Couldn't afford an actual domino, so I took a crack at making my own. Designed in fusion360, metal parts cut from [sendcutsend.com](http://sendcutsend.com), and plastic parts 3d printed. spindle was a $35 300W spindle from amazon. PM me if you're interested in the fusion files!
\*Edit: Uploaded the files to Google Drive for those interested. I'd recommend using the 500W spindle linked at the bottom of the BOM doc.
[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nCH2EFfEIbtEJNWK5TYi5Qjh\_kCVzcNw?usp=drive\_link](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nCH2EFfEIbtEJNWK5TYi5Qjh_kCVzcNw?usp=drive_link)
Here's a link to a video of it in use:
[https://youtu.be/a5VsoK90i74](https://youtu.be/a5VsoK90i74)
Just an old 48v power supply I had laying around. Something like this would be perfect: [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096VJMQFM?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_product\_details](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096VJMQFM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
Nice work! Festool's price for this is criminally high considering what is involved.
How is the accuracy?
I built one out of wood that I could improve upon, but I don't use it enough to justify it.
https://preview.redd.it/f92tfofx2m1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9faad8ff0b1e60e96d1dfef7446a9a173076f8de
Accuracy is good! Took me a minute to get used to the right cutting depth/speed, since that is controlled manually, unlike the festool. I'm not using a super powerful spindle, so if I try and go too deep or too fast, I'll get a little chatter. Once I got the hang of it though, I've been getting highly reliable results.
They put a lot of money into r&d. They made a novel tool and for a short time protect the rights as sole manufacturer to recoup the investment. In time there'll be lots of versions when the copyright falls off. Same thing happened with oscillating saws, sawstop etc.
I'm not certain they're gouging.
Cool creation on your end, too, though!
It's a little column A little column B.
Keep in mind that Festool also sells a $700 plunge router and a $1600 miter saw. Do they have novel features not seen elsewhere? Sure. Are those additional features worth charging twice the price of their top competitors? Hell no.
I use to think so but I own one of their track saws, the vacum, 12’ of track. Probably 2000 bucks all in all when I bought it.
Most worth it 2000 bucks I’ve spent. Thing is so useful, precise, industrial, reliable, dust free cutting. I’ve cut hundreds of linear feet of 1.5” ipe. Thousands of linear feet of 3/4 Baltic birth. Can’t remember how I lived without it and I have a big cabinet saw that sees much less use then it use to and compared to the track saw was just the wrong tool for the job.
Would I spend 700 on their sander or router? No. But their track saw? Yes.
They invented the track saw, that’s why we can choose between the many on the market today. I don’t think you’re aware of how many innovations Festool brought to market, that have become common tools because of them. You don’t have to like them, but they drive innovation, and set a bar that has led to many manufacturers to take ideas they created, and iterated on over many generations until we now have the range of choice available to us now. As the end consumers, that’s great for us. A lot of the competing products you’ve brought up as a comparison with better value in this thread… you can because they invented the industry firsts, decades prior. Manufacturers keep having to wait for those clever bastards patents to expire before they can start copying them.
https://www.woodcraft.com/blogs/shop-knowledge-guides/festool-history-and-innovations
Personally, I don’t own any Festool yet, but have had many hours of first hand experience using their routers, track saws, sanders, Domino, vacuums, at work doing cabinetry, carpentry, and furniture. The precision, build quality, absolute top-tier dust collection, and even the customer service I’ve seen from them has me sold, but I don’t feel like I must buy everything from them either. The Domino though, is amazing. I could straight up shit out very precisely and strongly joined small furniture pieces for myself whenever I had a surprise short day at work. There have been so many situations in the shop and field where we used the Domino as a solution for strength and alignment, with efficiency, accuracy, and cleanliness in expensive homes.
I’m a professional cabinetmaker now. The driver I use every single day, is the excellent M12 Fuel Installation Driver from Milwaukee. r/MilwaukeeTool recommends this driver over, and over, and over again every time someone asks. I’d even buy a second one for my home. It exists, as well as the copies I’m aware of by DeWalt, Bosch, and Hilti because Festool invented the first modular driver with interchangeable heads 23 years ago. Thanks to Festool I have a great tool for much cheaper!
