festool domino advice (500)

[mike johnston]

Im thinking of buying a domino 500, I know the supply is tight, or not at all. That gives me a little time to look at all he options. From what I understand there are after market shims, bits, and means to make your own tenons. I know Im opening a can of worms, just looking for recommendations on what accessories to buy. Also the dust control issues, I have cyclone plumed through out the shop, but would like to buy another shop vac dedicated to the domino and possibly move to a couple of other machines. The whole idea is crazy as I already have 2 hollow chisel mortisers.

Thanks Mike

PS anyone want to buy a hollow chisel mortise?

[Charlie Jones]

I just got mine in from Hartville Tool. All of the other woodworking suppliers seem to have them backordered. I have a 5 hp cyclone. It works fine with the Domino. I used a Rockler small tool hose I already had. It has a flexible rubber end that fits good over the Festool connector.

[Jeff Roltgen]

Running the 500 for close to a decade or more. Only thing I buy is bits and dominos.
Shims? Not sure what for.
Make your own dominos? I guess, if you are a hobbyist, but as a business, I cannot burn the time. There is a company on Amazon called Taytools, offering knock-off dominos, which work perfectly fine and certainly are a better value.
Dust control issues? haven't heard about that being a problem with the 500, but I bought a CT-22 vac around the same time. I see no dust or chips while using it with the domino machine. Again, perhaps a more economically priced vac may work, just realize, all things Festool fit Festool and nothing else = get ready for adapting in some fashion.

Entering the world of Euro-tools has a curve. It involves lots of money, lots of additional money almost immediately upon receiving the tool, because what you thought you could do requires another fist-full of hundreds to fully implement, and at risk of redundancy, lots of red-faced frustration over what expendables and accessories cost. Many times, a high-priced accessory arrives unusable, because you assumed it must include mounting hardware for that price? No. You need to drop another $50 to ship a bolt kit.

In the case of the Domino, it's well worth the speed and accuracy, for me. Up to you to decide if you've got the monetary horsepower to make the commitment.

jeff

[Andrew Hughes]

I have a domino 500 it’s a great tool.
I use small shop vac and my own tenons. I also have strayed from the normal uses because it compliments my creativity for woodworking as a fine artist.
One point I would like to make on the floating tenons is they don’t have to be rounded on the sides. Square sides work just fine.
Good Luck

[Jay Michaels]

I concur with Jeff.

If you're dropping $1K on the domino, as I (and many others here) did, then the cost of the dominos themselves is not particularly prohibitive. And I bought the domino in part to save time in woodworking . . . I get precious little time in the shop as it is, and this helped me expedite things. I spent years making joints lots of other ways, and wanted to explore other aspects of woodworking, so the domino has served that purpose well. And I don't have any particular interest spending my time making the dominos themselves; so that purchase is an easy one.

Beyond the dominos, bits, and a vacuum hose that fits the domino precisely, I have not purchased any other add-ons or aftermarket accessories. And my domino is attached to a shop vac (with this hose: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 that fits it perfectly) and doesn't lose any chips or dust at all.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Im thinking of buying a domino 500, I know the supply is tight, or not at all. That gives me a little time to look at all he options. From what I understand there are after market shims, bits, and means to make your own tenons. I know Im opening a can of worms, just looking for recommendations on what accessories to buy. Also the dust control issues, I have cyclone plumed through out the shop, but would like to buy another shop vac dedicated to the domino and possibly move to a couple of other machines. The whole idea is crazy as I already have 2 hollow chisel mortisers.

Thanks Mike

PS anyone want to buy a hollow chisel mortise?

I'd trade you my 500 for a good hollow chisel mortiser!!!

Bias alert, I do not like the dominos, either of them. I just get too many unpredictable results from these machines to trust them. Yes, you can trick them out to be more stable, repeatable, etc, but I still like my boring old slot mortiser or wood chisels a lot more. Others must have a lot better luck/skills than I do with dominos.

[Jim Dwight]

I have the XL with Seneca adapter and bits from 5mm to 14mm. The only bit made by Festool is the 12mm it came with. The 14mm is Amana and the others are CMT. I broke two 14mm CMT bits but all the others are working fine and cost about half what the Festool bits cost. I do woodworking as a hobby and make my dominos too. I round over the edges of the tenon stock on my router table. I bought 1/8, 3/16, and already had 1/4 inch and 5/16 inch round over bits for this. I can make pretty good tenon stock with just the table saw but I am a bit more accurate on the thickness using my planner.

