Asa,
Now that you’ve reviewed the Fesstool morticer, which would you recommend for the home woodworker, it or the Leigh Mortising jig? Ignore the cost differential. I’m talking about general utility in the overall of furniture building. I can see that the Fesstool would be handier from the “grab and join” standpoint. However, if one is building standing cabinets, desks, and chests, are its joints beefy enough? You implied that possibly its joints are inadequate for dining tables, but are fine for general chair building. What about joints on settees or sofas? I’m merely big, not huge but if I flop down at the end of a trying day I’d rather not have the joint snap on me. It’s happened before and is both annoying and just a bit embarrassing! I’m starting to seriously outfit my shop and would like to be able to make plenty of mortice and tenon joints and do it without having an entire shelf of options. That runs into money really fast!
Thanx,
Sarge
Edited 1/12/2007 9:03 pm by Oldsarge
Replies
Hi--
Sorry for the delay. I haven't checked these messages in a while. I can't make recommendations about other jigs like the Leigh mortising jig, which I haven't tested. I can say that the Festool joiner's mortises and tenons are smaller than those that can be made with the Leigh jig. As I said in my review, the Festool makes joints that will work well in many applications, but the tenons are a bit small for full-size dining tables. I haven't done a joint-strength test, so I can't say much more. Certainly they will not work for EVERYTHING you build. We might do a strength test on these and other systems soon. Hope this helps.
--Asa
I talked to Larry Smith, the midwest guy for Festool, just last week, and asked him about the strength of the loose tenons used with the Domino system.
I did not ask him to compare with the Leigh jig; rather I asked him if he thought the tenons were strong enough to use for chair building, which I think is the ultimate test of any M/T joint.
He said yes -- as long as you use the biggest size.
I trust his opinion a lot, partly because he comes to Festool with a lot of previous experience, but also because he has been a very dependable source of advice in my other Festool purchases.
We put the Domino thru its paces when I saw him, and I have to say it is a very slick tool. I think they will sell a ton of these machines to commercial shops where time and speed are critical in making M/T joints.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I'm inclined to agree with you. If it will stand up to chairs, it should stand up to anything. At Cerritos College we were discussing floating tenons and the overall judgement was favorable. Modern glues are a wonder and they make the old wedged or pegged tenon obsolete . . . unless you just like such things, and I do. I'm still not decided which way to go and have plenty of time to make a decision. Heck, I've just got a cabinet saw and a drill press, so far, so there will be plenty of purchases made before I get a dedicated M&T tool. Thanx for the additional info, I remain open-minded on the issue.First, count your fingers . . .
A late opinion
Sarge, You may well have purchased a tool by now but, I'll share some of my experiences with mortise and tenon work. For many years I had a table saw with a slot mortising attachment and it served me well building stand alone chests and solid entry doors as well as kitchen face frames and doors. For some of the larger work, I used a chisel and mallet to cut the mortise and table saw for the tenons.
Several yeasr back I bought a Lamello Top 10 biscuit joiner and using double rows of # 6 biscuits I built a large mahogany entertainment center thats still used today with a Sony 32" tube TV that has to weigh over 200#'s.
Two years ago, I purchased the Domino Joiner and built another TV stand for a new 60" plasma out of solid mahogany. While this last piece seems solidly built, I question the viability of the top and bottom case joints to the cabinet sides. With the Domino joiner the slots in the sides only offer end grain as a glue surface. With a Leigh Jig (which I have and after 12 years have still not used it) or m/t joints by hand, I would have a larger rectangular slot with long grain to long grain glue surface.
I still love my Domino Joiner but, I am thinking about limiting it's use to small furniture and cabinet projects.
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