Domino cutter and dust extractor options?

[Michael Drew]

I used my new 500 for the first time yesterday. Slick little machine. When I was laying out domino placement, I intentionally planned to miss brads that I had used building a torsion box out of baltic birch ply. Much to my dismay, I hit one anyway and knocked the edge off the 5mm cutter. Oh well, I had another one and finished my little project. Figured I'd just order a couple spares to have on hand.

I just looked for replacement cutters on the interweb, and dangggggg..... Expensive little buggers. Is Festool the only company who makes cutters, or are there other, less costly options? I'd like to have a few spares on hand, as I can't just hop in the truck and find a dealer.

Additionally, which dust extractor would users recommend? I'm using my portable Rigid vac with a Bosch hose for the time being. It works fine, but the hose is clunky, and I know this will irritate me more as I use it more. I might as well get one of the Festool vacuums before the April price increase. I plan to get the 55" track saw bundle that's on sale anyway. I do not want a large vac as I do not have a lot of floor space, but I want to make sure I don't end up with buyer's remorse, for getting something too small.

[Mike Henderson]

I use a Ridgid vac on my Domino. I have the Bosch hose and the Festool hose. I even put a sleeve on the Festool hose to make it smoother. Mostly, I use the Bosch hose.

I have one of those "router speed controls" on the Ridgid and an i-Vac control that turns the vac on when I turn the tool on. The i-vac has a switch that allows you to turn the vac on without the tool, if you want, and I can turn the "router speed control" to full when I want to vac stuff up. If you already have a Ridgid vac, adding those two things is a lot less expensive than a Festool vac.

While this isn't germain, I use a bag in my vac. I just find it easier to dump and the filter doesn't get clogged up. I mostly use the vac for sanding and the domino so the bag doesn't fill that quickly.

Mike

[michael dilday]

I have the Dewalt DWV012 Dust Extractor and love it. It works extremely well. I used a shop vacuum with a bag and a HEPA filter for a while and it is a pretty good solution. It's just not OSHA certified. The Dewalt has 2 filters and it alternately reverses suction every 30 seconds or so to blow out the filter. With the bag very little gets to the filter. I am sure the Festool and other dust extractors are similar.

[ChrisA Edwards]

Although expensive, I really like my Festool CT26 vacuum. I use it with the Domino, router, track saw, Kreg Pocket Hole Jig and sanders. It powers on when power is applied to the tool and powers off about 5 seconds after the tool is turned off.

Using the track saw and Domino, there is almost no visible sign I was cutting wood.

I bought a pack of after market dust bags for it, about 1/3 the price of the Festool replacements.

I wouldn't be without it.

[Paul F Franklin]

CMT makes cutters for the Domino and I believe they are quite a bit less expensive. Haven't used them myself. The reviews seem to alternate between Great! and Junk! so there may be some quality control issues. CMT usually makes decent stuff.

[Jon Grider]

CMT makes cutters for the Domino and I believe they are quite a bit less expensive. Haven't used them myself. The reviews seem to alternate between Great! and Junk! so there may be some quality control issues. CMT usually makes decent stuff.

I have not experienced any problems with the CMT cutters on my 500. I don't try to push them too fast though in very hard woods in the smaller diameters.

[Jim Becker]

You don't need the "large" extractor for the tools, for the most part. Domino does produce more debris than any other tool other than the planer, so I wouldn't choose the smallest unit. The Midi or the CT-2x (whatever the current number is) is more than sufficient. You will fill bags faster with the Domino (I know that from experience...) so you'll want to keep a supply or invest in the "dumpable" version for use with the Domino.

Bummer on the cutter. That's a risk for pretty much any tool, unfortunately. The Festool branded cutters are not inexpensive but they can be sharpened. CMT, as mentioned, is an alternative supplier. I have not tried anything from them to-date.

[Michael Drew]

Thanks for the input. I just searched for some of the CMT cutters. 20 bucks for a package of 10 5MM cutters. That seams stupid cheap. Maybe a typo? I'll try them anyway.

My little suitcase Rigid made did not leave any chips, anywhere to be seen, but it is clunky. I had no idea I could use one these "router speed controls" on the Rigid, or know this "i-Vac control" even existed. Very interesting. ...

I think I'll just stick with the Festool brand, seeing how I've been indoctrinated with this manufacture. I'll see if my local dealer has one of the CT2's.

Thanks again for all the input. Much appreciated.

[Mike Wilkins]

While a Festool vacuum would be nice to use with their Domino, I have been using a Porter Cable tool-triggered vacuum with my Domino with no problems at all. Had to use a Rockler hose attachment and duct tape but no chips flying around.

[Tim M Tuttle]

I used a $60 shop vac with a Bosch hose for a while when I first got my Domino until I got a CT36. Never saw a speck of dust. I think just about any shop mid size and bigger shop vac will handle the Domino just fine.

If you do go with a Festool vac I highly recommend the Oneida dust deputy made for the Festool vacs. It's $300 but you'll make that back in a couple of years not having to buy Festool filter bags.

[Jim Dwight]

I use my Rigid shop vac with a quasi HEPA filter and a dust deputy and a Bosch 5M hose and a auto on switch with my Domino XL. The only Festool cutter I have is the 12mm it came with. My 14mm, 10mm, 8mm, 6mm, and 5mm cutters are all CMT (the smallest two require the adapter). I broke the first 14mm cutter but it was quickly replaced and I have had no issue with the other cutters. I make my own tenons out of scrap wood. My experience does not thus prove that the CMT cutters make slots fully compatible with Festool tenons but I doubt the claims they are the wrong size I have seen in reviews. Poor technique seems like a more likely explanation, CMT is a quality company and it's hard for me to see where they wouldn't make the cutters the right size.

My CMT cutters were about half the Festool price. I got them all from Amazon (which was really handy when I needed to return the 14mm, they are GREAT to deal with on returns (you do not even pay return postage and they sent the replacement immediately)).

[Michael Drew]

Jim - How exactly did you incorporate this "auto on switch" with your shop vac?

I did buy the Festool track saw with 55" track. I couldn't bring myself to buy one of the Festool vacs.

I also ordered a few CMT cutters. Might as well give them a try.

[Mike Henderson]

Jim - How exactly did you incorporate this "auto on switch" with your shop vac?

I'm not Jim but this is how I did it. Also gives me speed control.
Sanding-station2.jpg

Mike

[Jim Dwight]

I used this auto on switch: https://www.amazon.com/i-Socket-Auto...3NBXY02TR7DVJR. It is the i-Socket Autoswitch Plus by DGC. It's about $50. It plugs into an outlet on the cart my shop vac + cyclone are on and I plugged a power strip into the plug on it for the tool to connect to. That lets me have several tools plugged in and just move the hose from tool to tool. It works fine except I found it necessary to put a wire across the i-Socket to keep it reliably in the outlet.

The Rigid shop vac it is hooked up to pulls 10A but only has a 3 gallon dust capacity. With the cyclone that is not an issue and it is more compact than most shop vacs pulling 10 A. The interesting thing is I had the shop vac and my 1.75hp PCS table saw on the same circuit before I got the DC and it worked fine. The rated amps for the shop vac plus the saw was well over the 20A for the circuit but it did not trip the breaker. One advantage of these aftermarket switches is you are not limited as much as some of the auto on vacumns. I think my track saw pulls 12A which would exceed what some vacs are rated to handle. Domino shouldn't be an issue, however.

[Michael Drew]

Thanks to both of you for the info! That's a pretty cool widget.