine also wanted one and he has the space. So I contributed half of the purchase price and I have full access to it when needed. (Though I'm now trying to do mostly hand planing.) How about selling your mortiser to a friend or someone close by for a great price with the agreement you can use it when needed. You both make out with that arrangement. One last thought - obviously it helps to know the person you're sharing a tool with. You know how it will be taken care of.

 

[MrToolJunkie]

I sold mine a few weeks after getting the Domino and I have not missed it at all.  With the new XL coming out soon, that will fill in the need for larger mortises.  If you want the square look for any projects, a sharp chisel will do the trick.

Scot

 

[pugilato]

You can make mortises with a drill press... I used to have a mortiser, but found the adjustments an annoyance and just went with the drill press.  I dont miss it at all.

 

[Timtool]

To me they are complementary, though i need to say that i only used my JET benchtop mortiser once in the past few months since i got the domino XL.

The work range of the DF500 and a benchtop mortiser only slightly overlap IMO, the benchtop mortiser can cut much wider and much deeper. DF700 on the other hand can do 95% of it (limited to 14mm wide)

I used my mortiser to make some through mortises in a set of windows i was building for my workshop. looking back i should have used the DF700 and square the mortises by hand which would have been more precise because the alignment wasn't great.
I won't sell it though, occasionally i make a large number of similar pieces of furniture that require strong joinery. Dominos are great for small to medium projects because you don't waste time setting up complex machines like the tenoner and mortiser, but on large projects it is faster to use traditional methods IMO especially since my mortiser sits on a bench with a rail where i can clamp stops so i can make mortises in series without any marking or measuring. Goes faster than domino, but the initial setup takes time and trials.

 

[Kev]

Space is a monster issue for me, so I'm avoiding bulky tools wherever possible. Here in Oz I could acquire large commercial machines at reasonable prices - but I'm paying the Festool premium for stackable, storable, quick setup, portable gear.

If you tried to predict everything you were going to tackle in the next 2 years, would you need the mortiser?

Is a bigger shop space possible in the future and storage for the mortiser an option?

Anyway, my own approach would be to stick a label on the mortiser with it's "last used date", buy the domino and make the "sell" decision later.

(one certainty - you'll love the domino and will probably crave an XL)

 

[Nick C]

I have a Domino, which I use frequently. It's great for smaller projects, such as cabinet doors and small tables. I use it for site-built casework (cabinets and other built-ins) to assist with  alignment during assembly, not strength. I use an old Festool joinery system (the VS-600) for shop-built cabinets. It does matching rows of dowel holes very quickly and accurately. I use a hollow mortise machine for larger M&T work, and of course for through-tenons (Tenons on the bandsaw). Note that many "benchtop" mortise machines are very crude when it comes to positioning the work and indexing the chain-drilling that is usually required. There are better machines, but I just added a large 2-axis drill press vise with handwheels. I know I would regret giving up any of these solutions, so I suppose it just depends on the work that you're doing. I suggest thinking about the size limitation of the Domino, and the grain orientation that the small M&T joints need to be strong.

 

[denovich]

I would wish mine "Bon Voyage" if someone took it off my hands.  It wasn't a week after the return window closed when I lucked into a Minimax LAB300N combination machine (complete with horizontal mortiser.)  Which nicely does all the hard work when the job warrants it.  The recent addition of a Domino to my arsenal makes my HCM look even less likely to be used.