I used biscuits to join the (40) maple doors for my kitchen 35years later no joint failure or separation.

thank you for this informative video, now I will buy both because I'm a tool buying addict,.

Outstanding video as usual! You are truly talented at describing and teaching people in a easy going style. Kudos to you and keep up the good work. And of course, congrtulaitons on becoming a dadddy. Enjoy every moment...

"substantially more expensive" to me means 50% more not 1000% more! I'd call that ludicrously more expensive.

Jason you are by far my favorite woodworker. I love how clear and thorough you are!

Big big price difference. For most of us the biscuit joiner is the best option. If strength of the joint is the issue, use a dowel jig. Cheap and effective. The domino is a nice tool but for the price unless you're operating a production shop it's a toy that will not give the DIYer a return on investment.

Thanks for the breakdown. I was unaware of the difference between the two, minus the huge price tag. That really helped me in my decision making. Now to decide on which biscuit joiner to purchase.

The slot on the biscuit grove is adjustable in depth on the machine. (Small screw, wrench came with it ) This will help tighten the slot, you need just a little room for tolerance.this does help, glue up should be done with a brush and coat all surfaces including the biscuit.

Nice review mate & I’ve found that the Dowelmax has changed joinery for me as well as my biscuit joiner 👍👍👍

Brilliant video. You just helped me buy a biscuit jointer. Greetings from the UK.

What an excellent demo! So carefully explained, compared on all points, great visuals, and very detailed tutorial. Great job! Audio has a bit of an echo, so a shirt mic would be nice. The Domino is superior on all counts but Dewalt costs $176, Festool costs $1200. No brainer which one I will buy until a cheaper domino comes up. Thank you!

As an amateur with woodworker, i typically feel overpowered with the entire arrangement kzfaq.infoUgkxrYREG3-7f1Aqk9ams3ZESRNzGnfdUtyQ . Be that as it may, this arrangements drove me through with much clarity and effortlessness woodplans. Works i now work like a genius. That is great!

Could you build test joints and test them to failure with each tool? I'd like to see how much stronger a Domino joint is.

One of the best tool comparisons and explanations ever!

Very good explanation, some woodworking people talk about strength between two piece of wood

I have just started woodworking, very amatuer at the moment just made my first chopping board, videos like yours are priceless to me, so many people always try to redirect you to there 'online store of plans' etc but if someone like me can easily.understand what your explaining then your doing something right! Keep up the good work mate

With a thicknesser, you can mass produce your own custom width dominos as well. Works a treat

Excellent review. Thank you.

Great comparison, thanks for the posting. I own both tools and like them both for different reasons. Some points for folks to consider: •The plate jointer came first, and the Domino is heavily modeled off of it •Technically, both tools create floating tenon joints. The biscuit is more like a spline in form and function, so in other words, one could make a blind spline for a table top and it might be a faster approach if there’s enough quantity to justify the added time of fabricating the spline material from thin plywood. (That’s a big “if”). •Biscuits are compressed plywood, so they have long grain in 2 directions that ends up with half the strength of long grain all in the same direction, but we get some strength in both directions. •With modern glue like TiteBond, The glue is where the strength of a joint resides. •Dominos make stronger joints because they get the glue deeper into the workpiece than a biscuit can go, and they orient all of the wood’s strength in the direction that the joint will be worked. •Both machines can make very strong joints simply by offsetting the tenons, which then allows us to make ganged/multiple tenons at each joint. •The Dominos come in narrower widths, so it can make smaller, stronger joints than the biscuit joiner.

I really like this overview! Well done!

Thanks for this, I do finish carpentry and have the same DeWalt joiner, I always wondered what the Domino was like, I've never held one. Great video! Maybe after my kids are past the diaper stage I'll buy my first Domino, lol

Great explanation of both tools. I'd love a Festool, but it is so expensive for what it is and I just can't justify the cost for the little use I'd have for it. I have a the Dewalt biscuit joiner that serves me well for part alignment and I even have a Ryobi micro-biscuit joiner that I inherited from my dad... that is actually very useful for when I align hardwood edge bands on plywood. It uses the super small R1, R2 & R3 biscuits.

