DF500 Support Bracket: Old Vs New?

[Hotwheels]

My dominio dates from the early-mid 2000's. I noticed the newer domino support bracket (ZA-DF 500/700) has  tabs 20mm on either side of the cutter that are not present on my version of the support bracket.  These seem useful for making drawers and such: first use the pins/ for a mortise 37mm and the table on the support bracket for a mortise 20mm.  Sure, this can be done with pencil marks, but I have some drawers to make and it seems using the tabs on the news support bracket would be helpful.  For those who have the newer support bracket do you find the tabs useful?

My bracket below:

[attachimg=1]

 

[ChuckM]

The tabs are useful because they're 20mm from the center while the paddles are 37mm, offering additional "hard" registration points, which provide better precision than pencil lines. Let me see if I can find a photo showing its use in one of my previous projects. (Edit: Found it.) In the example, without the bracket's tabs, I couldn't have milled two equally spaced mortises using the paddles on all mating pieces. The tabs are also useful when it's desirable to start the first alignment mortises closer to the registration edges, instead of milling them based on the paddles.

Is yours a pin machine?

 

[Hotwheels]

Thanks, exactly what I was looking for.  My Domino has "pins" rather than tabs, but same idea.  The newer support bracket is US $38 so seems worth it long term.  Your application is the same as what I want to use the support bracket tabs for.  Thanks again!

 

[imdking]

I don't understand!

I have a DF 500 that I bought brand new 2 years ago. I would appreciate it if someone clarified the point being discussed here.

 

[ChuckM]

I don't understand!

I have a DF 500 that I bought brand new 2 years ago. I would appreciate it if someone clarified the point being discussed here.

Would this sketch help?

"A" shows the cutter's center point when the tab is used to register against the work; "B" when the paddle -- the usual registration means -- is engaged. You can see that with the tab, the mortise is milled closer to the edge, a desirable result in some situations.

(Edit:The measurements shown are incorrect. Paddle to center is 37mm and tab to center 20mm.)

 

[imdking]

Thanks for the schematic. It's just that I studied the picture of the plastic foot, but I can't see the tabs.

 

[Frank-Jan]

Like ts, I have an early domino with the pins, when festool introduced the 4 mm cutter they also updated the support bracket, with the tabs to reference closer to the edge. (I never bothered to get the newer version)

 

[imdking]

I don't have my tools with me. I'll take a closer look when I get back to Botswana in December.