Domino XL Projects & Reviews.
Back in January of 2012, we selected professionals from hundreds of applicants to
become test users for the Domino XL. They were supplied with a Domino XL and tenons
in advance of the official launch so that we could learn more about how it fit into
their shops and what advantages it offered.
The reactions from our focus group has been overwhelming positive and the advantages
offered by the Domino XL over other types of joinery were quickly apparent. Below
we're including links to some of the blogs, forum posts, YouTube video and more
that have been supplied by the group. If you're interested in the Domino XL, these
links offer very good information from professionals who make their living with
their tools, just like you. While these reviews are on the Domino XL, the same principles
and methods are shared by the Domino DF 500, just on a smaller scale.
Gregory Paolini -Custom Door Construction
Gregory is well known as an magazine contributor and author of several woodworking
books. In this video, Gregory talks about how the Domino XL and other Festool power
tools have integrated into his shop. Specifically, he shows how he uses the Domino
XL for custom door construction and is able to significantly speed up the process.
By his estimates, he saved an 35 hours of labor on this single project consisting
of more than 2000 mortises.
My Three Sons, Luis Elizondo
Luis does a great job of comparing the Domino XL to all of the other forms of large
scale joinery he's used in his shop including routing jigs, doweling machines, etc.
He also demonstrates the Domino XL in action and shows several of the projects that
he's used the Domino XL on.
Newton Fine Woodworking, Rob Bois - Domino XL Project Video
Rob has created a multi-part video showing the Domino XL being used in the construction
of a table. His goal was to do the complete build in a single day. Head over to
Rob's blog to read about the project
and watch all of the videos from the project.
Joe Calhoon - Door and Window Construction
This is a great thread on the Festool Owners Group form by Joe Calhoon. Joe's company
builds custom doors and windows and put the Domino XL up against his Hoffman Bore
System doweling machine. The Domino XL was able to offer great advantages for joinery
operations. Joe said, "I know the XL will run circles around a standard slot
mortiser".
Read what Joe has to say and check out the photos of his projects.
Half Inch Shy - Video Review
Paul-Marcel of the Half Inch Shy blog
evaluates the Domino XL in this comprehensive video review. In the video, he also
offers comparisons to the original Domino DF 500. You can find a lot of great video
reviews of Festool products on his blog, so be sure to visit it and check out all
of the other great resources.
Keith Jones - Furniture Construction
Visit Keith's blog to see a
couple of different tables that he's built using the Domino XL for all of the joinery.
Keith says, "The Domino is really starting to shine as a go to tool in my shop.
I had a commission for an Arts & Crafts style coffee table that had been languishing
in my shop for too long. To be honest I had been dreading all the joinery involved
in putting it together. So when I applied to be a test user for the new Domino XL
I specifically mentioned the desire to have the XL for this project. The time and
frustration I saved over traditional mortise and tenons (which I'm not the practiced
at) alone would make me want to buy one of these machines!!!"
Leonard Custom Works - Door and Window Construction
Matt Leonard has been using the Domino XL to construct custom doors and windows.
Matt claims that the Domino XL takes about 10-15 minutes to set up compared to about
an hour with the mortiser that he previously used. The time savings offers a genuine
competitive advantage and increases profitability. Check out his commentary in the
video below and a photo of some of his work.
Robby Myer - "Building doors the easy way"
Robby takes an in depth look a the
Domino XL and Domino DF 500 in this great article over on Gary Katz's This Is Carpentry blog. Follow
Robby as he builds a custom door using the Domino for joinery. Robby said, "While
sipping a brew, I got to thinking of other ways the XL could benefit my operation.
We’re a custom door shop, first and foremost, so anytime I’m building a door from
scratch there’s no doubt the XL will have a part in it—for building doors, this
unit is a phenomenal time saver".
Ian Forsberg - Beam and Purlins
Ian has been using the Domino XL to align purlins to beams in the video below. The
Domino tenons are great for quick, easy alignment of joints.