Your shop looks like a Festool Store! WOW!

In your "5 tools to get early," you mentioned a biscuit cutter. Thankfully, the next video on deck was an explanation of the tool and comparison to the Festool. You did a good job of demonstrating these tools. Thanks. I recently purchased the Festool 125 rotary sander and now I'm in love with the Festool brand.

This was a very good explanation of the two. Great video! I have the domino and I love it. I use it for joining boards and it works great but it's real advantage is in how versatile it is. It can make mortises on narrow stock like for crib rails I recently made. I didn't have to bother with cutting each stile longer so i could get a tenon out of it, I just cut it to size and then used the domino and what a joy it was!!!

I would love to see you do a video on the dowelmax. It’s a very well made and accurate tool made by a family owned business. It’s also beautiful with the brass fittings

Nice video. Learned something new about the Domino. I didn't realize you could do the slots such that the boards could be slid along each other for alignment. I have both a biscuit joiner and a doweling jig but use neither enough anymore to justify the Domino. Still, you did a good job explaining the different uses, pros and con of each so even though I'll likely never buy one I appreciate the knowledge.

EXACTLY the video I was looking for. Thx

Great video. Really useful information and comparison. Thank you.

Wow just came across your video. Thank you so much for such a clear concise explanation

Very very very VEEEERRRRRYYYYY good info, demonstration and advise! Good job. You're the PF of woodworking! Cudos man. 👍

Thanks for the insight. Looks like both tools have their place.

Great explainer. Over two decades of using a BJ, not just for edge jointing, and not a single failure. Plus I can buy biscuits at just about any hardware store… 👏🇦🇺✌️

Great tutorial. Thank you for sharing.

Best review on the theme so far !

Old video but still very relevant. Helped answer lots of my questions.

I have a biscuit joiner and use it, but I also made a hand held doweling machine that works like biscuit joiner on boards of the same or different thickness

Awesome explanation!!! Always great stuff!!

Thanks for the vid. Explained really well. Now I understand the difference.

Great video, thanks for your comparison. I am just an occasional weekend warrior. My dad was an expert in woodworking made cabinets and countertops for a living, almost anything else as needed. I am still using his workbench that is as old as me. Me not so much. My skills and talent are elsewhere. Still I sometimes like to build things I need. And my dad would tell me, "A good tool is worth it's weight in gold. A crummy tool isn't worth the powder to blow it to hell."

Great video and info!

Ghee, we generally don't comment on the ideas or opinions of other craftsmen or craft persons but we have been working in wood since age 14. The Mortise and Tenon joint as well as an oft forgotten "Doweling" process seems to be a dim reflection of our early apprenticing. At , 72, we would never claim easy victories or accomplishments. But it seems that some foundational skills are being lost. We still have a collection of hand saws and chisels that make perfect joints that have thus far held fast for fifty years. Good woodworking to all.

I'd like to get a dewalt biscuit joiner after watching this, I've always thought festool was severely overpriced anyway, based on a wide variety of the tools and equipment they sell. I have a few dewalt pieces and the quality for price is excellent. Great video as usual, definitely made My mind up, thanks a million.

