Bas wrote:

I've been wanting to
get into M&T joinery, but found it a little intimidating. The Domino
makes it look so simple in comparison. My biggest concern was getting
the right mileage out of the tool. Sounds like the Domino is good for
both beginners and pros.

I suspect beginners wouldn't normally spring for a grand when they've
got the basics to purchase first
- decent table saw, preferably a cabinet saw - with a good fence
- joiner with infeed and outfeed tables long enough to deal
with 4' long boards - and wide enough to deal with AT LEAST
8" wide boards
- planer that'll handle 12" wide boards
and maybe
- a bandsaw
- a miter saw or compound miter saw or sliding compound
miter saw - with infeed and outfeed tables - and flip stops
- a router table with a good fence system (see JoinTech/Incra)
and an assortment of router bits
- a drill press and drill bits
- a decent plunge router for free handing/template following
then there's the hand tools
- block plane
- smoother (#4)
- jack plane (#5)
- joiner (#6, 7 and/or 8)
- maybe a shoulder plane
- perhaps a router plane
- a decent set of chisels (the blue handled Marples maybe?)
- a dovetail saw
- a tenon saw
- card and cabinet scrapers
And then there's the various sanders
:
:
:

Any type of woodworking is a slippery slope - a hole in the
gar - make that "shop" - into which money flows and
scraps and piles of sawdust float out - with an occassionaly
piece of furniture actually leaving. On the other hand,
the non-monatarized value - can be priceless.

Swingman's answer gets to the interesting question
I asked earlier "Can a tool change What you make AND
How you make it?" and the subsequent question "Can
joinery change What you make and How you make it?"

Adding mortise and tenon - or loose tenon mortise and
tenon - joinery to your woodworking capabilities will
certainly change your Project List. And if you have
the disposable income to purchase the Leigh FMT, the
DOMINO or the MultiRouter you're more apt to get to
M&T sooner and use them more often than you would
otherwise.

But - if you skip over doing some M&T joints using more
traditional hand tool methods - you'll miss a wonderful,
though occassionally frustrating, experience in your
woodworking journey. The use of handtools gives you
a better understanding of the woods you use, providing
feed back which you seldom get from power tools. And
the satisfaction obtained can make the "making" part
of the journey as valued - by you - as the finished piece.
And often, a hand tool will do the job faster and easier
than breaking out a power tool, setting it up, making
test cuts etc..

And Swingman wrote"

If I owned a Multi-Router and felt the same way you feel about the Domino,
I'd think about selling the Multi-Router now before the Domino became too
popular, lowering what I could get for the M-R.

If you owned a MutiRouter I'd bet you wouldn't part with it
no matter what new tool came along. The Leigh FMT and
the DOMINO do mortise and tenons and loose tenon mortises.
The MultiRouter does all that AND a lot more. Probably
should add the WoodRat to the list as well.

But he does get points for trying to pick up a used
MultiRouter at a discounted price. Nice try ; ).

charlie b

ps

there's a Festools Owners Group you might want
to look into

http://festoolownersgroup.com