Domino 700 or 500

[shed9]

I noticed that, in one response, this comment was made; "yes I know you can get the old style 500 fence with pins but not out of the box)".

How do you order the fence for the 500 with pins? I don't see it as an accessory on the Festool website.

As noted up there, its not a current accessory, the only way to get one is second hand or perhaps as NOS (New Old Stock) from a dealer.

 

[grbmds]

Maybe this is inappropriate for this thread and is for Shane to answer but why did Festool change the 500 fence design? It seems as if most users feel the old style is superior.

 

[bkharman]

Maybe this is inappropriate for this thread and is for Shane to answer but why did Festool change the 500 fence design? It seems as if most users feel the old style is superior.

I had heard (this was before my time on the FOG) that the pins were pushing the workpiece away from the fence. I believe they weren't able to lock into the fence like on the 700.

 

[neeleman]

I noticed that, in one response, this comment was made; "yes I know you can get the old style 500 fence with pins but not out of the box)".

How do you order the fence for the 500 with pins? I don't see it as an accessory on the Festool website.

The fence with pins is not available anymore. You have to look for an old style second hand Domino DF 500 .
Festool probably had to change the pin-fence due to violation of a patented fence from the Mafell Duo Doweler DD40.

 

[waltwood]

The sale at Tool Nut got the better of me and I ordered a 500 and the assortment sys. I have plenty of projects this year where it will get good use. I went the route of the 500 because the 700 just seems too big and making smaller tenon slots with the Seneca adapter seems like a bulldozer for a post hole.

So I hear consistent distinctions made about when to use the 500 vs 700. But my question is how were doors and table tops built prior to the intro of the Domino in 2006 (the original to the 500)? The reason I ask is that such declarations of use are made but for tools which never existed a decade ago yet table tops and doors have been built for a loooong time. Sure, large cut mortise and tenon joinery was used but so were biscuits for decades, were they not? And biscuits are smaller than Domino tenons.

I used a Robland mortising machine which is a very nice tool. It has a 3 1/2 HP router mounted on it and it is very versatile tool. I built many doors with it. BUT, you have to make your own loose tenons each time and set up takes awhile. Another drawback is you have to bring the wood to it and support the end for example when mortising the end of an 80" stile of a door. You can mortise the end of 20' piece of wood with the Domino with no problem.

I have not used it since I got the Domino. 

 

[elfick]

I'd buy a 300 Domino if they would make much a jewel.

They are making it, but they changed the name... It's called the Vecturo 

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

The fence with pins is not available anymore. You have to look for an old style second hand Domino DF 500 .
Festool probably had to change the pin-fence due to violation of a patented fence from the Mafell Duo Doweler DD40.

The design was not changed due to a patent infringement, for what it's worth. If that were the case, the DF 700 wouldn't have pins...

Maybe this is inappropriate for this thread and is for Shane to answer but why did Festool change the 500 fence design? It seems as if most users feel the old style is superior.

The pin design was changed for a few reasons. One reason was because glue was getting into the pin mechanism and making it stick. I would say that it's incorrect that most people prefer the pin-style. It seems fairly equally divided from my experiences. I personally have the pin model and rarely use the pins for indexing. But, that's just how I use it. I rarely use the default distance between mortises provided by the pins. The cross stops have pins if you prefer indexing in that way.

Shane

 

[promark747]

When I first got my 700, I was using the pins.  But I was having occasional problems where the pin, when placed inside a previously-cut mortise, wouldn't seat all the way to the side and was getting hung up...and I wasn't checking carefully enough to ensure the fence was totally flat on the work piece.  My panels would then be slightly skewed.  Lately I've just been using pencil lines.

 

[grbmds]

A follow up question . . . Why wouldn't glue get into the new stops in the same way as with the pins?