I thought I'd add a few details as both a Festool Domino user and a user of biscuits in the past. The biscuit joiner I used mostly for aligning edge joined long grain boards and some trim boards around the perimeter of various projects and it did an OK job. The Domino functions within the Festool system. One of Festool's primary claims to fame is its dust collection and that is an important feature. Another commenter mentioned that dust collection is required for the Domino and that is correct because in the absence of dust collection, chips collect in the mortise and cause bit overheating. This makes sense when one considers that the Domino is basically a router that waggles. Imagine if you attempted to cut mortises with any power equipment without clearing the chips. A significant reason that dust collection as effective as Festool's is important relates to the health aspects of working with power tools.....woodworkers that use power tools, especially with some exotic hardwoods, can do serious damage to their pulmonary systems without proper protection and Festool does provide that advantage. In any case, I would urge anybody wanting to see what a Domino can do to visit a competent Festool dealer and have somebody do a demo. There are tricks for Domino success but they are not difficult to learn and once one learns the basics, it opens up a wide variety of applications. One thing that becomes obvious once one has mastered the basics is that the Domino allows degrees of accuracy and precision that the biscuit joiner cannot match. This may not matter to some people, but to others it can make a really large difference. Finally, I would never personally buy a Festool tool online unless I had already mastered the tool. The reason for this is that outfits like Amazon cannot provide any real support and there is no price advantage to buying online now that the internet tax collection is mandated. It is my experience that putting one's hands on the tool and even doing some evaluation demos gives more appropriate information for the individual than any KZfaq video, as valuable as they are, can ever hope to do....that said, to Bent's Woodworking....good work. P.S. - to the people who asked if this type of loose tenon could not be done with a router and an edge guide or a jig, the answer is yes.....but very slowly.....I have done that for years and the Domino, even with its limitations in sizes of tenons, is a much more productive solution in the overwhelming majority of situations. As to doing mortises on a router table....that's an exercise in frustration for the most part....don't ask me how I know.....it works OK for an occasional piece but it is highly inefficient and prone to problems, especially with dust collection. With all that said, OALA, EHOATAS.

Very well explained thank you very much👍🏻

Thank you for the video. Two things. First, I would like to see someone compare a single Domino strength to simply using two 5 cent Lamello Biscuits on top of one another. No one has done that. Even a clone Domino is 17 cents. Second, I used calipers and measured the thickness of 30 each of DeWalt and Swiss-made Lamello plate joiner Biscuits. Lamello was 1000 for $46.37 from Amazon, which is 4.6 cents each. DeWalt was $7.98 for 100 from Lowes, which is 8 cents each. I calculated the mean and standard deviation of the thicknesses and the Lamello were more than 3x as uniform. 97.7% of Lamello are predicted to be between 3.69 and 4.00mm. DeWalt are 3.34 to 4.31mm. The goal is to be as close to 4mm without going over. Visually, the Lamello have a glue-gripping pattern on each side. The DeWalt had a more shallow grid on one side. No sense in judging biscuits without using Lamello brand.

Brent, great video, thanks. When I got my first biscuit joiner, did an experiment by cutting a joint in half. The biscuit swells with the application of the glue, not in the longitudinal direction but top to bottom. Because of the high cost of the Festool Domino, and the desire to incorporate live tenon joinery in my work, I've built a horizontal router table to accurately cut mortises. Also have been experimenting with Rockler Beadlock live tenon joinery. Thanks again, looking for to more informative videos.

I use biscuit and dowels together and it's worked for me, I thought about a Domino, but for the cost, I'll stick to what I have...

Biscuit needs less accuracy and that little bit of play horizontally helps a lot during assembly. I did however find the domino worked very well for narrow parts in furniture which a biscuit would be impossible.

We use both alot, they are both very useful for different things.

Great explanation! Thank you!

Thanks for the info!

Excellent .. very good explanation 👍

I have owned the Dewalt biscuit jointer for approx 20yrs, I have been looking at tge domino because I build alot of small boxes ect & the biscuit jointer is very limited as far as trying to join narrow pieces of wood, I like the loose tenon idea.

My big respect for you man ...I learned alot from your video s ...thanks a lot

A good quality biscuit is made from Beech and machined so the grain is running diagonally, for additional strength

thnks for posting, informative and unbiased advice. At the moment I'm making do with screws and glue, but seeing the benefits of one or both of those machines

