Don’t forget the plainer, 6ft vices, 14in miter, industrial table saw, ceiling vacuum, 10k sqft working space, chisels, and time.
Oh and the pallet that isn’t covered in grime and weathered.
I don’t get the hate for the Domino. It is an extremely useful tool to save time, but it is a purely luxury thing and there is nothing that you can’t do without it. After all, in the end a Domino is just a fancy dowel and you can build anything that is shown in those youtube videos with a cheap dowel-jig. I built complete tables with this jig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osC9T3WVnlM which cost me 20€ in a set with dowels, drillbits and woodglue. Yes, it took me 2 hours to do the dowelling which would have been 15 minutes with the Domino, but I am only building a table once every 10 years and not weekly like those Youtubers do.
It’s weird.
I watch the videos to learn how to use tools and just enjoy the process. You may see a domino tool as a crazy extravagance that nobody has. Another person mentioned the resin or the large workbench as our of reach for most.
I don’t even have a room that could fit a small workbench in, I use a tiny folding table thing if I need to saw anything.
Sponsors should always be disclaimed but otherwise I just add the tools to the spreadsheet of dream workshop items and enjoy the video.
Lathe envy intensifies
The trick is: use YouTube differently. Ignore the trash, only watch and share the good stuff. After that, watch what it does to your algorithm. You’ll discover cool shit.
What’s the actual difference between the festool domino and a ryobi biscuit joiner?
The difference between the tools they use and the tools you use is that theirs is way more expensive and also a tax write-off.
People will complain about any number of tools. “THIS GUY HAS $10K IN TOOLS, MINIMUM, NO ONE CAN DO THIS PROJECT WITHOUT ALL THOSE TOOLS!!!1!”
Ignoring the fact that while that particular shop has expensive tools, nobody (sane) goes out and drops all that money at once. Most woodworking projects only need a table saw, a planer, a cordless drill, an orbital sander, glue, sandpaper and finish.
All of the tools can be found cheap on Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp, yard sales, or estate sales/auctions.
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Table saw: I ran with a DeWalt job site saw for years before my wife talked me into getting a saw stop. $350 new, or ~$100 used. You can also find used contractor saws for $300 on a regular basis on the aforementioned platforms.
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Planer: I used a shitty lunchbox planer for years that I saved from a dumpster with some 3D printed gears that I designed. I bought a used tank of a planer (still only 12", but 230V and weighs about two of me) for $200. You don’t need a jointer. Make a jointer sled for your planer and a jointer sled for your table saw. Takes longer, but I still used the planer sled for boards that don’t fit on my jointer.
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Cordless drill: Ryobi has a drill and driver combo for around $100, or get a DeWalt for $60. Or scrape the bottom of the barrel for Harbor Freight that’ll get you by for a bit for $20
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Random orbit sander: I used a $14 one from Walmart for years until my hands started hurting after using it. $100 for a new Makita one, can be found for $50 or less used.
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Sandpaper: $12 for a massive pack on Amazon
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Glue: $10 for a medium sized bottle of Titebond II
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Drill bits: $5 at harbor freight
Woodworking isn’t a cheap hobby, but you can get into it with used tools and some restoration work. People love to nitpick shit, and it gets old seeing the same defeatist mentality of people talking themselves out of even trying it.
Space is the only thing you need, but even then, I started on a 5’x5’ apartment balcony in Florida, and used an uninsulated, unpowered 9’x16’ shed in Alaska for several years.
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Hating on festool domino is so cliche at this point. There are plenty of youtubers who are very upfront about building with limited tools. I think the expectations from the viewers are also ridiculous sometimes. “I can’t build this. I only have a ziplock back full of ikea allen wrenches, a pocket knife and half a roll of duct tape”.
