Buying a domino just to prove dowels are stronger is a true influencer flex.

One thing not mentioned in the video is the resistance to cyclical loading (fatigue) and to the seasonal expansion/contraction of wood. Pocket screws gradually loosen with both of these loadings. I use pocket screws for shop cabinets, never plugging them on the expectation they will have to be tightened up every once in a while to get rid of the rickety. I also have a biscuit joiner, inherited from my dad. I've used the stink out of it in both appropriate and inappropriate scenarios. "Appropriate" would be relying on the glue joint for strength and the biscuit for alignment. "Inappropriate" would be considering the biscuit as a structural member, as you would a dowel or a domino. I used to have that loose biscuit problem until I discovered what I was doing wrong. You have to hold the fence tight against the workpiece and focus on straight insertion and withdrawal, otherwise the rocking of the tool will open up the width of your slot. In most cases I need a mallet to lightly tap the biscuit in.

Mathias had similar results with dowels a while back. Great to see the results reproduced independently.

I love the reality check about ppl wanting to make "heirloom quality" pieces. You remind me of my good friend talking me down from overcomplicating projects using rational, practical, grounding advice.

I'm not a Festool fanboy, but a neat thing about the domino is the ability to cut wider mortises, providing some slop to the joint along the joint but not across the joint, allowing it to be moved a small amount when assembling, which dowels can't do but is intrinsic to the biscuit. It can be a lifesaver during assembly, and can have advantages for controlling expansion across the grain direction without causing splits. Edit: mortises, not tenons derp

I use biscuits all the time when I make custom dimension kitchen cabinets. (instead of the premade ones that have cnc drilled dowel holes.) The material is always the same 16mm melamine chipboard so I never need to adjust the fence whether I do 90° or flat plane joints. Just grab the tool, punch holes and glue together. And it is a non visible joint which is a must.

We still have the desk my grandfather made as his journeyman piece. It will get passed on the next generation too. Make it well and beautifully and it is worth it. Consider styles that are still used 100 or more years later instead of the latest trend though.

About 10 years ago, I built my 20' workbench in my garage. The frame and drawers were all pocked screwed together. The top was made from joined 2x4's using biscuits and a good glue. That bench hasn't budged. Still looks great and zero issues.

I have been using dowels and pocket holes for years. Dowels are by far my favorite. As you stated, pocket screws have their place. I sold my biscuit cutter, just never liked it and didn't feel like it fit my what I needed in my shop. I use dowels for joining table tops for glue ups. Makes the alignment process so much easier. I have tried my neighbors Domino cutter. I liked it, but have been using the Dowelmax and JessEm systems for so long, I have gotten really fast at making the joints. I use 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2" dowels and buy them in bulk so the cost is very minimal per joint. The strength of the joints are amazing. Every system has their place in woodworking. Every one has a preference and mine are dowels.

I like biscuits for panel glue ups because you can get the pieces flat and aligned before the glue sets up. I wouldn’t say biscuits help with strength more so they help align large pieces that tend to have inevitable warp in them. I’m also building 1.875” thick 14 foot long dining tables quite often at my job. For speed and precise alignment of joints my favorite is the Lamello Zeta P2 system. The snap in biscuits as well as the cam lock style are super awesome. They even help with the clamping force when joining pieces together. Just make sure you mark and join the pieces accurately.

Hi Scott. Your channel is my favorite woodworking coaching channel. Great job and please keep it up. I'm learning much!

Bud. Your humor, delivery, and follow through on the topic is impeccable. Instant sub. Thank you.

Bought a dowelmax years ago and have been blown away by the quality. The machining is top notch, it couldn't be more precise.

Using exposed dowels also will allow you to do it without any jigs or fit concerns. I'll be doing that on the next structural project I do. I think they look cool too.

I made a design for a special wine bottle drawer where the bottom of the drawer was just essentially long domino-shaped strips that fit into coresponding domino-holes in the front & back of the drawer frame. The wine bottles rested in the gaps between the domino strips and they took the weight pretty well. And once sanded & stained everything came out lookin great. So there are definitely some interesting applications for a domino router besides your typical joint. You can also use it to cut out linear grooves of verying depths for verious purposes.

