Hot take: I used to think a Festool Domino was just a fancy gimmick for rich guys

Then I had to build 22 identical face frames in 3 days for a restaurant job in Austin, and that machine saved my sanity and my timeline. Anyone have a cheaper tool that can match that kind of speed and accuracy for joinery?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_faith26d ago

Twenty two frames in three days is a serious crunch. Did you use the same domino size for every joint, or did you have to switch between tenon sizes for different parts of the frame? I'm trying to picture the setup for that kind of repeat work.

pat_harris26d agoMost Upvoted

Man, that crunch sounds brutal, @the_faith. I can feel the sore shoulders just thinking about it. For that many frames, you'd almost have to stick with one domino size for everything to save time, even if it's not perfect for every joint. Switching bits and settings over and over would kill your pace. Bet you had a dedicated assembly line going, just pounding them out one after another. That's the kind of job where you just put your head down and push through.

colegarcia26d ago

Notice how pat_harris nailed the real world trade-off between perfect and possible. I mean, we all hit that point on big jobs where you just need to keep things moving, even if it's not the textbook method. It's less about the craft and more about the grind.