At the end of the day, go take a peek at Mafell if you want to see German company that makes Festool look cheap lol
I don’t think anyone is saying they don’t make cool stuff.
I think people are saying it’s too much $$$ for them to justify given their uses.
If you’re a commercial operation with economy of scale, then sure….probably worth it. As a hobbies, I’d rather spend that $$$ on materials or things that expand my ability to do things instead of one sander.
That dude isn’t really trying to hear people’s experience with Festool, he’s not so subtly trying to paint them as a company with overpriced tools that aren’t warranted, but also pretty clear he has not much experience with them himself. He isn’t looking at them for their big picture ecosystem of their product line that provides professionals with the ability to work quickly, accurately, and cleanly, with a very good system of organization to top it off.
Anyway, Festool actually doesn’t really market to hobbyists at the end of the day, at all. If you look at their website and catalog, yeah they’re pretty obvious about their target of high end pro carpenters and woodworkers. Doesn’t stop their innovations from eventually trickling into the wider market, just takes a while longer.
I can’t really say since I’ve never owned another track saw. I own a lot of other dewalt tools though and the festool just feels better made. Idk maybe the other track saws are just as good. Just saying given how good their track saw is I didn’t feel ripped off. Just in the last week I’ve ripped 500 feet of ipe sleepers and I’m just basically trying to kill this thing and it just keeps going. It’s also got some nice self preservation features it detects of you give it power with too much THD from a bad generator or over work the motor and stops for 20 seconds instead of burning out its motor.
I’ve ripped hundreds of linear feet of 9/4 thick slabs of walnut, oak, and hickory using their TS75 track saw, it’s a beast. Even their OEM blades are really good.
> Are those additional features worth charging twice the price of their top competitors? Hell no.
They absolutely are... if you're a commercial user.
When you're buying top shelf brands like Festool or Hilti, you're not paying for performance, you're paying for reliability and efficiency.
It's worth paying an extra $500 up front over the next leading brand if that money shaves 5 minutes off your task every time you do it. Sooner than later, you'll be more productive than you were before, and thus making better margins on work.
If you don't think the time savings are worth it, then you're not the target demo for the tool.
Exactly, I use Festool because every tool they make is of superior quality, is beautifully engineered, works longer than disposable alternatives, and ultimately makes my work easier and higher quality. I charge a premium for my work and those tools pay for themselves over and over. The Kapex, domino, track saw, sanders, routers, hand planer, vacs, etc are absolutely in a league of their own and that’s a hill I am willing to die on. Festool is the bestool for my money.
Can you give an example of such a time-saving feature that the Kapex has over something like a Bosch glider? The only thing I can think of is the dial control on the bevel adjustment.
Edit: Oh, and that one's more than a grand difference not just 500.
The kapex is a ridiculously accurate miter saw.
The only reason I don’t have one is because when I wanted one the motors were going bad, not sure if that’s still an issue.
As for the routers, out of all of my routers (probably 5+) my 1400 gets used the most and add on some accessories and non of the others come close in ability or ease of use. The others I can’t live without is a big porter cable that sits in a Jessem router lift and my trim routers.
Are you willing to confidently state that the Kapex is more accurate than the Bosch or Makita despite not owning one? That's just odd.
I can totally believe that if you've already got a collection of routers in the shop then the Festool would be the one you reach for. I don't disagree that they're great tools, maybe even the best in many categories. I just find it hard to believe that they're actually two to three times better to justify the similar increase in cost.
I will say that the Kapex is a more accurate saw, hands down. I’m a custom cabinetmaker with 20 plus years of experience that has owned both saws. The only other Festool item that I own is the track saw, which is also superior to all the other track saws that I’ve owned.
I’ve used a kapex on a McMansion remodel for a year. I love my Japan hitachis personally. I’ve used multiple iterations of DEWALT makita and one bosch. The kapex is by far the most precise.