Yup! "No one will want your furniture 30 years from now" 😢. I use pocket holes without glue so I can take the item apart and reuse the materials. Great video.

The biscuit joiner tool is great for z-clip slots for underside joining replaceable table tops. That's pretty much all I use it for. Bought it for joinery but pocket holes are great for quick and unstressed joints (drawers) and the other two are better for higher stress, more alignment perfect scenarios. Great video!

Your data and observations are helpful. I've used biscuits and pocket screws on home furniture projects where I'm not pretending to make showroom pieces, but sturdy everyday use in a busy household. Both are easy to use and have never failed me. But I see where dowels and dominos would be preferred. Thanks!

I really liked the video and the scale was a great quick and dirty way of showing the holding strength of each. I picked up the dowel tool and the pocket acres screw jig based off your video today. Thank you for the nerdy stuff which I am into!

I’m a mechanical engineering professor, you did well for an initial testing system, main issues are small sample size and you didn’t load the joint in it’s weakest orientation. I’d love to see how orientation effects strength between joints.

Well, I'm glad someone openly said it. There are a lot of worse than bad dowel jigs out there. Early on I recall buying two dowel jigs. The first a budget jig. Then a mid-range jig. I kept wondering why I was so bad at dowel joinery until it dawned on me how really sloppy and bad these jigs were. In frustration, I essentially gave up on dowel joinery, unwilling to invest any more time and effort. I bought a Domino while I also use biscuits (sparingly) and pocket screws where appropriate. But yeah, a lot of really bad dowel jigs out there. I wonder how many people unnecessarily wrestle with dowel joinery not really knowing they're just using a crummy dowel jig.

I used dowels before getting a Domino. For large panel layups it works like a charm and each domino, especially if you are using the larger ones, each one will be stronger.

This is exactly the video I've been looking for. Thank you sir

I really don’t use biscuits often but the joiner is handy for cutting slots for Z-clips to make removable table / desk tops. The Z-clips let the top expand and contract with temperature and humidity changes without destroying the frame or cracking the top

The big plus of biscuits is alignment in glueups, like big MDF pieces of furniture, where you are in a hurry to get things together before the glue dries. I basically never used the biscuit machine with that flap down. Push the pieces against a flat surface (your working table) and make sure you machine each part from the right side. It's very effective when you get used to it. The sideways slack might be a downside, but also a upside. If you are precise enough when using the biscuit machine you can get perfectly alligned when glueing up. I really can't see pocket holes being even close to as effective as biscuits.

I wasn't surprised that pocket holes were stronger than biscuits. Biscuits seem like more of an aid in alignment than a joint.

Man, you really have help me a lot to learn, woodworking is certainly an amazing hobby to have, but there is something that just the experience can give you, thanks for sharing that lot of experience you have.

“Did you ever want any of your grandparents furniture? ” Yes! I have some of it and it’s still kicking while I’m replacing cheap furniture I’ve bought constantly. I wish I had some of my Great Grandparents furniture and some of their parents furniture, and a lot of other people seem to as well since there is an “antique “shop on every corner.

Great video and I enjoyed it. Thanks Scott. I do want to add a point in the favour of biscuits. I started out using biscuits, not using a biscuit jointer costing £200, but using a router I needed anyway and then a £10 biscuit router bit. For a real novice it was a cheap and easy way to make great joints at minimal cost. In addition it uses very little storage space. Often a real plus for a beginner.

I like the biscuit joiner for assembling the corners of door and window casing. It's not fast, but those joints are not likely to ever open.

Loved the balanced opinions and real-life application focus of this video! Thanks for the great overview

Great Video! For quick projects that I dont need a lot of strength from, I use pocket screws. When I need strength, I use a combination of dowels and pocket screws on the same joint.

Under dunn put his biscuit cutter on some stones and thinned it out so the biscuits fit tight and had great success. The problem with biscuits is the biscuit is to loose and glue needs a tight fit. So his solution is really good.

