Before and after upgrading to Festool Domino: my joinery time dropped by 60%

I spent 6 years doing mortise and tenon joints by hand with a chisel and router jig. Last month I finally bought a Festool Domino DF 500 after watching one too many videos. First project was a set of 8 cabinet doors. My old method would have taken me around 4 hours per door. With the Domino, each door took maybe 45 minutes. The fit is way more consistent too. No gaps I had to fill with glue and sawdust. Has anyone else made a big switch like that and seen a similar jump in speed? Or do you still prefer hand cut joints for certain things?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_parker1d ago

60% is wild but honestly I'd bet you could cut it even more after the third or fourth project.

brian_rivera5921h ago

There was a study or something I saw on X about experienced devs actually spending less time on planning because they just know what patterns work. I bet after 3 or 4 projects you basically have a mental template for everything. The first project is like figuring out a new puzzle, the fifth one is just swapping out the details. I read somewhere that senior devs spend like 70% less time on architecture decisions compared to juniors. So yeah, that 60% number probably drops fast once you've built a few of these things.

gavin_hill2721h ago

Doesn't @brian_rivera59's point about pattern recognition actually mean more time upfront to get those templates right?