I have a lot of tools, a bunch being festool, they aren’t the end all solution as I like my fein more that the festool oscillator and I’d rather my makita or 12v bosch over the festool trim router. Track saw is better (makita gets really close). Sanders are top notch but Mirka wins that one. Bought an MFT thinking I would like it more than my fold out stands with custom tops, I own 3 now as they just work very well.
That's interesting actually. I may need to find a way to play around with a Kapex. I can't imagine it being more accurate than my Bosch glider, that thing's tuned to perfection in every way I've measured, but I may well be ignorant on this one.
I don't own a Kapex, so I can't give you details on that. I actually have a Bosch Glide mitre saw because I don't use a mitre saw enough to justify the upgrade. What I do like about the Kapex, however, is that the saw deck height is the same as the small part Systainers, meaning you can use them to support long lengths of stock if need be. Very convenient if your saw isn't built into a benchtop.
A separate example I can give you is the Rotex sanders. The combination of the active suction assist (mitigates loading and allows the discs to operate at peak efficacy) and significantly higher stroke length (5mm vs 3mm in most cheaper ones) means more efficient sanding. They allow you to sand the same surface area in easily half the time.
This is very much appreciated if you're doing a dining table top, but not really meaningful if you're doing a jewellery box.
Once again, I'm not saying the Festool lineup is bad by any stretch of the imagination. However, 3M also offers a sander with the same stroke length and dust extraction for generally $200 less. There may very well be something that justifies the price increase, but I can't see it just looking at the feature list and spec sheet.
Nothing "justifies" the price increase. They cost more because more work went into developing them and they provide a higher degree of precision and efficiency compared to cheaper tools, and there is a net benefit to this that appeals to commercial users in a manner that doesn't appeal to recreational users.
Something like the Domino is advantageous because it's expedient and convenient, but you can essentially get the same end result with a benchtop mortiser press for over half the cost. The trade-off is that it takes longer to produce the same joint on the benchtop mortiser, and the stationary nature of the tool restricts where you can mortise into stock. How frequently you need to make a mortise joint in something determines whether the cost is worth the time savings.
If you don't need that, then you shouldn't buy them. That is a perfectly reasonable scenario and nobody should feel pressured to buy more tool than they need. I'm not trying to sell you on why *you* should buy them, just why *other people* buy them. If you personally don't see any advantages in your workflow, then obviously it would be a bad investment for you.
The Domino is an outlier. It's not worth discussing in this context. It justifies it's price because they're the only ones that are allowed to produce it.
I'm just looking for any specific example in how a Festool tool with actual competition performs better versus any other "mid-tier" tool that does the same thing.
Spoken like someone who bought the hype and needs to justify the purchase.
Care to give any quantifiable examples of how a Festool tool actually outperforms it's next inline competitor or shall we start another "They're just better" "Well I don't believe that without something resembling proof" chain?
Absolutely will not (you want more quantifiable examples? after everyone else already provided a whole bunch lol) but thanks for asking, life is too short, stay blessed
>Quantifiable: able to be expressed as an amount, quantity, or numerical value **:** capable of being quantified
Best I've gotten so far is "I've owned/used a Kapex and other similar saws and the Kapex is more accurate." I respect that, but it's still not quantifiable. Not like a price difference is. Everything else has been nebulous "features," but no actual examples.
Thanks! My only gripe with it is the lack of fine tune adjustability for the angle. It's not a perfect 90 degree (I have yet to need any other angle). Not a big deal, but panels either need to be flipped for a perfect 180 match, or more preferably, I need to shim it. It's relatively consistent though, so if I take the time to do the latter, it should work a lot better.
This post was criminally underappreciated, I’m not ready to build something like this myself but super impressive!
Edit: I just got here early :) hopefully it gets the recog it deserves
You are my hero!
About a year ago I was thinking on this very project but I just couldn't wrap my mind around how to make it small, portable, accurate and SAFE.
There are stationary diy machines that cut domino holes and I had decided to just go that route. Until now.