One of the raps on dowels, typically related to cheap dowel jigs, is alignment. I've bought a few cheap dowelling jigs but I found the best, in my experience, is the Milescraft. It's only draw back is trying to use it on smaller workpieces. However, if you really want to eliminate alignment issues and you don't want to spend $200+ on a better dowel jig, get some dowel pins. With dowel pins, all you need is a drill, which you probably already have because hey, you're a woodworker. Yeah, you need to work on your drilling skills but a couple of small scraps of wood and you've got yourself a drilling guide for making straight holes. If nothing else, you can blame your lingering alignment issues on yourself instead of a cheap jig.

It all depends on the project you are working on. I have used dowel bisque and shrews. Good demonstration.

This is the first of your videos that I’ve seen and it was enough to subscribe, I’m looking forward to more of this style of video. Thank you

Scott, the vid you showed of the biscuit joint test showed the failure of the wood, not of the joint itself. The joint actually stayed intact. Biscuits certainly aren't good for every joint, but in situations where you don't want to see the fastener they obviously superior to pocket screws. For instance, I've used them many times to secure face frames to cabinets...and they work great for that. Makes alignment onto the carcass a snap, and provides a rock solid connection of the face frames to the carcass.

Dude. I've watched a bunch of these woodworking experiment videos and as a scientist, I really appreciate you making replications and taking an average! Nobody ever does this! All that's missing is standard deviation but I'll let you off on that one. Well played!

I love exposed dowels! The sight that immediately shows that the boards are firmly mounted together.

Fascinating. Really interesting how strong dowels are. On the other hand I made a bed where the headboard was attached to the legs with a long line of dowels, and my daughter dragging it across the room wracked out of square, hit a snag from a high floor board, and snapped every darn one! That would be a stress in a very different direction. Of course I have no idea if any of the other methods here would have done any better. At least it was something I could repair vs blowing out the leg or headboard. It would be interesting to see the strength against a traditional mortise and tenon joint. I am just a hobbyist so time is not too important, so I have gone to mostly traditional joints for fine furniture.

Love the commitment to the hard stop at the end! :) And I would like a domino but can never justify the cost as a DIY'er. So I have the dowelmax jig. LOVE it. And yeah, I've never really used the biscuit joiner much. The only use would be a narrow piece that needed to be jointed. Where a dowel is just too thick. But then again, I've never had to joint a 1/2" stock for strength so..... it's a made up scenario (for me). As usual, great video. Thanks for taking the time to do it five times. Better you than me. LOL

Thank you, from someone with adhd, for making the most interesting and comprehensive content i can find on my favorite hobby. Keep up the awesome work!

After using a Lamello biscuit joiner for years we finally got a domino. Love it. The ability to make our own dominoes to exact dimension is the game changer.

This was great! First because it was informative. Second, because being critical of someone's wood joining methods, to some people, is like telling them that their kids are funny looking and can't sing. So thumbs up for the courage!

Thanks Scott, good video It would've been interesting to add a traditional mortise and tenon joint to the comparison

This was fun to watch and very informative! I recall first hearing about biscuits years ago when Norm Abram and the New Yankee Workshop started to use them. I do believe he’d odd a few table tops with them. This was before the Domino system from Festool (or even Festool tools!). But he did also use floating tenons on many projects. Of course… The was Norm, simply the best!

Great Video. They all have their place in the shop or on the job site. I use a triton dowel joiner which allows for 2 holes to be drilled at once and can speed up the process. It’s a great alternative to the festool domino. Though I don’t think it has the range of dowel sizes compared to drill jig you highlighted in the video. Even though biscuits might be the “weakest”, they still have their place. I use them mostly in casement trim around doors and windows. This is where that “slop” becomes really handy as it allows the piece to come together across uneven surface that you might encounter on a wall. I like to use Kreg screws to attach my face frames to box cabinets. You can hide the pockets between the cabinets in most cases except for the end caps. There are applications for all of these tools and methods.

63yo retired mechanical engineer/novice woodworker here. Bravo Scott, excellent balance of depth and breadth of subject. I especially appreciate your disclaimers on the limits of your approach including your treatment of the data.

