Finally gave in and tried a domino joiner after 10 years of hating on them

I was over at a buddy's shop in Eugene last month and he let me use his Festool DF 500 on a set of walnut cabinet doors. Figured I'd try it once just to shut him up, but man, the alignment was PERFECT on the first try. We knocked out 12 doors in about 2 hours compared to my usual half day of biscuits and clamps. Has anyone else had a similar conversion or am I just getting soft?

3 comments

3 Comments

paige8623d ago

Those 500s are no joke with the alignment. I was a diehard biscuit guy for years (still am for some things) but once I switched to dominos for cabinet face frames, I cut my glue-up time by like 60 percent. One tip though - keep a small brush handy to clean out the mortises before you glue, because sawdust buildup will mess up that perfect fit real fast. Also, don't even bother with the cheap knockoff tenons, the Festool ones are worth the premium for the tightness.

phoenix_thompson423d ago

Really feel you on the sawdust in the mortises thing. I learned that the hard way after a whole cabinet front came out crooked because I didn't blow them out good enough. Still kicking myself over that one. The tightness on those Festool tenons is unreal though, had a buddy try the cheap ones and they just slid right out before the glue set. Makes me wonder how many people give up on the system after trying those knockoffs first. Just sucks when you spend that much and still have to babysit the glue up to get it right.

robinj293d ago

That 20 minute glue-up window on the DF 500 caught me off guard too. I was so used to taking my time with biscuits that I had a whole face frame shift on me because I got distracted answering my phone. Real question for you though - did your buddy mention anything about the dust extraction on that thing? Because I've been running mine with a shop vac and it still leaves that fine MDF powder caked in the mortises. Makes me wonder if there's a trick to getting the chip deflector seated right or if it just sucks at that part. I've blown out a few perfect joints because I got impatient and skipped the brush step.