On 5/2/18 9:17 PM, Leon wrote:
On 5/2/2018 8:28 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
On 5/2/18 5:59 PM, wrote:
The joy of woodworking left me a long, long time ago. I stupidly
took the only hobby I had and decided to make a living at it since as
we have all heard, "if you find something you like to do to make a
living you never go to work a day in your life."


You pretty much just summed up my experience in the music business.
Even though I've had some considerable success and have songs/albums
I've played on on the Billboard charts, played on TV, played huge
festivals in front of 10s of thousands of people, played arenas, etc.,
it got to the point where "doing what I loved" was the most stressful
part of my life.


For me, it's all about time, dollars, and logistics. I turn out the
best product I can within reason so that I will keep my referral
business strong.

That being said, I've had the privilege of going through Leon's shop
as well as being able to study his projects and fine woodworking
close up. Even though I don't need the damn thing, I felt like I
needed to run out and buy a Domino machine after all the great
things I saw Leon do with it. I tried every way I could to justify
buying one, but my type woodwork just doesn't merit the purchase.

If I built fixtures, cabinets, furniture, or any type of mix of the
three on a regular basis I would certainly buy one. After seeing
what Leon has done with his machine, it makes me realize that most of
the folks that I know that use them or the ones in my personal
circle that have them, actually use the tool to about 10% of its use.
It doesn't do just great joinery, Leon has found ways to display
decorative elements using the Dominos that are pretty unique.

I think he has earned his money back on that tool many times over as
it is now an integral part of his design system when planning projects.

Robert


For some of the projects I charge several hundred dollars for, I could
knock off about 50% of the time it takes to build if I used the Domino.

I typically charge thousands...Â* So when you step up your quality of
work because you can make strong joints quickly, you step up your game.
Other wise doing the joints the old fashioned way simply is a waste of
time.

Well, yeah... my bookcases and other built-ins get into the thousands.
I was myopically thinking of the smaller projects I've doing as of late.



It wouldn't take long to pay for it and then start increasing profit per
project a lot.

Of course, then I would want one of those f-n dust vacs!!


FWIW you DO NEED some kind of vac to remove the debris from the mortise.
And dust collection with a vac on the Domino is pretty much perfect.


BUT IIRC if you buy most any other tool with a Festool vac you get a
break in price.Â* Verify before proceeding... ;~)

When I bought I did not have to justify, I just wanted one.Â* After
getting it I found that I could build faster and better and I began
selling a lot more of my work.Â* But I did have to step up my game for it
to actually pay for itself.

And that lead to all the other Festool tools that I purchased.Â* I
honestly can say that all of my Festool tools have paid form themselves.


I'll probably be back in here saying the same thing sooner or later.
:-)


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
www.mikedrums.com