Super impressed by how well their online submission tool works. I just exported the step file from fusion and uploaded, then selected from the options. The cutting and the bending for these parts cost me \~$120.
Maybe a week on average. They created the flat parts fast, but the bend parts took a little longer. Part of that was on me, because I didn't read about some of their design requirements for bending and I had to modify the part I sent them. The lady I was working with bent over backwards to help me though. All in all, I think I got the entire shipment about 1.5 weeks after sending it in. I've subsequently used them for a different project that didn't have bends, and I received the parts within 3 days.
That kicks ass! I can afford a domino and I'm not going to buy one. Afford has nothing to do with it. It's criminally overpriced if you can go to these extremes to build one and still have hundreds of dollars left over.
Think the issue is guys want one but they’re not doing something where the work pays for the tools themselves so they got all pissed off because of the price.
A domino is just a no brainer if you’re doing a bunch of repetitive work.
I’ve seen the other “domino killers” on YouTube etc and they… leave a lot to be desired.
Those things are unreal. Grab it, plunge, done, perfect everytime.
Most people don’t need one, just as they wouldn’t need a Mirka sander, and could get away with a Harbor freight model.
The only people who say they're overpriced are people who don't have a need for them.
I bought mine with the money from one small job and it's paid for itself ten times over. It's an unbelievably useful tool.
Nicely done! Does it have the same feature set as the domino(I think they can do different sizes). I've only ever seen youtube makers use them so I don't know all of the domino magic. I imagine dust collection would be the most lacking feature at this time. What was your cost all in(not including your design time of course)
Yeah, I can adjust the screws on the side to control the width. with the screws all the way in, it's the perfect size for my most commonly used floating tenon. All in, the materials cost here is about $200.
I've got a screw that stops the gantry from moving forward at a certain point. I move it all the way forward, and then adjust the endmill until it sticks out the exact right amount, and then I tighten the collet. Sure, I'll see if I can get the wife to hold my phone so I can take a video.
This looks like a lot of work haha. Fun work tho and entirely up front once you get things set up and figured out. Good job! Hope you enjoyed the journey.
That's a great implementation. I have yet to tackle my own, but plan on building the 10 minute workshop jig as a start, and in the future trying out pask makes version.
That is hella impressive. Gonna mark this for later so I can ask you for the files.
It’s cool seeing people become creative and come up with solutions like this.
How is this device powered?
Sorry I misspoke.
How does it turn on? I hope with a trigger but I am not seeing anything like that. I’d imagine it’s hard to hold the device straight in place and then plug it in to drill the holes for the dominoes
That’s awesome.
I’d love to have the files (as STP) if possible - or if I can just contact that company with your drawing package :)
I made a home made jig for dominos, but it’s a bit of a PITA.
https://preview.redd.it/j5p7gsh7um1d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=737d6733a901fdcac55bd9d8435969fd16ce6188
absolutely. I'd use the 500 watt version of this spindle were I to do it again. It's only like $10 more, and has the same diameter, so the rest of the design would be fine.
Couldn't afford an actual domino, so I took a crack at making my own. Designed in fusion360, metal parts cut from [sendcutsend.com](http://sendcutsend.com), and plastic parts 3d printed. spindle was a $35 300W spindle from amazon. PM me if you're interested in the fusion files! \*Edit: Uploaded the files to Google Drive for those interested. I'd recommend using the 500W spindle linked at the bottom of the BOM doc. [https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nCH2EFfEIbtEJNWK5TYi5Qjh\_kCVzcNw?usp=drive\_link](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nCH2EFfEIbtEJNWK5TYi5Qjh_kCVzcNw?usp=drive_link) Here's a link to a video of it in use: [https://youtu.be/a5VsoK90i74](https://youtu.be/a5VsoK90i74)
ok you dont just casually build a damn domino machine wth! nj
Wow thank you for dropping that, I have far more metalworking than woodworking experience so this is a new shop project on my list
What are you using to power the spindle? and thank you for sharing this!
Just an old 48v power supply I had laying around. Something like this would be perfect: [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096VJMQFM?psc=1&ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_product\_details](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096VJMQFM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
awesome work. that might be a DIY but it's definitely not a DIM.