Great vid. While I think the general conclusion on strength of biscuits is correct, I do think your biscuit joiner and brand of biscuits may be much like the crappy dowel jigs. I use a Lamello joiner with their biscuits for table tops and they are a very tight fit. I have to be careful to get them in immediately after any moisture contacts the biscuits or they have to be pounded in. They absolutely do their job for aligning boards flush. For reference, I have used all the systems shown and have no bias. Each has their place.

I used to be a big festfool fan and that faded about six years ago but the domino is definitely king when it comes to joinery in my shop. The dust collection, versatility and precision is unmatched. It is expensive though so there are definitely other ways to do it but they don’t compare.

An interesting product relating to biscuits is the Lamello joint system. They have a range of inserts that fit the standard biscuit cut, including a 2 piece lockable joint allowing for joints to be taken apart and rebuilt . We use them frequently in boat building ,for cabinetry.

Love the comparison, I'm not a woodworker, but I do a lot of DIY projects and work around the house. I use biscuit joints for putting together door/window casings and ensure that they're aligned at the ends. None of the other options would work as they require thicker material.

Good video and worth watching. Perspective is pretty good as well. I do think a bit more highly of the biscuit joiner than do you, but only a bit. It can actually be rather nice for putting splines in miter joints. I also think a bit more highly of the Domino. One of the nice things about the Domino is its ability to do angles. Set-up for putting a Domino into some 45° joints joints is pretty fast and simple whereas trying to do that with a doweling jig is considerably more of a bother (although the DowelMax system helps quite a bit). Multiple demonstrations have suggested the dowel joinery is stronger but, of course, that isn't always the most important thing. Because I largely agree with you regarding the dowels for a lot of joints, I got the Jessem doweling jig and I also use spiral grooved dowels. But the speed and precision with which the Festool Domino can be used is (IMHO) why it is so popular.

My grandpa and my dad were professionnal woodworkers and as a kid i saw them using a TONS of dowels. When i decided to built my own furniture 10 years ago, i didn't want to use it because " yerk ...dowels are too old fashion, you're not at Ikea here, tenons and mortises are so much fancy...bla bla bla" Now i realise how i was wrong and how verstatile, easy and strong the dowels are! I think this the best compromise as wood joining. Here in France i don't know if somebody uses pocket screws, it seems to be more a north american method

I made my own hardwood biscuits being aware of grain orientation because I always end up with a lot of hardwood cutoffs around biscuit thickness. . It's basically taking the place of a T&G joint, or the next best thing to a mortise and tenon and certainly better than butting end grains.

I'm looking at building a custom desk for myself. I've built some things, but never anything like that. I was fortunate enough to come across someone selling their stock of live edge slabs at basically firewood prices (two ash slabs, little over 9 ft long, 2.5 inches deep and about 1.5 ft wide for $20/slab) and was trying to figure out the best way to join them together and this helped so much. I'm definitely going to pay the extra and go with dowels. I want something that will last me for a long time

Would be interested in a comparison to a conventional mortise and tenon joint. I built a small dresser using hand-drilled dowels (no jig, just lots of planing) in 1995, and it's still going strong. But great video, and great to see T-dot represented on the you tubes.

I haven't pulled my biscuit joiner out in probably 10 years. I use pocket holes, half laps or mortise and tenon occasionally, but mostly I use dowels. My preferred jig is the JessEm but the Dowel Max is excellent as well.

Really interesting. I've wondered about the strength issue. I don't care about time since I'm retired. I've used dowels on many projects and it's nice to find out they are the strongest.

The dowels had higher strength because the bending force generated by your testing rig translates to tension on the bottom of the joint and the dowels are closer to the edge which makes a larger lever arm and a lower tension force for the same bending moment. In other words it creates a stronger joint in bending because the dowel is closer to the edge than the domino. Also you should check out Jessem's new domino tool, it is a fraction of the Festool and uses your cordless drill to make the holes.

Nice comparison - you should work with Matthias Wandel and his test rigs. I've used dowels for years and they work very well. You can also make your own floating tenon stock using a bullnose router bit and some small scrap boards.

I only use biscuits on wider joints and I find them far far faster than even pocket screws. Plus with 20 years experience and 40 pieces of furniture and lamps. I’ve never had a biscuit fail in real world use.

