Strongly Considering Domino Purchase

[Chestnut]

24 minutes ago, Jonathan McCully said:

Not originally. Currently live here but move around a decent bit with the military

I meant for Pwk he likes huge machinery and was wondering if it was a Texas thing. Bad joke.

[Coop]

41 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

wondering if it was a Texas thing. Bad joke.

Yes sir, please refrain 

[Jonathan McCully]

On 11/6/2018 at 7:57 PM, K Cooper said:

 Did you buy the vac to go with it? 

Wish that I could have but no. I’ve already got two shop vacs and a 1hp DC in my small garage shop, so don’t have room for another.  Seems I need to get a Festool hose to connect in for dust collection though

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, Jonathan McCully said:

Wish that I could have but no. I’ve already got two shop vacs and a 1hp DC in my small garage shop, so don’t have room for another.  Seems I need to get a Festool hose to connect in for dust collection though

I used a shop vac adapter that was rubber.

https://www.amazon.com/Shop-Vac-906-87-00-Universal-Adapter/dp/B00004RHKU/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541685548&sr=8-1-fkmr2&keywords=shop+vac+rubber+adapter

I just cut what ever step i needed to make it work. This was before i got a CT vac. If you don't want to get a festool hose the Bosch ones have the same size end on the tool size. That are much cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-16-4-Foot-Vacuum-VAC005/dp/B0000AV78B

[JohnG]

Woodcraft now sells a hose adapter that directly connects the standard shop vac hoses to the domino. It is a rubber adapter that slips over the port on the domino. On the shop vac side, for the smaller hose size it threads onto the hose coils, and for the larger size it slips onto the smooth fitting that comes on the end of the hose.

I am struggling to find it on their site but will post a link if I can find it. They don't name Festool on it, but imply it with something like "Euro style fitting."  I'd imagine that Rockler has an equivalent.

[wdwerker]

If you work with 1/2" and 3/4" ply or solid wood Seneca products makes an accessory called the Domiplate. It is actually easier to use the machine with it .

[Pwk5017]

Haha, no not from Texas. And yes, I immediately got your joke when I read this thread. 

 

Have you used the 700? I think you would agree with me that there’s a lot of improvement on the details of the machine. It’s not just a bigger version of the 500, it’s a more thoughtful and refined version. The 500 Is a great tool, but the 700 is a lot better. And yes, I like big tools. They do everything the small ones do, but they do it better, faster, and easier. 

 

The domino combined with an accurate means of crosscutting parts is an incredible combination. I love the tool. While I was waiting on finish to cure in between coats last weekend, I put together a simple coffee table for my living room in about an hour. That was rough lumber to unfinished product in that amount of time. 

[Chestnut]

36 minutes ago, Pwk5017 said:

Haha, no not from Texas. And yes, I immediately got your joke when I read this thread. 

 

Have you used the 700? I think you would agree with me that there’s a lot of improvement on the details of the machine. It’s not just a bigger version of the 500, it’s a more thoughtful and refined version. The 500 Is a great tool, but the 700 is a lot better. And yes, I like big tools. They do everything the small ones do, but they do it better, faster, and easier. 

 

The domino combined with an accurate means of crosscutting parts is an incredible combination. I love the tool. While I was waiting on finish to cure in between coats last weekend, I put together a simple coffee table for my living room in about an hour. That was rough lumber to unfinished product in that amount of time. 

I want one really bad. The tough part there is one for sale on C list right now with a bunch of tenons for $1,200. I just keep telling myself no toys until the pickup is paid off.

I don't use the index pins on the front though. I see that they are much more refined one that machine that the 500 but at the end of the day i just hit the line and never have issues. The additional depth and the ability to do larger tenons is appealing but maybe being limited in size has just allowed me to do workarounds. M&T strength is based largely on the surface area so if i need to I'll make a bunch of plunges in a row connected together and make floating stock. 14mm would be nice though cause that's pretty much 1/2" and then i could do away with ever cutting a mortise with a router again. My hangup is it worth $1,200 and at this point i can't say yes.

Does woodcraft allow demos on festool? I should just go and try one. Glad you got the joke and didn't take offense i'm jealous even though i'm quite content with what i have. The 10" board i jointed tonight took me 3 min longer than it needed to having to knock an edge down with a handplane.

[Coop]

39 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

I want one really bad. The tough part there is one for sale on C list right now with a bunch of tenons for $1,200. I just keep telling myself no toys until the pickup is paid off.

