Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

paulsellers.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 64 posts

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#41

Post by akiselev »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #33
akiselev wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have the Festool Domino XL [1] and IMO router jigs like in that video are only superficially equivalent. The real benefit of the Domino is how it indexes cuts against edges using the mortise spacer tabs/accessories and the 0-90 degree fence, height adjusted using precise stops. It makes "measure twice, cut once" much smoother and setup is so fast that it's become my default method of joinery for anything where aest…

I assume you are suggesting the Festool Domino DF 500 (the smaller one)? I'll add it to my "Wish List", haha.

Correct. Getting the bigger one is probably one of the worst decisions I’ve made in setting up my shop but at the time Festool wasn’t expecting any more to come out of their factories for at least a quarter. It’s more expensive than the 300 pound bandsaw and more awkward to use in most cases than the smaller domino. It was great retail therapy in the first year of the pandemic though.

You’ll know it if you need the larger domino, like if you’re selling a few heirloom quality beds a week for four or five figure sums, and then the expense will most likely be an afterthought.

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#42

Post by zo1 »

pigtailgirl wrote: post #3

-- never cared about woodwork till discovering Blacktail Studio on youtube - now all I want to do is make tables - highly recommend - especially if you give zero f's about woodworking -- https://www.youtube.com/c/BlacktailStudio/videos

My favorite that imparts a lot of knowledge and insight in a high density format is Stumpy Nubs.

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCstwpLSByklww1YojZN-KiQ

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#43

Post by hyperbovine »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #21
eropple wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The river table stuff is largely dead, from my perspective. It's a neat gimmick but it's run its course. I haven't seen somebody talk about one, or seen a new one on YouTube, for months. Maybe longer? And, FWIW, Festool only sponsors a couple of woodworkers and very rarely gives tools to others for marketing purposes. You see a lot of Festool (and Fein and Mirka) because it's worth it if you're serious. They feel goo…

Festool's Domino system is the one product I cannot find a cheaper alternative (too pricey for me though, so sticking with my biscuit joiner). I'm very happy with my Makita track saw though that, while still pricey, was maybe 1/3 the cost of the Festool?

Dowelmax is 1/4 the cost and makes a stronger joint. (https://vimeo.com/339631122) Woodworking metamorphosed at some point from "basic life skill" to "rich old guy money sport". Festool exploits the latter market masterfully.

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#44

Post by mauvehaus »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #21
eropple wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The river table stuff is largely dead, from my perspective. It's a neat gimmick but it's run its course. I haven't seen somebody talk about one, or seen a new one on YouTube, for months. Maybe longer? And, FWIW, Festool only sponsors a couple of woodworkers and very rarely gives tools to others for marketing purposes. You see a lot of Festool (and Fein and Mirka) because it's worth it if you're serious. They feel goo…

Festool's Domino system is the one product I cannot find a cheaper alternative (too pricey for me though, so sticking with my biscuit joiner). I'm very happy with my Makita track saw though that, while still pricey, was maybe 1/3 the cost of the Festool?

If you think the Domino is expensive, you should look at the Lamello biscuit joiners. While seated.

They are also head and shoulders above any other biscuit joiner I've used. At the price, they should be. I don't own one, but I have used one in another shop.

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#45

Post by mauvehaus »

hyperbovine wrote: post #43
JKCalhoun wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Festool's Domino system is the one product I cannot find a cheaper alternative (too pricey for me though, so sticking with my biscuit joiner). I'm very happy with my Makita track saw though that, while still pricey, was maybe 1/3 the cost of the Festool?

Dowelmax is 1/4 the cost and makes a stronger joint. ( https://vimeo.com/339631122 ) Woodworking metamorphosed at some point from "basic life skill" to "rich old guy money sport". Festool exploits the latter market masterfully.

I'm sorry, but you're just wrong about who uses Festool tools. Yeah, some people with a boatload of money buy it because it's the most expensive tool.

