January, 2008

More Top Tools: 2008

The Festool Domino is a tool that makes job site work faster, cleaner, and more efficient.  

By Gary Katz

I remember paying $125 for my first circular saw in the mid 1970s—a worm drive skill saw. Back then, my house payments were about $200, so I guess that means I spent 63% of my house payment on a circular saw.

Today, I can go to a local lumberyard and pick up a worm drive skill saw for $150. That’s a single-digit percentage of my current mortgage payment.

How is that possible? Price points and product placement have forced manufacturers to produce less expensive tools. I’m not saying they’re cheap—power tool expense is still a large chunk of my annual overhead. But some of my tools aren’t built the way they once were: Today, many of the parts are plastic, not metal, so they weigh less, but they’re lighter-duty, too. The bearings don’t last nearly as long; the switches fail frequently, and while cutting a lot of doors, I’ve burned through my share of motors.

Unlike yesterday’s tools, it doesn’t pay to repair most tools today since it’s less expensive to simply buy a new one. Disposable tools—those that last a few years instead of 30 or 40, have become commonplace, and so have low prices. In fact, most carpenters think $150 for a circular saw is a lot of money. But I know better.

Last month I reviewed a new table saw guard system developed through the combined efforts of several manufacturers in the power tool industry. In this article, I’ll describe a type of tenoning joiner—the Domino—manufactured by only one company—Festool. This tool line is ideal for carpenters who need a seriously efficient product.

Beyond Biscuit Joiners

For years the price of Festool products kept me away from purchasing them, but now, having grown older and hopefully, a little smarter, I’m learning that quality is worth paying for, especially if it meets three criteria: 1) If a tool makes me a better carpenter and allows me to do better work; 2) If the tool makes it easier to do the job—to enjoy my work more; and 3) If the tool is durable. When I find something that meets all three criteria, that’s when an investment is worth it. And in my business, tools are an investment.

Unlike a biscuit joiner, the Domino joiner doesn’t cut a half-moon slot. This tool cuts a straight-sided, perfectly clean mortise for a real tenon.

Three easy-to-adjust switches control the movement of the oscillating cutter, which determines the size and shape of the mortise. A top knob controls the width of the cut.

An assortment of pre-cut tenons are available for the Domino. For easy identification, each tenon partition is labeled and matches the labeled cutters available for the joiner, which provides another easy lesson in learning the metric system. Labels for the pre-cut tenons also provide a guide for making width and depth adjustments on the tool.

Two spring-loaded pins on the face of the fence make it extremely easy to use the Domino without having to mark any layout lines, and that is a revolutionary feature. Use one pin to register the tool from the outside of a 2x6 door stile or a 1x4 miter. The second pin retracts out of the way. Now cut the first mortise.

Move the tool over and set the first pin inside and against the far edge of the first mortise, and now the Domino is registered to cut the second mortise. Notice how the center line on the bottom of the plate is aligned perfectly with the second mortise. Cutting the mating mortises often requires moving the tool in the opposite direction. That’s when you use the retractable pin on the other side. All the mortises match perfectly.

Two accessories help make this tool a dream for woodworkers building high-end furniture or for finish carpenters building job-site doors, gates, stairs—the list is endless. For cutting mortises in spindles, narrow rails, or balusters, be sure to get the Trim Guide, which slips onto the front of the Domino like a tight glove. For registering the tool to cut multiple mortises in a rail or frame for a gate, or for balusters, or for edge banding, Festool provides another accessory: the Cross Stop. Retractable pins on this fine-adjustment fence make it easy to cut multiple mortises in either direction.

Mortise and Tennon Joinery on the Job Site

The Domino is changing the way carpenters work on the job site, enabling us to do fast, furniture-quality, dustless work in a living-room remodel. Sure, the price is steep compared to what we pay for most tools today—$800, and that’s just to start. With the vacuum—a must for dust collection—the price jumps to almost $1200. Who’s going to spend that much money for a fancy biscuit joiner? Well, that’s close to the same percentage-of-mortgage cost for my first circular saw, so I did, as have thousands of other serious carpenters.