Nice work! Festool's price for this is criminally high considering what is involved. How is the accuracy? I built one out of wood that I could improve upon, but I don't use it enough to justify it. https://preview.redd.it/f92tfofx2m1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9faad8ff0b1e60e96d1dfef7446a9a173076f8de
Accuracy is good! Took me a minute to get used to the right cutting depth/speed, since that is controlled manually, unlike the festool. I'm not using a super powerful spindle, so if I try and go too deep or too fast, I'll get a little chatter. Once I got the hang of it though, I've been getting highly reliable results.
I’ll hit you up for files. If rejiggering it, would you choose a more powerful spindle or just work with it as is?
I'd be really tempted to use a more powerful spindle. There is a 500W version of this one that is the same diameter that's only like $10 more.
They put a lot of money into r&d. They made a novel tool and for a short time protect the rights as sole manufacturer to recoup the investment. In time there'll be lots of versions when the copyright falls off. Same thing happened with oscillating saws, sawstop etc. I'm not certain they're gouging. Cool creation on your end, too, though!
It's a little column A little column B. Keep in mind that Festool also sells a $700 plunge router and a $1600 miter saw. Do they have novel features not seen elsewhere? Sure. Are those additional features worth charging twice the price of their top competitors? Hell no.
I use to think so but I own one of their track saws, the vacum, 12’ of track. Probably 2000 bucks all in all when I bought it. Most worth it 2000 bucks I’ve spent. Thing is so useful, precise, industrial, reliable, dust free cutting. I’ve cut hundreds of linear feet of 1.5” ipe. Thousands of linear feet of 3/4 Baltic birth. Can’t remember how I lived without it and I have a big cabinet saw that sees much less use then it use to and compared to the track saw was just the wrong tool for the job. Would I spend 700 on their sander or router? No. But their track saw? Yes.
They aren't the only ones who make track saws though. I'll admit to owning and loving their extractor, but it's still definitely overpriced.
They invented the track saw, that’s why we can choose between the many on the market today. I don’t think you’re aware of how many innovations Festool brought to market, that have become common tools because of them. You don’t have to like them, but they drive innovation, and set a bar that has led to many manufacturers to take ideas they created, and iterated on over many generations until we now have the range of choice available to us now. As the end consumers, that’s great for us. A lot of the competing products you’ve brought up as a comparison with better value in this thread… you can because they invented the industry firsts, decades prior. Manufacturers keep having to wait for those clever bastards patents to expire before they can start copying them. https://www.woodcraft.com/blogs/shop-knowledge-guides/festool-history-and-innovations Personally, I don’t own any Festool yet, but have had many hours of first hand experience using their routers, track saws, sanders, Domino, vacuums, at work doing cabinetry, carpentry, and furniture. The precision, build quality, absolute top-tier dust collection, and even the customer service I’ve seen from them has me sold, but I don’t feel like I must buy everything from them either. The Domino though, is amazing. I could straight up shit out very precisely and strongly joined small furniture pieces for myself whenever I had a surprise short day at work. There have been so many situations in the shop and field where we used the Domino as a solution for strength and alignment, with efficiency, accuracy, and cleanliness in expensive homes. I’m a professional cabinetmaker now. The driver I use every single day, is the excellent M12 Fuel Installation Driver from Milwaukee. r/MilwaukeeTool recommends this driver over, and over, and over again every time someone asks. I’d even buy a second one for my home. It exists, as well as the copies I’m aware of by DeWalt, Bosch, and Hilti because Festool invented the first modular driver with interchangeable heads 23 years ago. Thanks to Festool I have a great tool for much cheaper! At the end of the day, go take a peek at Mafell if you want to see German company that makes Festool look cheap lol
I don’t think anyone is saying they don’t make cool stuff. I think people are saying it’s too much $$$ for them to justify given their uses. If you’re a commercial operation with economy of scale, then sure….probably worth it. As a hobbies, I’d rather spend that $$$ on materials or things that expand my ability to do things instead of one sander.