You primarily see their tools in the hands of pros, because their tools are, in many cases, better than the alternatives. The value prop on the Domino isn't that it's the strongest joint, it's that it's strong enough for the application, fast, and repeatable. When you build furniture for money, that matters. You don't have to build too many frame and panel assemblies to make it pay for itself.

The dust collection on their sanders is outstanding. I don't do site work that involves sanding, but if I did, you'd better believe that I'd make that investment in a heartbeat. Not getting fine sanding dust all over your client's space is worth every penny of the cost.

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#46

Post by cricalix »

amelius wrote: post #9
pigtailgirl wrote: post #3

-- never cared about woodwork till discovering Blacktail Studio on youtube - now all I want to do is make tables - highly recommend - especially if you give zero f's about woodworking -- https://www.youtube.com/c/BlacktailStudio/videos

Can one make a decent income with woodworking?

Some people do, some don't.

Even as a background listen, Shop Talk Live is pretty good - and they've covered the "make money from it" before. https://www.finewoodworking.com/blog/shop-talk-live

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#47

Post by samstave »

eropple wrote: post #20
JKCalhoun wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, beautiful stuff. Definitely my favorite woodworker on YouTube so far. I think his style is more mine. The epoxy "river tables" and all the live-edge stuff that is trendy puts me off of other the YouTubers. (Never mind all the Festool marketing that goes on.)

The river table stuff is largely dead, from my perspective. It's a neat gimmick but it's run its course. I haven't seen somebody talk about one, or seen a new one on YouTube, for months. Maybe longer? And, FWIW, Festool only sponsors a couple of woodworkers and very rarely gives tools to others for marketing purposes. You see a lot of Festool (and Fein and Mirka) because it's worth it if you're serious. They feel goo…

A buddy of mine builds custom arcade machines @arcadeArmy.com - He is currently doing a "river" table epoxy build cabinet.

his machines are beautiful and amazing - and he can make any game cabinet you like.

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#48

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

neogodless wrote: post #5

The included hyperlink to the product discussed did not work. I suspect it was something like this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hitachi-3-8-in-Plug-Cutter/3056069 (discontinued) None of these match (have the 4 cutting teeth and the center), they either have two teeth with the center or 4 teeth without. https://www.woodcraft.com/categories/plug-cutters Wonder how these other ones hold up to hand drilling.

I've hand drilled hundreds with a non centering plug cutter. It works fine. You make the plugs long anyway so tear out at the beginning isn't an issue. With a tapered cutter the starting surface is going into the hole so it doesn't have to look good either. The main tedium is when they get dull it becomes a bear to force them into the wood.

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#49

Post by JKCalhoun »

joe_guy wrote: post #39
JKCalhoun wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Festool's Domino system is the one product I cannot find a cheaper alternative (too pricey for me though, so sticking with my biscuit joiner). I'm very happy with my Makita track saw though that, while still pricey, was maybe 1/3 the cost of the Festool?

The featool domino is patented until 2024 unfortunately.

That's not far off, actually. Thanks.

Re: Hitachi Wood Plug Cutter Works Perfectly in Hand Held Drills (2013)

#50

Post by cperciva »

ska wrote: post #36
cperciva wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely as a luthier -- a violin made by a skilled luthier (not "top of the profession", but "a decade or more of experience doing this full time") is typically in the $10-40k range and if they're not doing repairs (which can also be lucrative) a luthier working full time hours can make 8-16 good quality violins per year. Of course there's a bunch of expenses to be accounted for, but it's definitely still in the c…

That's a pretty narrow specialty, and suspect it's not the kind of thing you easily jump to from general woodworking skills.

Agreed that it's a narrow specialty. I think being a skilled (and careful!) woodworker is the primary prerequisite though; many luthiers have little or no musical talent (which may go partway to explaining why instruments are valued more on the quality of workmanship than the quality of sound they produce).
Post reply on HN