Without glue screws are reversible and with or without glue you don't have to wait for glue to dry, which I think helps with their popularity on TV and KZfaq. As people have figured out with particle board furniture from box stores, they're fine.

I have used all of these methods. The biscuits the most. Now I use a Domino most often. I can tell you in 25 years of woodworking I have never had a properly done joint fail. It doesn’t matter which method as long as it is tight fitting and not glue starved. All that said I have observed lots of factory furniture with failed dowel joints.

The furniture passed down from my grandparents to my parents is from my grand-grandparents or older. So we talk about 1850-1900. Those are gorgeous. I hope that they one day are passed down to me and I would be really sad if they don't last. That said, I don't think that anyone wants the furniture I build in a hundred years.

Thanks for the test ... very informative !

This is awesome you've covered everything I love the numbers

Nice comparison video, a lot of good information for the newer to intermediate woodworker. Over the last 45 or so years I've used each of those joinery methods (and a few more) and the issues you pointed out for each was spot on. The only thing I would have added is alignment. With pocket screws, to get good alignment you need to clamp the joint heavily or the force of the screws seating will pull the wood out of alignment. Biscuit joints tend to wander top to bottom because of the loose fit of the biscuit. Dowels, as you pointed out, all depend on the jig you have. Dominos are my favorite for sure, despite the cost of the machine. Alignment never seems a problem with them due to the accuracy of the mortise placement (for that much $ they better be more accurate) and the snug fit of the domino. I used them recently to join the mitered corners of my kitchen butcher block counter tops. They slid right in smooth as silk, and the surface alignment was perfect, better than any other joinery method I've used. Thanks again for the video, these are always great to watch

Would have been interesting to see how pocket hole strength would have been affected if you used 4 or even 3 vs the 2 you used. Wonder how this would have compared to the 4 dowels used. Also, there are some pocket hole jigs that have a shallower approach angle than "craig" which would allow a longer screw to be used, which would change the dynamics of the joint. And as others have aluded to in the comments, biscuits were originally developed to provide alignment to a standard edge to edge board glue up. They were later applied to joints to help with alignment. Not sure they were ever intended to reinforce the joint. Would have been interesting to see how the jointnwould have faired if you doubled the biscuits up by stacking them in the joint. Finally from a physics or "statics" perspective in joint strength, the location of the hole for whatever method you plan to use, will have different effects on the joint strength. The hole closest to the inside corner sees its greatest stress in the form of tension. The hole farthest probably sees its greatest stress in the form of a bending moment. Each method of joining the two pieces of wood has an advantage. The domino probably has the greatest ability for strength when a bending moment is involved because of the width of the domino. And the greatest glued surface probably has the greatest strength in tension. So a hybrid joint of dowels and a domino might do well assuming all other things remained equal. However, 4 pocket hole screws might be up there too.

I use biscuits when gluing up a workpiece where both sides will show. Tabletops, hinged bench/box lids, etc. They don’t add much strength but keep things aligned during glue-up, which is worth it to me. You’ve gotten me interested in dowels for some applications tho. Thanks.

Funny, I live in the old town of Bern. The permanently installed cupboards are now 350 years old. In the living room there is a screwless display case that has been in our family for 150 years. I renovated my grandparents' former closet and it is now the focal point of our living room (also because all the alcoholic beverages are stored in it). In the workshop of my father, who is over 80, his grandfather's wooden workbench is still in use (well, we don't have termites in Switzerland). The welding table in my father's metal shop is also 80 years old and was built by his father and uncle. In short, yes, I enjoy doing this with quality furniture that has been in the business for generations. Apart from that: a very interesting video.

Pocket screws are hands-down the ONLY choice if you only have one choice, they completely revolutionized woodworking when they came on the scene. Biscuits are great for panel joinery and joints that have to be invisible from both sides. Dowels are strong, but novices have a lot of trouble lining them up, and I have to admit in my 40-someodd career in woodworking I have had some misaligned dowels too. The Domino is great for some limited applications that involve larger scale, for example they are wonderful for making doors. The really small dominos on the other hand don't do much for you, except maybe amortize the cost of the too-expensive machine. In terms of what you will use most in practical application, they go in thew order I listed them. If you have nothing and want to know which to buy first, it's pocket screws and jigs hands-down. Low cost and will make face frames an absolute breeze.