Drew, I applaud you. You are young and the sooner you learn that payments are a no, no and cash is king, your future will be brighter. Sermon over with! 

[wdwerker]

Scheduled payments at a decent interest rate are apart of life these days. It's those high interest credit cards that are the enemy. 

[Chestnut]

8 hours ago, wdwerker said:

Scheduled payments at a decent interest rate are apart of life these days. It's those high interest credit cards that are the enemy. 

Never paid a penny in interest to a CC company. I've also taken good advantage of their benefits, so I'm overall ahead in terms of CC companies. Though that's not entirely true as the money i pay for a product has the cost for the CC company rolled in. I look at it relative, and that if i didn't use the card i'd be paying the same price 99% of places. CCs are the devil so i try and win where ever i can but only because they let me.....

[estesbubba]

For those of you that have the Domino 500 and thinking about the 700 take a look at the Leigh FMT Pro. I've had this jig since 2007 and the M&T joints it can do and the accuracy are incredible. Leigh makes the best manuals in the business (even better than SawStop) and walks you through every step of the process. I later got a Domino 500 off Craigslist and it along with the Leigh FMT can do any M&T I would ever need. 

https://www.leighjigs.com/fmt-pro-overview/

[drzaius]

13 minutes ago, estesbubba said:

For those of you that have the Domino 500 and thinking about the 700 take a look at the Leigh FMT Pro. I've had this jig since 2007 and the M&T joints it can do and the accuracy are incredible. Leigh makes the best manuals in the business (even better than SawStop) and walks you through every step of the process. I later got a Domino 500 off Craigslist and it along with the Leigh FMT can do any M&T I would ever need. 

https://www.leighjigs.com/fmt-pro-overview/

Mike, what does the Domino 500 do that the Leigh doesn't?

[wdwerker]

I use my Domino 500 to place a shelf or panel anywhere you can draw a straight line.  Clamp the shelf to the case side face down on a line that is where you want the top of the shelf to be. Register the bottom of the machine to that edge and plunge the mortice. I was using 6 x 20 x 40 long Dominos so I cut 15mm into the side and 25mm into the edge of the shelf.

cut 15mm into side

cut 25mm into shelf

 

I have made joints like this 8' long at an angle in the middle of a 4x8 sheet. So a portable machine easily goes where a router jig cannot. There are advantages to the Leigh jig that are beyond the Domino. Just depends on what you are building.

[Pwk5017]

I kinda wish there was a consolidated resource for tips and tricks with the domino. For example, steve's pictures show a really slick and easy way to put partitions in a case. When ive done that in the past, i clamped my case sides together, drew my lines across both, and then lined up the partitions for the plunge. Just need to be mindful of what face is up etc. I forget, but i think the 500 centers the domino on 3/4" ply, but the 700 has a thicker base and therefore the mortise is definitely not centered. This doesnt really matter for structural reasons, but it sure as hell does when lining things up. 

 

I only mentioned my take on the 700, because i feel like everyone writes it off as too big or as a choice between big projects or small projects before they use both. In my experience, the 700 will do all the small projects the 500 does in addition to covering alot of the medium to big joinery needs.  In the end you might choose to save some money(totally legitimate reason), but i have used both for a year or two each on a bunch of projects, and i dont see a need to own both or a situation where the 500 is superior to the 700. I dont know if woodcraft allows demos or not. My store had one that i monkeyed around with for a bit.

[estesbubba]

57 minutes ago, drzaius said:

Mike, what does the Domino 500 do that the Leigh doesn't?

Like Steve showed the FMT can't be used for faces like carcass sides and also not for attaching face frames. The Domino can put a tenon anywhere where the FMT is great for edge and end grain work but not so good for face grain. The Domino is also great for things like picture frame miters, and while you could probably do it with the FMT, it would probably take you a lot of time. 

[JohnG]

16 hours ago, Chestnut said:

Does woodcraft allow demos on festool? I should just go and try one.

The one by me does. They have many of the popular Festool offerings out to handle and they will let you use them as well. When I went in to buy my 500, they were out of stock but offered for me to take home the demo unit until the next Festool shipment arrived. Since they are independently owned franchises, it will depend on how your local store is run.

 

 

[wdwerker]

I have an independent Festool rep who has brought me a demo tool and let me use it for several days. He even showed me several features & how to use them before he left it with me.