I finally did it, bought a Festool Domino

[Jim Becker]

I'm buying the 750mm long Domino tenon stock now rather than the Dominos at pre-cut lengths. It's a bit less expensive that way. But making them from scrap is certainly a good way to both use up scrap and save some money when one has the time to do it.

[David Sloan]

I noticed you bought the Emerald edition, which looks to have a few more goodies with it. From what I could see, its sold out in most places. Did you buy it a while back or did you find a hidden source ?

Everywhere I looked online was sold out. I called my local Woodcraft to make sure they had a regular 500 in stock and they said we have them in stock including one of the Emerald edition in the storeroom!

[Rick Herrick]

Everywhere I looked online was sold out. I called my local Woodcraft to make sure they had a regular 500 in stock and they said we have them in stock including one of the Emerald edition in the storeroom!

Your a lucky dawg...

[Peter Mich]

Lots of valuable insights in all of your comments about the Domino. Thanks, it’s on my wish list. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to purchase tools when a project actually required the tool and to avoid acquiring tools simply for the joy of ownership. Encouraging forum posts such as this one make it very hard to stick to my resolution. Maybe I should have resolved to read fewer enticing posts. Nope, I’ll keep reading and dreaming.

[David Sloan]

Hint...you don't need to work in metric to use the Domino, although the actual tenons and cutters are in metric. If you index from one side of the material always...which is a best practice...there's no real measurement involved. You do not need to have anything "exactly centered" if you follow that indexing rule religiously. Pick a Domino tenon size appropriate for the material you are using and have at it.

Jim, I did order the Seneca imperial scale (before your post) and installed it. It really is overpriced. I understand your points and certainly agree but on the other hand working often with solid wood of different thicknesses I think I am going to find it very helpful. For example if I am making joints using 7/8" thick wood I can quickly set the gauge to 7/8" and know that I am good. No eyeballing, no test cuts. I know I am going to be fairly close to center (even though as you point out that is not critical). And if I then go to 1/2" thick wood, I adjust the scale accordingly. I assume if they are making money selling the aftermarket imperial scale, other folks must find the imperial scale of value. As an aside, I use metric measurements in my daily work but somehow I can't think metric when woodworking. I have enjoyed all the comments in response to my post so thanks to all of you.I'll also add that when I glued up the large carcase miter, I was glad I had made the domino slots using the middle setting or I would never and I mean never have gotten the thing glued up and clamped!

[Jim Becker]

No question that the Imperial scale can be very useful and it's nice that it's available. For me, I switched to metric for all of my woodworking except for certain client projects that require Imperial. (that's mostly sub-contract work so I have to work in the measuring system that the client is using for the rest of the project) But for my Domino XL, I tend to "eyeball" things and use the scale merely for convenience in locking in a particular setting.

[Jack Frederick]

I have been planning on buying a 500 and saving for it. A friend convinced me to begin skiing again after a five decades off and it has been wonderful. The President's Day 30% sale hits at the ski shop and I folded. New Volkl Mantra M5's to pick up tomorrow and the 500 is an again delayed purchase. I am kicking myself but can't wait to get out on the new boards. I think Tues, but we need snow.

[Michael Drew]

I've had the 500 in my Amazon wish list for a year now. Just can't stomach the costs, but I often find myself wishing I had it to use.

[Jim Becker]

I've had the 500 in my Amazon wish list for a year now. Just can't stomach the costs, but I often find myself wishing I had it to use.

That's the thing...while Domino is one of those tools that folks clearly either dislike or love...in the case of the latter, we all wish we would have bought it sooner!

[Dave Sabo]

Mantras are a bit too stiff and heavy for me to have much fun on for an everyday ski. I did like them in the crud though.

You really need to get out a use them. A lot. Or like a lot of domino owners, they will just be part of a collection.

[Jim Dwight]

I've made many more mortise and tenon joints with a router and then with my hollow chisel mortiser than I have with my domino. A Domino is totally not necessary. I think my router mortises looked the best. But I've seen tests that indicated tight smooth sided mortises are not necessarily the strongest. The hollow chisel mortiser makes the roughest mortises and would be a bear to use on the end of a long board (like you can do easily with a Domino). But you can just put an integral tenon on long pieces (I usually use a radial arm saw plus a shoulder plane for final fitting).

I like my Domino because it is fast and it doesn't take up much space. I had the money so I bought it. No way would I argue I had to have it or couldn't make everything I want to make without it. Nor would I argue that somebody who makes mortises differently does worse work or anything like that. It is a convenience thing, not a "better" or "must have" thing. I didn't think I had the money until recently and got by for several decades of woodworking without it.

I have quite a few Ryobi tools that I like just fine and only one Festool power tool. I am far from a tool snob. But I like my Domino and SawStop and may soon buy a "nice" bandsaw. Nicer tools are in my experience more fun to work with but we all have to live with budget constraints and that does not mean we can't do every bit as good work.

[Michael Drew]

That's the thing...while Domino is one of those tools that folks clearly either dislike or love...in the case of the latter, we all wish we would have bought it sooner!

So I went to my favorite hardware / hardwood store yesterday to pick up some cherry boards..... Left with some wood, a Domino 500 kit, and the $300 set of Dominos..... Kinda like going to Costco for TP, and leaving with a truck full of stuff I had no intention of getting. I almost bought the damn vacuum too, but figured one of three Rigid shop vacs should work well enough.

[Robyn Horton]

You"ll be Sorry that you didn't get the vac. The Auto on off on the Vac is Great with the Domino and the Track Saw and the Sanders Just Sayin

[Jim Becker]

So I went to my favorite hardware / hardwood store yesterday to pick up some cherry boards..... Left with some wood, a Domino 500 kit, and the $300 set of Dominos..... Kinda like going to Costco for TP, and leaving with a truck full of stuff I had no intention of getting. I almost bought the damn vacuum too, but figured one of three Rigid shop vacs should work well enough.

ROFLOL!!! "You have been assimilated"...

You may want to get the Festool hose to use with your existing vac so that you have the proper connection setup for the tool(s). Running a Domino without extraction is really messy! I do not recall if they make an adapter or not.

[Derek Cohen]

I have both a Domino DF500 and a DW biscuit joiner. Both have their uses, for example, dominos made decent joins for frames (for frame-and-panel doors) when building my kitchen.. This saved a lot of time and effort when there were around 25 frames to build. Biscuits are preferred to dominos for aligning thicknessed boards in a glue up.

I see many rushing off to purchase a Domino tool and selling off their biscuit joiners. One does not replace the other. They are similar machines and overlap in their tasks, but they also differ in their strengths and weaknesses. For example, the shallow and long mortice of a biscuit is preferred for strengthening a mitred edge than the deep and narrow mortice of a domino.

I hesitate to refer to the Domino as “mortice-and-tenon”. The joint it makes is a loose tenon. This is a production joint. It lacks the design and application range of a true tenon, which can vary in size and type for different applications. In the furniture I build, I almost only use true mortice-and-tenon joinery. I understand (and accept) that many want to use dominos and biscuits to replace this, but it is not the same and will have a short life span. For example, repair is difficult on these joints. I build furniture with traditional joinery as longevity is important. I assume that someone at some time in the future may wish to make a repair.

None of this is intended to disparage dominos or biscuits, but just to create a perspective. I am very impressed with the DF500, and it has many uses, as Prashun mentioned. I find it useful for creating mortices to attach table tops. I considered the larger 700 when purchasing a Domino, and am happy I went with the smaller machine as it fits better with the size of furniture I build. I cannot imagine needing larger than 10mm dominos.

Regards from Perth

Derek