This is a good overview but additional information that would be beneficial: Cost, time studies for various operations, ease of use, cleanliness, noise, and strength studies. Additionally, usage scenarios as the domino is extremely versatile. I went with the domino, but that’s because I’ve done a lot of research on it vs the alternatives. Woodworking on easy mode has value. Speed also has a lot of value. When doing multiple mortis and tenon connections along a panel, the domino is insanely fast and accurate/repeatable without error. Add in a need to make a miterbox (45 degree panel joints), the Festool kit attachments, and I’m not sure there’s a better solution. (Test first as it is possible to blow through if a setting is off). No need to measure, just set distance and go. If time is money and if a lot of hidden joining work is being done, the domino is a no brainer. Unfortunately, the price is expensive for those not making money from the work and in that case pocket screws, screws with wood caps, or dowels (with a good jig as a lot of crappy ones exist) make a lot of sense. Biscuits… are dead last on my preferred approaches, but I’m influenced by some bad experiences in my youth and maybe bad machinery is more the issue than the process. I’ve never been back, but I am biased against biscuits. Reading comments here people do seem to have good experiences, so I guess just make sure your biscuit machine is good. The last consideration is dust extraction. Almost all Festool tools put a lot of consideration into effective dust extraction, other tools/brands/jigs may not and this can also be a deciding factor. When doing installs in a business or house (onsite), dust can be hugely problematic. While a dust extractor doesn’t eliminate dust, there’s a huge reduction that can take place. The ability of whatever solution in use to connect to a dust extractor or vacuum is valuable. While a lot of work may take place in my garage, doing some work in the house and not filling the space with sawdust keeps my wife happy and me breathing (both strangle free and healthier lungs). The domino has dust extraction capabilities. Some biscuit joiners may have it, but I’m positive not all have it. “Why would idiots spend money on Festool?” Speed sometimes (but not anyways, as some tools suck), dust collection for onsite installs. Historically Festool has always been great at dust consideration which is huge with some clients if you’re in a finished environment or doing add on work. “Why does the Festool cord disconnect?” Because you plug a cord into your dust extractor on-site and then just switch the tool. The cord stays attached to the machine and hose.

Excellent vid.

The biscuits are compressed so that when you assemble the joint with a water based adhesive, the biscuit expands to lock the joint and take all the slop out of it.

As everyone knows?? I didn't know. Just learned biscuit joiners existed. Can't wait to get one.

Great video idea

I picked up a biscuit joiner at the flea market (for $10) for a bookshelf project I was doing. Fortunately I had a planer to use, because the biscuits did NOT align the boards; the biscuits fit loosely in the slots causing my boards to be misaligned. Apparently, something is amiss with the $10 biscuit joiner, as it seems they are supposed to make a tighter fitting slot. I'm glad I watched this video. I had been considering a domino joiner, but I don't need to spend a thousand dollars to get boards to line up better in glue-ups. (and yes, I realize with more practice and a few other tips, I will get better glue-ups in the future)

Most useful information

Biscuit side to side play can be minimized by adjusting the depth of cut.

Very informative.

Awesome video!

Great video man!

You can buy biscuits in combinations of the 20, 10 and 0 as well as just in a individual size of a thousand for about $30 Woodworker's Supply and I guess Amazon also...

You can evaluate biscuits very cheaply to see if they're right for your construction needs. I bought a 3- wing slotting cutter, 5/32" kerf and used it on hundreds of joinery tasks before taking the plunge on a fully functional biscuit joiner tool. About the only joint I could not make with the cutter was a mid- panel slot, line an upside down "T", the joiner tool could, of course, handle that. I also found that 1/8"hardboard would serve as a decent enough spline so I made my own supply for doing counter top edging or drawer joints etc. Anyway, retired in 2000, did tens of thousands of biscuit joints, never needed a tenoner type tool.

Excellent.

you also forgot to mention it has a fence to stabilise it on the face of a board, to do joints, this increases accuracy; there is also another system which does table connections (knock-down system) which covers the uses that you say the biscuit joiner has.

This really helped me with choising.which to useand whe. Any advise on Kreg pocket hole tools. Keep them coming. TY

very helpful, thank you!

