(01-29-2021, 10:41 AM)jteneyck Wrote: I don't own a Domino but I would keep my biscuit joiner even if I did. The biscuit joiner is my go to tool for aligning beveled and mitered edges. That would be very difficult to do with the Domino on small sized parts. Installing faceframes onto cabinets is another application where the biscuit joiner shines. Gluing up panels is another application where the biscuit joiner works great. So would a Domino in that application but the biscuit joiner inherently allows for some lateral adjustment of the parts where the Domino doesn't, so cutting perfectly matching slots in mating parts isn't required.
John
Way back when, I wanted the PC joiner because you can swap to the smaller blade to use the small biscuits. I ended up getting the DeWalt one on a trade, so I never went that route. Although I haven't used the biscuit joiner on small parts, I would think the short 4mm cutter on the Domino could do the same. From everything I've seen, it seems like the 4mm cutter was not part of the original design. My case doesn't have a spot for it, which is unlike Festool. Although I just got the Domino, I think it was old stock because nothing mentions the 4mm cutter in the instructions.
I only used the biscuit joiner on the top edge of the cabinet face frame to make alignment easier. I would then use pocket holes for the rest. I could see how using the biscuit joiner would work well for the rest once the offsets were calculated. Maybe it was just laziness on my part, or some thought that I would need to be able to remove the face frame for some reason (not sure why on that one). I think the Domino would be about the same ability for this task.
Panel glue-up is where I really use my biscuit joiner quite a bit. It's irritating that about 1/3 of the #20 biscuits I get are too thin and don't hold the alignment well. It doesn't seem to matter which brand. I just go through until I find ones that are thick enough. I could retain the joiner for this task since the biscuit joiner is quite sufficient for this and biscuits are cheaper.
As far as lateral movement, there's a setting on the Domino to allow wider cuts. The book recommends for multiple dominos that you cut all but one slot wider on one of the boards. This allows for a bit of difference between the distances on each side. I could cut all of them on one side wider to allow for lateral movement. The standard cut does seem to allow a very tiny bit of lateral movement as well.
The cost difference is significant, of course, so I'm thinking I could recoup some cost by selling the biscuit joiner. I've been using the Domino for a whole two days, but I really like it so far.
One item I thought I might want to keep the biscuit joiner is routing slots for z-clips to attach table tops to aprons. There area other methods, but I've been using this one for a while, and like it. I did some experiments and was able to accomplish this task with a wide cut with the 4mm cutter.
