Domino 700 - Seneca Domi-Shim and Imperial or Metric

[Ray.DuBose]

So I'm the proud new owner of my First Festool Products,  a CT Midi and a Domino 700.  I have a couple of other Euro tools as well a 72" Hammer K3 Winner Sliding table saw and a Hammer A3-31 Joiner/Planer.  The Table Saw I have both the Metric and Imperial Tapes for and the A3-31 Metric.  Of course the Domino is Metric as well.

I'm in the USA so I got force fed Imperial growing up ('Merica) and although I suck at conversions it's what I know.  First wondering if it's time to embrace metric system and second if I do stick with the Metric System what do I need from Seneca to use the 500 cutters? They have a Small Mortise Kit which is imperial and comes with a plate a stop and the adapter, do I just need the adapter and the 10mm Domi Shim if I want to stick with Metric?

Anyone else make the jump when they got into euro tools? It's going to suck having to replace all my measuring tools for metric ones.

Thanks
Ray

 

[vkumar]

Only you can decide if you want to make the switch. If you enjoy doing mental gymnastics such as dividing 8 inches into 5 parts or adding 3/32 and 1/4 then by all means stay with the English system that you know and "love".  Or if you want to make your life easier an spend less time doing mental gymnastics then switch to the metric system where you know that 3 is always less than 4 and 3 + 4 = 7.  Also divisions and multiplications are easy and can usually done in your head.  Yes you will have to buy some metric tools such as a tape measure ( I would recommend an metric only tape measure since the numbers and graduations are easy to read). Some metric blocks such as those made by Fastcap, an electronic callipers (which you probably already have, that can switch between metric and English).

Regarding the Seneca stuff I dont know if they have metric equivalents. Someone else I am sure will chime in.

 

[Gregor]

Not clue about going metric from imperial, but for me as a metric guy I like the simpler math (as of no x/y conversions and being able to just move the decimal point when changing units).

The shim is just what the name implies: is 'thickens' the material so you can locate the mortice centered in stock that is below 20mm (10mm is the minimal fence height for the 700XL, which prevents the 14mm cutter from hitting the fence).
A piece of plywood (or whatever at hand that's flat and even in height) does the same trick for virtually free.

The stop is to ease setting the fence. Don't know about that... you can also set the fence by hand, lock it and do both sides of a joint. Also you don't need to place the mortice dead center, it might be an even better idea to have it off by a visible bit to help avoiding assembly in the wrong orientation (as you'll immediately notice the pieces not aligning correctly). So I think you can get away by using the factory metric stop when working with material in imperial thickness.

I would suggest to use the Domino as-is and just get the adapter and the smaller cutters in case you want to use the

 

[Jim_in_PA]

Despite the, um...hairy eyeballs...from many other woodworkers that I know, I went metric in the last year and haven't looked back. All of my SCM/Minimax gear and all of my Festool gear has metric scales and I prefer working that way on my CNC, too. But a previous poster is correct...only you can make the decision. The most important thing is to stick with one system for a given project...trust me on that! 

I have the Domiplate, but haven't used it yet I tend to setup my Domino XL by eye, anyway, honestly.

 

[blues]

+1 .. to what Gregor has suggested. I have the 700XL, and the Seneca adapters. I don't have the shim. I use a piece of plastic that will raise the fence enough to center it on 3/4" ply. I used double sided tape and stuck the piece of plastic.. and have never removed it.
Enjoy the 700XL. It's a fantastic tool and is the best Festool tool in my option.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

And relative to what the previous poster mentioned..."close enough" is perfectly fine as long as you are always indexing your cuts off the same/proper faces of the material to be joined. "Exactly" in the center doesn't have to happen if you follow that "rule".