Good comparisons, Scott. The pocket hole system is certainly an easy start for most intrepid woodworkers. The dowels really do shine and I have been using them for years, as opposed to my biscuit joiner, which is collecting dust in the cabinet. As for the Domino, well, it's cool and all, but it's a Festool and OMG, that cost! I was pricing out a couple of Festool tools and realized I can get a pretty nice cabinet saw for the price of one of their dust collectors and one hand tool! You're "right on the money" here.

I have a dowelmax and I love it. I cannot recommend enough. Easy to use, precise, incredibly strong joints.

Pocket screw holes can be easily concealed by a dowl and a pull saw. Unless it is stain grade.

I like doing mortise and tenon joints or dovetails on just about anything that's either visible or gets any proper use because I both like to make my projects look non-bulky so their thin structures need that extra strength often and just because I'm extra like that. If I really can't be bothered, it's "just" a box joint. This mind set of course takes the most amount of time possible as I haven't yet built jigs for any of these. But sometimes it would be nice to just get things done without a huge time investment. So I went and bought the Domino as it was on quite a considerable sale and I'm in the fortunate position to disregard the cost anyway. It's just a damn well thought out tool. But man is Festool the Apple of woodworking with it's high prices and they even have a practice in place that the tool itself can't be on any sales anywhere, only bundles of the tool can (or so I've heard). If it wasn't priced so high and had competition (still under patent protection), I'd sing it's high praises. But as it is, I'm always happy to see stronger/cheaper proper alternatives.

The Domino is amazing IMHO. That said, Castle USA makes a pocket joinery tool and torx screws that change the game in pocket hole joinery. Before I got the Castle 110, I loathed pocket joinery, but now I love it! These are both my go to choices. I do occasionally use dowles with the Jessem jig when I feel the Domino is too bulky or awkward.

I built Adirondack chairs out of ipe using dowels. Outside in full weather, south Florida, lasted years Before the dowels actually rotted away. Easy to fix. Redrill and replace. Also build a fence out of ipe and dowels. 10 years and going strong, zero sag with nothing but hinges holding it up. Dowels are strong and easy to use.

I'm new to your channel. Watched 3 videos. I enjoy your delivery and info. keep up the great work. I'm subscribed.

Two affordable options that weren't covered: the Rockler Beadlock system, which is a fancied-up dowel jig that makes space for a version of the domino, and the Tianli router jig that cuts domino-style mortises. Both about 1/5 the price of the Festool.

Hi Scott. Thanks for the video. Your triangle is a visual representation of what a friend of mine that was a fine guitar maker (he's retired) was telling me: if you want something done, you have to chose 2 out of these 3 requirements, the last one will most likely be neglected: well built - fast built - cheap. Keep it up! EDIT: also I have a very good dowel jig, and it really is a great tool. Unless I drastically change my way of woodworking (currently: hobbyist), it's going to be more than enough for the rest of my career.

To this series of tests, I would add testing a joint made with no fasteners whatsoever, simply an end grain to long grain joint. This type of joint is surprisingly stronger than most people think. Would be curious to see how it stacks up.

Great video! I have the doweling jig tool from grizzly. It’s $100 and looks like a biscuit joiner or domino, but notches out two dowel holes. Love it

I see festool as the apple of the woodworking world. It's more expensive, but it's also very well refined. It's doing what many other tools do for cheaper, but what it does, it's meant to do it very well.

First I am a hobby woodworker. I just took a walk around my house and shop. Checked the joints on things I made over the years going back 25 years or so. Nothing has had a failure. Regardless of the joinery. I don’t have a Festool Domino but the rest of the methods here and other more traditional joinery have been used. What I think is important is do what you feel like doing. Most things, for strength alone could be a glued butt joint. Things like drawer fronts, table lower stringers, or chairs that can take a ton of abuse over the years have to have more consideration. Racking is more a problem then brute force. I butt joint will fail faster from back and forth motion that one made with dowels or dominoes. Are splined picture frames stronger? Yep, but do they need to be? It depends on what is inside the frame I suppose. I like videos like this because if and when strength is needed then I have an idea of what to do.