Awesome content thanks

Have had the Dewalt biscuit jointer for years. Like it very much, but the biscuits are pine, and I have found pullout and expansion issues when used with hardwood planks. I went to the trouble of making my own biscuits from hardwood, with a custom made jig. It works pretty cool, I use it to make the biscuits out of whatever wood I have to join, even pine, as I find it that easy a process. I will buy the domino as I could really use it for mitres, which the bisquit is all but uselss for unless the stock is wider than 3 inches, and even then it is often a struggle. I imagine the dominos would be a piece of cake to self fabricate in relation to the biscuits.

Very helpful. 👍

Two completely different applications intended. I own a domino and not a biscuit joiner, but I use cauls to clamp large panels and tops. I use the domino to join furniture parts. You can use it as an alignment tool if you choose but the tenons are beech and meant to be structural.

You should mention that you MUST use dust collection with the domino. I bought the Domino and CT dust collector as a set. But then I have the MFT 3 set up and TS 75, & 1400 EQ router. Soon as I tried the domino I got rid of my biscuit joiner. (gave it to my X is decided to do some woodworking as well.)

Thank u شكرا

if were to do it all over again, I would consider the Lamello Zeta P2. Especially if you are making knock down furniture. It's an amazing machine.

The Domino paid for itself on my first big project. The amount of time saved is remarkable.

Thank you

Thanks for the info 👍 buy if I want to make square boxes on a 45 degree cut would the biscuit joiner be sufficient to joint them ?

37 seconds in, and I see a clear winner, most of your kit is festool. No doudt the domino is a good tool, but it's at the extreme end.

Good video. Both tools have their advantages. At 8:29 I can see your pvc ducting for dust collection. And I see you have it wrapped with copper wire. Has the copper wire helped with static issues?

Hey Jason, I am looking to build live edge tables and was wondering if the Festool Domino 500 will be able to handle the thicker stock or if i would have to get the 700? I know they recommend 1/3 of the thickness of the material being used but want to be see what you would recommend. Thanks!

The DeWalt can also cut the smaller FF sized biscuit for face frames. It just requires a blade change.

I have and use both. The biscuit joiner is effecting and cheap for jointing boards edge to edge. The domino to replace traditional mortice and tenon joints. Dominos are much more expensive than biscuits.

You mentioned different size bits for the festool. How is it to change the size of the bits and cost.

I've used and owed a biscuit joiner, Dowel Max and the Festool Domino. Of them all, I like the Domino the best. Is it worth the extra cost? It is to me. it is fun, fast and accurate. It is probably one of their best tools.

That Festool domino does a great job on cutting those mortises for the domino. I choose to use my Smith n Wesson 500 Mag using a 700 gr load to cut my mortises. Does a good job as well except I have to clean it up a little with a chisel n 220 sandpaper 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤙🏻🤙🏻

Nice video, you have missed spoken on the sizes there is an additional biscuit size, letter number “FF” for “Face Frames” made for the porter cable biscuit joiner 557. The PC also has a much Larger “Bevel” range for it’s Fence.135 degrees... Before I bought my porter cable, I would use/take the # zero biscuit and cut it in half by length and use it to join a Stile to a 1-1/2” Rail end... Yes it shows from the bottom... But who looks up to inspect that...? Greg

Great video, just got a Domino for my high school woodshop

The joint @5:12 looked pretty jacked up lol

An older video but supports my change to an all Festool shop.

good video, i like how you have focused on the wiggle room and then the pros and cons of each tool, i was looking at the Makita corded Biscuit Joiner. Would it be an idea to pack glue and sawdust into the slots to increase the solidity of a biscuit joint? GB

Keep the videos coming!!!!! What’s the size of your shop

Thanks for the great video. I was wondering if you in any way relate to Jeff Macke, who used to be the panelist for CNBC Fast Money Show. You sound just like him.

I don't understand why you didn't mention that glue is used with the biscuits (and probably the dominos). The glue causes the birch biscuits to swell, thus making an incredibly strong joint. Not only do I glue the biscuits; I also glue both surfaces that are joined. The joint is stronger than the wood if you use the right glue.