33
Bought a Festool Domino joiner and honestly regret it for small jobs
Spent $1,100 on the DF 500 after hearing everyone rave about it. Used it on one kitchen cabinet build and it was fine. But for the small furniture pieces I actually do most of the time, it's way overkill. Dowels or a simple jig with a drill would have worked just as well for like $40. Anyone else feel like the hype on those things is mostly for production shops?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
hernandez.finley9d ago
$1100 is steep, I get that. But I've had my Domino for three years now and it's paid for itself just in the time it saves me on small weekend projects. You mentioned a kitchen cabinet build, but think about all those little joints like mitered boxes or picture frames where you need perfect alignment. Dowels work okay but they shift and you end up clamping at weird angles. The Domino gives you a super strong joint that centers itself every single time without any guesswork. I build a lot of small walnut and cherry pieces like jewelry boxes and side tables, and those loose tenons let me break down the parts into manageable chunks that I can assemble dead flat. For me the hype is real because it fixes the three biggest headaches in joinery: alignment, strength, and speed. It's not just for production shops, it's for anyone who values not having to fight with their materials on a Saturday afternoon.
6
Bought a DF 500 myself and now I just use it to impress my buddies while I reach for a drill and dowels 90% of the time. Feels like owning a fancy sports car to drive to the grocery store.
1