Seems most people arent aware, but as i recall from my shop days, biscuits came in 3 different thicknesses, from very tight to loose fitting, depending on what your needs are. I would suspect that the tight fitting ones are structurally strongest. It was also our understanding that the biscuits are designed to swell when glued.

I'm a beg/intermediate and I rebuilt all of my kitchen drawers using pocket hole screws, etc. Amazing, strong, hidden, and fast. My biscuits never line up, same with dowels. But I can make it work.

I own two biscuit joiners and I've never experienced a loose fitting biscuit. If anything they're a little tight. Biscuits are much faster than dominos, because there's side to side play you can go pretty fast (if you're using biscuits odds are you're using a a bunch) and it's no big deal if you're not right on the mark. They really shine when putting long butt joints together, especially if you want to put all four sides together at once and/or adding a divider without the joinery showing. Not only are they fast but they create a standoff and your pieces drop right into place without have to slide them around smearing glue lining up the sides like you do with pocket holes. Dominos need accuracy especially if you don't set it up on the looser settings and are more expensive. You better be super accurate with dowels as well. I'd be curious to see how much stronger those other options are when you are making 90 deg butt joints with plywood and depth is limited. In that face frame application you show I use pocket holes (a Kreg Foreman is really fast), biscuits are for casework and dowels and dominos are for narrow pieces or when strength is a concern. They all have their place.

Pocket screws are actually surprisingly strong. Most tests show they fail just before wood around the joints, which in my opinion is the preferred mode of failure. It's much easier to fix a ripped out screw than a broken piece around a domino. I think dowels in gangs are also just as good as dominos. You need a good jig like JesseEm, but they work exceptionally well, and much cheaper. Freud makes great dual doweler for fast joineries, but they are no longer made as far as I know. You can usually buy one online cheap.

I generally buy hardwood dowels and leave them exposed or use them to fill pocket holes on items I make for the garage or exterior projects such as my fence. They look great and are super cheap. My doweling jig was $15, is fast to adjust, and has done very well for almost every application.

I've built 4'X8' carriage doors for the garage using something called 'Beadlock'. Beadlock uses a modified doweling jig and ready-made tenon stock that has more surface area than the 'domino' but is considerably cheaper. The system is not as fast as the Festool, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper. The carriage doors I build 20 years ago have held up without a problem.

Never had a problem with biscuits. They all always fit tightly and line up perfectly, but I also ever only used original Lamello biscuits with the original Lamello machine and I could see why not everyone can afford that Also about dowels. Love them, and there is a machine similar to the Festool domino to make them. Its called the Mafell DDF40. It’s faster than a jig but also more expensive than a domino :/ I still got one and I don’t regret it

Rabbets and dados feeling left out ;)

Those single mini pocket hole jigs work great if you run a short nail/screw through the part where you clamp and one at the very tail end. Just enough for it to bite the work piece and prevent that wandering.

Subscribed. Love the videos! Would love to hear you discuss the iron triangle of buying every type of wood working tool and material.

My introduction to furniture building was in the early 70’s. I didn’t have the knowledge or machinery to assemble joints on my early pieces. I also didn’t have money to buy other options, so I bought a self-centering dowel jig & used it until it wore out. Even though I’m many generations from those early days, I still go back to dowel joinery. I do lots of mortise & tenon joints and biscuit joins when appropriate. I don’t have and never will have the Festool, way overpriced! Thanks for the good review

Understanding that it is probably overkill compared to these other joining methods, I prefer the traditional mortise and tenon joint. Yeah it is less efficient timewise and easier to mess up but I just like them and the satisfaction they give me. I also like the look of dovetails and box joints and use these a lot too. Yeah I know I am a joinerysaurus but I like puttering around my shop and am rarely under any deadline so I just do what I like.

I love the data centered approach to this.

Fantastic video, Scott. Captivating story line throughout and great information.

Hi Scott - I disagree vehemently. I won't specify in what way. Hope this helps