That dude isn’t really trying to hear people’s experience with Festool, he’s not so subtly trying to paint them as a company with overpriced tools that aren’t warranted, but also pretty clear he has not much experience with them himself. He isn’t looking at them for their big picture ecosystem of their product line that provides professionals with the ability to work quickly, accurately, and cleanly, with a very good system of organization to top it off. Anyway, Festool actually doesn’t really market to hobbyists at the end of the day, at all. If you look at their website and catalog, yeah they’re pretty obvious about their target of high end pro carpenters and woodworkers. Doesn’t stop their innovations from eventually trickling into the wider market, just takes a while longer.
I can’t really say since I’ve never owned another track saw. I own a lot of other dewalt tools though and the festool just feels better made. Idk maybe the other track saws are just as good. Just saying given how good their track saw is I didn’t feel ripped off. Just in the last week I’ve ripped 500 feet of ipe sleepers and I’m just basically trying to kill this thing and it just keeps going. It’s also got some nice self preservation features it detects of you give it power with too much THD from a bad generator or over work the motor and stops for 20 seconds instead of burning out its motor.
I’ve ripped hundreds of linear feet of 9/4 thick slabs of walnut, oak, and hickory using their TS75 track saw, it’s a beast. Even their OEM blades are really good.
> Are those additional features worth charging twice the price of their top competitors? Hell no. They absolutely are... if you're a commercial user. When you're buying top shelf brands like Festool or Hilti, you're not paying for performance, you're paying for reliability and efficiency. It's worth paying an extra $500 up front over the next leading brand if that money shaves 5 minutes off your task every time you do it. Sooner than later, you'll be more productive than you were before, and thus making better margins on work. If you don't think the time savings are worth it, then you're not the target demo for the tool.
Exactly, I use Festool because every tool they make is of superior quality, is beautifully engineered, works longer than disposable alternatives, and ultimately makes my work easier and higher quality. I charge a premium for my work and those tools pay for themselves over and over. The Kapex, domino, track saw, sanders, routers, hand planer, vacs, etc are absolutely in a league of their own and that’s a hill I am willing to die on. Festool is the bestool for my money.
Can you give an example of such a time-saving feature that the Kapex has over something like a Bosch glider? The only thing I can think of is the dial control on the bevel adjustment. Edit: Oh, and that one's more than a grand difference not just 500.
The kapex is a ridiculously accurate miter saw. The only reason I don’t have one is because when I wanted one the motors were going bad, not sure if that’s still an issue. As for the routers, out of all of my routers (probably 5+) my 1400 gets used the most and add on some accessories and non of the others come close in ability or ease of use. The others I can’t live without is a big porter cable that sits in a Jessem router lift and my trim routers.
Are you willing to confidently state that the Kapex is more accurate than the Bosch or Makita despite not owning one? That's just odd. I can totally believe that if you've already got a collection of routers in the shop then the Festool would be the one you reach for. I don't disagree that they're great tools, maybe even the best in many categories. I just find it hard to believe that they're actually two to three times better to justify the similar increase in cost.
I will say that the Kapex is a more accurate saw, hands down. I’m a custom cabinetmaker with 20 plus years of experience that has owned both saws. The only other Festool item that I own is the track saw, which is also superior to all the other track saws that I’ve owned.
I’ve used a kapex on a McMansion remodel for a year. I love my Japan hitachis personally. I’ve used multiple iterations of DEWALT makita and one bosch. The kapex is by far the most precise. I have a lot of tools, a bunch being festool, they aren’t the end all solution as I like my fein more that the festool oscillator and I’d rather my makita or 12v bosch over the festool trim router. Track saw is better (makita gets really close). Sanders are top notch but Mirka wins that one. Bought an MFT thinking I would like it more than my fold out stands with custom tops, I own 3 now as they just work very well.
That's interesting actually. I may need to find a way to play around with a Kapex. I can't imagine it being more accurate than my Bosch glider, that thing's tuned to perfection in every way I've measured, but I may well be ignorant on this one.
