My first biscuit joiner blew up mid cut, now I'm a dowel guy

Last month I was using my old biscuit joiner on some kitchen cabinets and the blade guard snapped right off, sending plastic everywhere. I was only about halfway through a job for a client in Portland, so I had to finish 40 joints by hand with a drill and dowels. It took me two extra days but the joints actually came out straighter than the biscuit ones I had done before. That failure made me switch my whole approach for the rest of the project. I already ordered a self-centering dowel jig and I'm never going back to biscuits for face frames. Has anyone else had a tool die on them and ended up liking the backup method more?