Festool Assorted Domino Tenons and Cutters in T-Loc Systainer: Is it worth $345?

[scott vroom]

The retail cost of the individual tenons and cutters is $309.88 based on Hartville Hardware prices. I'm not including the 5mm cutter that comes standard with the DF500...why do I need to pay for one I already have?

They sell the components bundled in a systainer for $345. What it amounts to is they're charging you $35.12 for the plastic Systainer box. If you don't care about the bulky box then you're better off ordering the contents individually from Hartville with free shipping.

[Jim Dwight]

Scott,

It becomes really overpriced when you consider Amana and CMT offer the cutters for about half the price Festool wants and it is pretty easy to make your own tenons. I do not use Festool cutters any more since I damaged the 12mm that came with my XL. I have also never purchased any tenons from Festool. I am not criticizing those who prefer Festool cutters and buy the tenons, just pointing out there are much cheaper options than even buying the bits and tenons from Hartville (or others).

Jim

[Jim Becker]

The bundles are for simplicity, especially for someone starting out. Some folks find value in that; others do not. I did buy the assortments for both the DF500 and also the 700XL version. It gave me the cutters for all the sizes and since I have the Seneca adapter, I can use the smaller DF500 cutters no problem with my 700XL when and if I have the need. I don't mind having an assortment of various sizes of Dominos around as they provide utility for "those times" when they are the right size for a small job. I now buy the sizes I actually use a lot in the 750mm long sticks and cut to length as needed. I'm not sure that's an option with the small Domino sizes, but it's serving me well for 8mm and up. I mostly use 1omm, 12mm and 14mm.

I will admit that I was lucky to be able to buy the assortments from Amazon's German site back before that kind of thing got shut down as it reduced the cost considerably for the assortments with the cutters.

[scott vroom]

Scott,

It becomes really overpriced when you consider Amana and CMT offer the cutters for about half the price Festool wants and it is pretty easy to make your own tenons. I do not use Festool cutters any more since I damaged the 12mm that came with my XL. I have also never purchased any tenons from Festool. I am not criticizing those who prefer Festool cutters and buy the tenons, just pointing out there are much cheaper options than even buying the bits and tenons from Hartville (or others).

Jim

Jim, I read several comments on Festool Owners Group that said the CMT mortise was slightly wider than the Festool cutters causing the tenons to not fit snug. I haven't read similar criticism about Amana....as a matter of fact I haven't found much discussion on the Amana cutters so far. I'm assuming their domino cutters are the same high quality as their router bits. Amana cutters were priced $15-20 cheaper than Festool and I'm looking for user info confirming they work as well as Festool.

[scott vroom]

The bundles are for simplicity, especially for someone starting out. Some folks find value in that; others do not. I did buy the assortments for both the DF500 and also the 700XL version. It gave me the cutters for all the sizes and since I have the Seneca adapter, I can use the smaller DF500 cutters no problem with my 700XL when and if I have the need. I don't mind having an assortment of various sizes of Dominos around as they provide utility for "those times" when they are the right size for a small job. I now buy the sizes I actually use a lot in the 750mm long sticks and cut to length as needed. I'm not sure that's an option with the small Domino sizes, but it's serving me well for 8mm and up. I mostly use 1omm, 12mm and 14mm.

I will admit that I was lucky to be able to buy the assortments from Amazon's German site back before that kind of thing got shut down as it reduced the cost considerably for the assortments with the cutters.

Good points. On the long sticks, I haven't come across any for the DF 500.

[Jon Grider]

The loophole may be closed now, but several years ago, a member here pointed out that Amazon De(the German site) had the DF500 systainer , cutters and domino assortment for far less even with shipping. IIRC I think I paid about $175 and delivery was surprisingly fast from Germany.

[Richard Coers]

If you are really concerned about the cost, just make your own floating tenons out of scrap. I bought a Multi Router in the late 80s and have made hundreds of feet of tenon stock. I chamfer the edges instead of a radius. It gives the excess glue a place to go and is incredibly fast on the router table. Once you get your planer or thickness sander set, run 50 feet so you have stock available for small jobs. Soft maple has always been my stock of choice if I have scrap.

[Jeff Roltgen]

Hi Scott - that was me, regarding the CMT bit issues. Here's my thoughts as a 10+ year DF500 user:
- The 5mm is great as a replacement for biscuits for lighter joinery/alignment applications.
Got one? CHECK
- The 10mm is a must, as you want to be able to utilize maximum reinforcement/strength possibilities of the machine.
Need one? Please, do yourself a favor, just get the Festool . I'm still on a replacement from April 2019, and it's working fine (swapped back to it after the dismal CMT performance).
I seriously go through a case of 510 10mm dominos every year as I make my living at this. Why goof around with the cheapies when you can realize this much performance from the OEM bit?
(just don't hit any screws or nails, of course!)

- All other bit sizes can be lived without for quite some time, IMHO. When the odd-job comes along that you feel requires a 6mm or 8mm, one at a time is easier on the budget.
While it would be nice to jump to the absolute, give yourself a monetary break, and time to cut your teeth on utilizing this awesome game changing tool. No rush!

Regarding the dominos themselves, my experience has been very good with the Taytools knock-offs. A little bit cheaper, a bit higher quantity per package. As a professional, I have sooo many more things to do than spend my shop rate on mfg dominos, I just cannot waste the time. Still, go for it if you want to try, especially if you're not making a living at this.
Lack of funding = a new skill, right!

Enjoy your new machine.

[Jim Becker]

Good points. On the long sticks, I haven't come across any for the DF 500.

You can get 8mm stock in the 750mm lengths for sure which is, I think, your top end for the DF500. Much more cost effective than buying them in specific lengths unless you need a lot of a particular length for a project and the time to cut them is limited.

[johnny means]

So why is no one selling off brand loose tenon stock? There has to be money in it.

[Richard Coers]

So why is no one selling off brand loose tenon stock? There has to be money in it.

We are all woodworkers, right?

[johnny means]

We are all woodworkers, right?

? Surely, if Festool can sell us Dominos at these exorbitant prices, someone could undercut them?

[Jacob Mac]

There are off brand dominos

[Scott Shimmin]

You can order the bundle from Sautershop.com in Germany for less, even after paying for shipping. I'm ordering that and a new SuperSilent diamond blade for my saw for much less than buying them domestically.

[Jim Becker]

I've occasionally done some casual shopping for metric beading router tooling which would be really nice for making Domino tenon stock including for situations where it would be nice to do an exposed "through" tenon look. Those suckers are hard to come by! OEM Domino stock isn't actually "rounded" on the ends which gives an advantage when fitting a joint where there may be a minor variation in alignment. Some abrasive paper to "shave" the slight ridge on the side of the Domino to make it a hair looser is a nice thing.