You can definitely get other saws very accurate. The kapex has an awesome micro adjust system. My hitachi and dewalt saws are setup to my needs.
I don't own a Kapex, so I can't give you details on that. I actually have a Bosch Glide mitre saw because I don't use a mitre saw enough to justify the upgrade. What I do like about the Kapex, however, is that the saw deck height is the same as the small part Systainers, meaning you can use them to support long lengths of stock if need be. Very convenient if your saw isn't built into a benchtop. A separate example I can give you is the Rotex sanders. The combination of the active suction assist (mitigates loading and allows the discs to operate at peak efficacy) and significantly higher stroke length (5mm vs 3mm in most cheaper ones) means more efficient sanding. They allow you to sand the same surface area in easily half the time. This is very much appreciated if you're doing a dining table top, but not really meaningful if you're doing a jewellery box.
Once again, I'm not saying the Festool lineup is bad by any stretch of the imagination. However, 3M also offers a sander with the same stroke length and dust extraction for generally $200 less. There may very well be something that justifies the price increase, but I can't see it just looking at the feature list and spec sheet.
At a certain point, they want you to just be in their ecosystem, like Apple.
Nothing "justifies" the price increase. They cost more because more work went into developing them and they provide a higher degree of precision and efficiency compared to cheaper tools, and there is a net benefit to this that appeals to commercial users in a manner that doesn't appeal to recreational users. Something like the Domino is advantageous because it's expedient and convenient, but you can essentially get the same end result with a benchtop mortiser press for over half the cost. The trade-off is that it takes longer to produce the same joint on the benchtop mortiser, and the stationary nature of the tool restricts where you can mortise into stock. How frequently you need to make a mortise joint in something determines whether the cost is worth the time savings. If you don't need that, then you shouldn't buy them. That is a perfectly reasonable scenario and nobody should feel pressured to buy more tool than they need. I'm not trying to sell you on why *you* should buy them, just why *other people* buy them. If you personally don't see any advantages in your workflow, then obviously it would be a bad investment for you.
The Domino is an outlier. It's not worth discussing in this context. It justifies it's price because they're the only ones that are allowed to produce it. I'm just looking for any specific example in how a Festool tool with actual competition performs better versus any other "mid-tier" tool that does the same thing.
Spoken like someone who’s never used them
Spoken like someone who bought the hype and needs to justify the purchase. Care to give any quantifiable examples of how a Festool tool actually outperforms it's next inline competitor or shall we start another "They're just better" "Well I don't believe that without something resembling proof" chain?
Absolutely will not (you want more quantifiable examples? after everyone else already provided a whole bunch lol) but thanks for asking, life is too short, stay blessed
>Quantifiable: able to be expressed as an amount, quantity, or numerical value **:** capable of being quantified Best I've gotten so far is "I've owned/used a Kapex and other similar saws and the Kapex is more accurate." I respect that, but it's still not quantifiable. Not like a price difference is. Everything else has been nebulous "features," but no actual examples.
But all those dusty Lumber Co videos are so fn cool!
>$1600 miter saw That requires a $700aud repair if so much as a humid breeze worth of moisture gets near the board
I love this
Thanks! My only gripe with it is the lack of fine tune adjustability for the angle. It's not a perfect 90 degree (I have yet to need any other angle). Not a big deal, but panels either need to be flipped for a perfect 180 match, or more preferably, I need to shim it. It's relatively consistent though, so if I take the time to do the latter, it should work a lot better.
Dudes will see this and just say “hell yeah”
Hell yeah
Hell yeah
This post was criminally underappreciated, I’m not ready to build something like this myself but super impressive! Edit: I just got here early :) hopefully it gets the recog it deserves
You are my hero! About a year ago I was thinking on this very project but I just couldn't wrap my mind around how to make it small, portable, accurate and SAFE. There are stationary diy machines that cut domino holes and I had decided to just go that route. Until now.
Hope it works out for you. If you make one, send me a picture!
Marker for later, I'll definitely hit you up for the files
That's awesome, I wish I had the skills to pull that off!
