Switched from Kreg pocket holes to Festool Domino tenons for face frames six months ago, never going back

I built cabinets for 8 years using nothing but pocket screws for face frames. Worked fine, strong joints, but I got tired of filling those holes on every single frame. Picked up a used Domino DF500 last spring for $450. Now I glue up tenoned frames in half the time and zero filling. My old boss still says pocket holes are the only way to go for production speed. Anyone else make the switch and get faster or slower?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora53519d agoTop Commenter

Half the time and zero filling" sounds great but pocket holes still win for me when I need to crank out a dozen face frames by Friday. The domino is nice for custom work but it slows me down when volume matters.

matthewp5219d ago

Honestly Nora535 hit on something but it depends on the setup. I run a little shop out of my garage and my Domino has paid for itself in time saved on filling sanding and finishing. But I kept my Kreg jig for when I need to bang out a quick pantry cabinet frame on a tight deadline. Once you get the muscle memory down the Domino is faster for me personally but that first week or two I was slower than with screws. The domio jig is also finicky about alignment sometimes if you don't clamp it perfect.