Going to be redoing all the closets in the house and since these will be custom made by myself, boy math says the money saved on a contractor can go towards a new tool and I'm still in the black. So do I go Festool Domino or Lamello Zeta P2?

Do you really need either? Do you need more than a simple biscuit joiner? I'd think for some sheet work and face frames simple biscuits would suffice.

Or are you just looking for a reason to tool up?

javajaws said:

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Do you really need either? Do you need more than a simple biscuit joiner? I'd think for some sheet work and face frames simple biscuits would suffice.

Or are you just looking for a reason to tool up?

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Agree with this. While the Domino is amazing (I do not have one but have used it), buy to your needs. If you were making furniture, larger entry or cabinet doors, etc. a Domino might be recommended. Would rather see you spend the money on a better 60T saw blade (I am a Forrest blade fan, even though they were recently sold) on the small end, a great disc sander/vacuum on the middle end, or a good track saw/table saw on the high end.

And yes, you will save a ton of money by doing it yourself.

Bonus, the more you do yourself, the more satisfaction you will have, but just as much happiness for your significant other. Then, you will be encouraged to do more, then you will have the go-ahead to buy more tools. The simple project-to-tool purchase relationship. So plan wisely in the beginning.

Let us know if you need any tips along the way. Good luck.

How often will you be joining sheet goods? What else do you join?

The Lamello is an amazing tool, but it's kinda limited to sheet good joinery because you have to be able to get the biscuit into the slot from the edge. The torsional and shear holding power are definitely superior to a wooden biscuit, but if your concern is mostly tensile holding power then the glue is going to do the work anyway. It's a lot of money for a very specialized tool unless you make lots of sheet good boxes.

Unpopular opinion alert: I'm really not a fan of the Festool Domino. I know, I know, it's an amazing tool, but the cost is absurd. I got mine for about $500 at an estate sale where nobody knew what it was. For $500 it's worth it if you do a lot of joinery requiring shear strength, but it's not really what you want for joining 3/4" sheet. I use my Grizzly T32540 doweling joiner the most - it provides a good combination of joinery strength (two dowels) and easy alignment (fence sets the same was as a normal biscuit joiner). It has super mixed reviews from more professional shops, but I'm not putting the same number of miles on it in my hobby shop.

If you want to get a cabinet-joinery specific tool to make super strong and sexy boxes, maybe consider a true-size router dado jig. The Rockler one is crap and I wish I hadn't bought it, it's made of blown plastic and the tolerances are unacceptable even for a hobbyist. Woodpeckers is the gold standard for jigs (around $450), and the Infinity (the one I have, around $300) has been dead accurate for me. Dado/rabbet joints are extremely strong and really sexy in a cabinet

ETA: In addition to the $2k price tag, the plastic biscuits (Lamello) and dominos (Festool) are also really expensive compared to regular wooden biscuits, pocket hole screws, dowels, or even a straight bit for your router

Much of the planning for tool purchase involves your construction method.

Unless your project is going to be under heavy loads or movement, you do not need to over-do it. Closets and basic cabinetry can be assembled with screws (I use 2" coarse thread square drive) or like T. Mike said, dado/rabbet joinery. Assembling hardwood frames; pocket screws, biscuits, or chips, (2" round wafers that are cut with a router bit) is more than adequate. Then gluing frames to plywood carcasses, glue is all you need (and a bunch of clamps). Maybe a few biscuits for alignment purposes only. Some use pocket screws here too.

No expensive tools/toys needed.

Getting higher end plywood is a good start. Do NOT go to big box stores for it. Much of it is far east made and the glue they use is awful smelling. Find yourself a plywood distributor (make them believe you are in the trades if they ask) and get good North American veneer core ply with a maple or birch veneer, 3/4" thick, 'shop grade' if you are painting, you can also get it prefinished (clear) on one or two sides if it is behind doors. Then use either 1/2" ply or mdf for your backs to square up the cabinets.

In my opinion, all woodworking can be done with a circular saw, a drill, a chisel, and a straight edge. After that we get tools as a way to more efficiently do what those can and the money one is willing to spend on tools is based on the balance of how valuable you view your free time vs the time spent on a project.

Truth be told I am probably going to be purchasing the Lamello to take advantage of their Clamex system. I live in a 1950s house with small hallways and small doorways and I don't have the luxury of building 30" wide units in the garage and maneuvering them into the rooms. I am going to be building these in the same style as the IKEA Pax system but in either walnut veneer or white oak veneer plywood from Brazos Forest (only use them because I'm in East Dallas and don't want to drive another 25 minutes to get to FW Plywood). The clamex system allows for easy assembly and disassembly in the garage and transport through the house.

And then, if I can't think of any other projects I need it for, I sell it for only slightly less than I paid for it since the demand is high for it, and the little money I lose on it is far less valuable than the time and effort I would have spent trying to build these closets to the sizes I want in order for them to function they I want them to.

For reference, this is what the master closet is going to look like with the exception that all the double vertical panels you see are when I was designing this as five different units and those would be changing to single vertical panels.

Just curious. I check out brazo Forrest website. But it doesn't show a price list. I'm in east texas and getting quality wood is a chore. Do you know what their price is for a 4x8 sheet of walnut ply? In about to build a bookcase for kids and in Tyler it's about $150 at the only small shop we have.

Haven't priced any Walnut from them yet. I recently purchased Rift Cut White Oak Plywood Core from them and it was $165 if you wanted to compare that to you Tyler shop.