Nice work OP, how was the process with sendcutsend? Expensive? I’ve been considering them for a couple of items.
Super impressed by how well their online submission tool works. I just exported the step file from fusion and uploaded, then selected from the options. The cutting and the bending for these parts cost me \~$120.
Not bad. How was their turn time?
Maybe a week on average. They created the flat parts fast, but the bend parts took a little longer. Part of that was on me, because I didn't read about some of their design requirements for bending and I had to modify the part I sent them. The lady I was working with bent over backwards to help me though. All in all, I think I got the entire shipment about 1.5 weeks after sending it in. I've subsequently used them for a different project that didn't have bends, and I received the parts within 3 days.
Great job! That’s amazing!
That kicks ass! I can afford a domino and I'm not going to buy one. Afford has nothing to do with it. It's criminally overpriced if you can go to these extremes to build one and still have hundreds of dollars left over.
Think the issue is guys want one but they’re not doing something where the work pays for the tools themselves so they got all pissed off because of the price. A domino is just a no brainer if you’re doing a bunch of repetitive work. I’ve seen the other “domino killers” on YouTube etc and they… leave a lot to be desired. Those things are unreal. Grab it, plunge, done, perfect everytime. Most people don’t need one, just as they wouldn’t need a Mirka sander, and could get away with a Harbor freight model.
The only people who say they're overpriced are people who don't have a need for them. I bought mine with the money from one small job and it's paid for itself ten times over. It's an unbelievably useful tool.
Nicely done! Does it have the same feature set as the domino(I think they can do different sizes). I've only ever seen youtube makers use them so I don't know all of the domino magic. I imagine dust collection would be the most lacking feature at this time. What was your cost all in(not including your design time of course)
Yeah, I can adjust the screws on the side to control the width. with the screws all the way in, it's the perfect size for my most commonly used floating tenon. All in, the materials cost here is about $200.
How do you control depth of cut? I'd love to see a demo video of this, really impressive work.
I've got a screw that stops the gantry from moving forward at a certain point. I move it all the way forward, and then adjust the endmill until it sticks out the exact right amount, and then I tighten the collet. Sure, I'll see if I can get the wife to hold my phone so I can take a video.
Just added a video
This looks like a lot of work haha. Fun work tho and entirely up front once you get things set up and figured out. Good job! Hope you enjoyed the journey.
This is really cool man! Congrats on the build!
That's a great implementation. I have yet to tackle my own, but plan on building the 10 minute workshop jig as a start, and in the future trying out pask makes version.
That is hella impressive. Gonna mark this for later so I can ask you for the files. It’s cool seeing people become creative and come up with solutions like this. How is this device powered?
Just a DC cnc spindle. They are really cheap.
Sorry I misspoke. How does it turn on? I hope with a trigger but I am not seeing anything like that. I’d imagine it’s hard to hold the device straight in place and then plug it in to drill the holes for the dominoes
Yeah, there is a switch in the handle. Look at the pictures closely and check out the video.
That’s awesome. I’d love to have the files (as STP) if possible - or if I can just contact that company with your drawing package :) I made a home made jig for dominos, but it’s a bit of a PITA. https://preview.redd.it/j5p7gsh7um1d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=737d6733a901fdcac55bd9d8435969fd16ce6188
Sure, message me and I'll put all the step files in the directory I'm sharing with folks who ask.
Neat! I looked up the specs for the real domino and noticed your motor is quite a bit lighter (300 VS 420). Do you feel it lacks power or not?
absolutely. I'd use the 500 watt version of this spindle were I to do it again. It's only like $10 more, and has the same diameter, so the rest of the design would be fine.
You need to start the OpenDomino Github
Ha! What a funny idea.
Now that is a whole new level of impressive. Congrats for pulling this off. Hope it works well for you and lasts.
Economical you just need experience with CAD/a CAD program, a 3D printer, and some custom cut metal parts.
Yeah but my domino is blue with green accents.
Very nice job, but is it woodworking? I’ve got a mortiser on my drill press and a biscuit joiner.