Brun Millworks - Architecture Elements
Tim Brun of Brun Millworks has been using the Domino XL to create large architecture
elements for his clients. Here's a photo from one of his recent projects. The larger
corbels are approximately six feet in length and all of the joinery was done with
the Domino XL. Tim says that the Domino XL has saved him a lot of labor over other
types of joinery, like shoulder joints, that he would traditionally use.
Tim offered the following evaluation of time savings using the Domino XL compared
to traditional mortise and tenon construction techniques. Tim says, "On a large
job with 36 brackets, and implementing the domino xl instead of a dovetailed shoulder
joint, saving 30 minutes per bracket equates to saving 18 hours on the whole job.
This is just a small example of how the domino xl saves time and will save labor
in the shop".
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Traditional M&T
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Domino XL
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Screen Door
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75 mins.
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15 mins.
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Table Base
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120 mins.
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30 mins.
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Shutter Rail & Stile
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20 mins.
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5 mins.
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Large Corbels
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45 mins.
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15 mins.
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360 Degrees - Outdoor Ipe Tables & Bench
Rob Binter and the gang at 360 Degrees used
the Domino XL to produce a bunch of tables for outdoor use out of Ipe, which is
known to be a very dense, hard wood. That's a lot of mortises. Rob also created
a Cumar and Ipe bench.
Victoria Wood Studio - Gate Construction
Victoria Wood Studio is located
in Canada and they used the Domino XL and the original Domino DF 500 to construct
this custom gate for a client. Dita of Victoria Wood Studio was pleased with the
time savings and ease of construction using the Dominoes for the joinery on the
project. Check out a
photo gallery on their Facebook page for more documentation of this project.
Vitale Woodworking - Furniture Construction
Read a review of the Domino XL and see a table constructed with it on the
Vitale Woodworking blog.
Sterling Staircase - Screen Door Construction
Sandy Thompson of Sterling Staircase &
Handrail used the Domino XL to construction a custom set of mahogany sliding
screen doors saying, "There is no comparison as to the speed and accuracy of
the XL.".
Inspired Woodworks - Window Construction
Jason Renz of Inspired Woodworks and Construction used the Domino XL to construct
custom windows from African mahogany. Here's what he said to say about his experiences
with the XL.
"The XL is an absolute beauty of a machine and has a ton of great qualities:
e.g. the massive depth that the cutters are able to achieve, the ease of set-up
and the ability to set up multiple mortises with the different pins. It has been
a pleasure to use and it makes a small shop owner, like myself, feel like one of
the big dogs."
Dave Reinhold - Architectural Elements
Dave Reinhold builds some architectural brackets using the Domino XL.
Woodworker's Journal - Quick Look
Woodworker's Journal Magazine Editor in Chief Rob Johnstone takes a quick look at
the new Domino XL. Some of the video offers a comparison with the original Domino
DF 500.
Peter Parfitt - Domino XL Video Review
Peter is a writer for various woodworking publications in the U.K. He created a
three part video review of the Domino XL which includes an overview of all of the
features as well as applications and video of the Domino XL in use. You can also
read some of his commentary in a thread on the
Festool Owners Group forum.
Warning - Festool USA does not endorse the application or use of any Festool product
in any way other than in the manner described in the Festool Instruction Manual.
To reduce the risk of serious injury and/or damage to your Festool product, always
read, understand and follow all warnings and instructions in your Festool product's
Instruction Manual. Festool and its affiliates cannot be responsible for improper
information on this site or your reliance on the website's material. Your use of
any material contained on this website is entirely at your own risk. The content
contained on this site is provided for informational purposes only and does not
constitute professional advice.
In the spirit of full disclosure, our focus group was supplied with the products
for testing purposes. At the end of the test period, they will be offered a discount
to purchase the Domino XL if they choose to keep it. Some posts are from editors
that were also provided with the tool for evaluation purposes.