shaneymack Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 The way I see it is if you are going to just buy one, it makes sense to buy the 700 with the seneca adapter. That way you can use any size domino and only have to invest in one machine. I've used my 700 for small things like picture frames to big things like a bed. I really like it and never found it to be too big. With that said I have never tried a 500. Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew-in-austin Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 The real advantage of the 700 is the depth it can cut. Doubling up on smaller mortises will not compensate for a deeper mortise. That being said, not many projects need really big or deep mortises, and the ones that do, you can always do them by hand anyway. I have the 700 only, but in hindsight, I think the 500 would have been good enough (and just doing large joinery without it). If you do have a lot of large joinery to do (lots of doors or anything with many large joints) and you don't want to do them by hand, then by all means get the 700. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwk5017 Posted July 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 See, this is what I was afraid of. The 500 crowd had me swinging heavily towards the 500, and then a few 700 owners pipe up and now I am back to indecision! I need to handle the 700 first hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 29 minutes ago, Pwk5017 said: See, this is what I was afraid of. The 500 crowd had me swinging heavily towards the 500, and then a few 700 owners pipe up and now I am back to indecision! I need to handle the 700 first hand. Buy both. Problem solved, no more thinking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 See, this is what I was afraid of. The 500 crowd had me swinging heavily towards the 500, and then a few 700 owners pipe up and now I am back to indecision! I need to handle the 700 first hand. Swing on by my place and you can borrow mine. Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davestanton Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 6 hours ago, Pwk5017 said: See, this is what I was afraid of. The 500 crowd had me swinging heavily towards the 500, and then a few 700 owners pipe up and now I am back to indecision! I need to handle the 700 first hand. I own the 700 and like @Shaneymack , I also have the senica adapter because I thought it would cover the full range of cutters...why buy the smaller machine when I could have it all for less cost? I made my own plate to allow 5/8" stock to be used but need to have the piece overhanging the work bench to allow the sole plate of the 700 rest on the piece. Otherwise the bottom of the machine contacts the work bench first. May not have described it correctly, sorry. It all works well except for the 4mm in my case. Maybe I need to pump some iron to hold it super steady...it may just be me. I don't own the 500 but I have used one extensively and all sizes, 4-10mm work perfectly. It all comes down to what you want to join. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 Take a serious assessment of what you build and then make your decision. If you build a large item that would require the 700 once in a blue moon then, it makes no sense. I bought the 700 because I had one of those projects. I haven't gotten to that project and haven't used my 700 once. I've used my 500 a bunch of times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted July 9, 2016 Report Share Posted July 9, 2016 Anyone tried to make a jig to use the domino (either size) as a stationary tool for working small parts? Kind of like clamping a hand held belt sander in your bench vise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted July 9, 2016 Report Share Posted July 9, 2016 I built a jig for my biscut machine. Bolted it to a countertop scrap, added a fence and some stops . Used a toggle clamp to hold the small parts in place. One of those Bessey auto adjust toggle clamps would work wonderfully on a jig like that. You could use the 2 screw holes in the base to mount the machine and adding shims would provide height adjustment.. I will probably whip one up as soon as I need to domino a batch of small parts. The 4 mm bit would be great for small parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew-in-austin Posted July 10, 2016 Report Share Posted July 10, 2016 I have a large aluminum plate about 1/4 inch thick that I screw to the bottom of the 700, then I clamp that plate to the side of my bench. The 700 then faces upward, and I still use the 700's fence but clamp small pieces to it. It works much better than trying to press the 700 on to a small peice while making the mortise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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