Why I make tenons is not all cost, however. I like to use wider, more normal size, tenons. My current project is 8 dining room chairs, for instance. 4 joints in each chair are normal 6mm domino joints. 8 are 1 5/8 wide 8mm thick tenons. That is the size tenons the plans call for. All the tenon stock is cherry, same as the chairs. Depth of mortises is 7/8, again what the plans call for (requires a PVC spacer on the smaller guide rod, quick and easy to make). I could have used a couple pre-made domino tenons and would have saved half an hour or so it took me to make the tenon stock out of scraps. But I like having wider tenons when that is what the project calls for and I prefer matching the wood although I will agree beech tenons will work fine.

I use a rigid shop vac with a dust deputy for all my small shop tools, track saw, sanders, and the domino. I use a Bosch 5 meter hose to connect the vac to the tools including the domino. No adapter required for the domino.

I have one benchtop hollow chisel mortiser that I have not used since getting the domino. If you get a 500, you might still want a mortiser for big mortises. But I got the XL so I can make any mortises I need with it. I've made several beds where the bigger XL size mortises were useful.

Dominos are far faster and easier to use than my mortise machine. I am very happy I got one, despite the expense.

[Derek Arita]

I think my 500 is one of my most used tools. I have purchased a couple of add ons along the way, but used it right out of the sys for a long time. I had a floor standing hollow chisel mortiser and a mortising attachment on my J/P, however all I've used in the past few years has been the Domino. It's just too convenient and accurate not to. Any bad results in fit have been from my own errors, not the Domino. Enjoy!

[ChrisA Edwards]

Have a Domino 500, had it for about 10 years. I use it with a CT-26 which serves many powered hand tools, track saw, 3 sanders, routers, etc.

My CT26 has the auto start/stop when the tool is powered on/off and I also equipped it with the bluetooth remote start, handy when you need to control the vacuum independent of the tool.

If my CT26 dies (it's close to 10 years old, I'd buy another or festool equivalent, in a nano second.

[Prashun Patel]

Sorry this became a make vs buy dominos debate (I vote make, btw). But for accessories, when I had the df500 i didn't have any accessories or need for them. Save $$ for the bits (CMT makes more economical bits than Festool, btw). I traded up to a DF700 and the only accessory I find indispensible is the Seneca small bit adapter.

You can always get the accessories after market, and none are truly necessary or particularly expensive, so don't feel that you'll be locking yourself into other expensive purchases.

Main argument I think to make your own tenons (if you have a planer) is if you buy the bigger one. The larger tenons are easier to run through a planer and tablesaw and router. You can also make varying lengths and widths easier.

[Jacob Mac]

I don't think any accessories for the 500 are absolutely must have. I would definitely use it before you buy any. Sometimes after you use something for awhile you learn that a lot of accessories are solutions looking for problems. Or are solutions for a situation you will never encounter.

I vote both buy and make. I make when I run out, or when I use my domino to make a large mortise.

My domino is great, and I love it for a lot of situations. But if I had to choose between it and my Lamelo, I'm keeping my Lamelo.

[Ralph Okonieski]

I bought the accessory kit that contained an angle setup, connectors for joining two rails together and a few other things. As a hobbiest, the connectors are the only things used from the kit. Never found a need for the angle setup. I had also purchased the systainer with the tenon assortment; there are some sizes that are used much more often than others but I like having the wide range available. I’ve used all sizes at one time or another.

I have a CT26 attached to the domino and it picks up virtually everything.

Once the domino was setup using the supplemental manual, there has never been an issue with accuracy or repeatability. It is one of the most used tools in my arsenal. It has cut thousands of mortises.

[chuck van dyck]

I have a 500 and love it. I don’t use it a ton, but have never regretted the purchase for a second. I use a ct sys for dust collection.

I have the accessories package but don’t really use them.

Some of your comments have me thinking about making my own tenons to fit the oversized mortise setting. The 10mm mortise and that extra width would give a significant amount more glue surface. Anyone do this?

[Jim Dwight]

I only get issues with accuracy when I do not support the workpiece correctly. If I think I will use the fence but the clearance to the table supporting the workpiece is not adequate so the base contacts there, for instance. I'm waiting on the glue to dry on a jig so I can cut mortises in a curved back support for some chairs I am making, for instance. Usually I just have the workpiece hang off the table and clamp it if necessary. Some like to use a domino flat on the table but that doesn't work well for me, I use the fence.

[johnny means]

I've berm been using Domino constrain construction for almost 20 years now and have never felt the need for an any after market add-ons. I do often end up throwing a jig together to aid in production work. Here's one I did a couple of days ago. I was boring slotted holes for interior parts that needed to have plenty of adjustability. The tool is screwed down, the fence and cam clamp long skinny parts on end against the tool's fence. A little creativity and som scraps will get you much more utility than any after market doodad.