Fastcap Domino Sled

[ChuckM]

$120US. I'm happy with my cross stop, but some might be looking for alternatives (the Comments section of this YouTube video is particularly fun to read ;D).
=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fastcap.com%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo

 

[rmwarren]

Cool idea but it looks a little fiddly to align and move from stop to stop. I could easily see myself goofing and getting a mortise offline.

RMW

 

[jeffinsgf]

I argued against a similar product we were working on. Eventually it was shelved. I believe I referred to it as a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[tsmi243]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1069968501/festool-guide-rail-index-set-limit-stop

30 bucks.  And much less fiddly to use.

 

[cdconey]

Still trying to figure out why you would need this contraption.

 

[ChuckM]

Still trying to figure out why you would need this contraption.

That kind of stop is supposed to be helpful in very repetitive operations as shown in the video given in this product link:https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/924593732/festool-domstop500-by-rab-tools-the?ref=share_v4_lx

I suppose the Domino Sled is meant to achieve something similar.

The cross stop can do what all these after-market contraptions try to do -- and without the use of a track -- but very few of its owners learn or know how to use it.

 

[jbarr]

......... and if you own TSO's big foot and not a festool rail
https://tsoproducts.com/content/696-041.pdf

60 min mark from this video.


Agree with chuck that mid panel joinery can be done with the cross stop or even pencil lines using the wide setting and a carefully placed board.

 

[cdconey]

The cross stop can do what all these after-market contraptions try to do -- and without the use of a track -- but very few of its owners learn or know how to use it.

A story stick clamped on the panel to use as a fence has worked well enough for me all of these years. 

Maybe I'm in the how do I get it done camp rather than why I can't get it done camp.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.
A story stick clamped on the panel to use as a fence has worked well enough for me all of these years. 

Maybe I'm in the how do I get it done camp rather than why I can't get it done camp.

The story stick or a batten sure would work. The cross stop came as apart of a kit with the trim stop for me.

[attachimg=1]

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I do it with the dog holes on my assembly table, a straight piece of MDF, a 10mm spacer, and pencil lines.
The dogs keep it all square and referenced from an edge. Since the cross piece is also captured by the dogs, I can put pencil marks there too. I just slide the part under and align it the 10mm spacer, on the correct side of the line.
I thought about adding a T-track and stops at one time, but it just over-complicates a fairly simple thing....assuming you already have the holes.

It could be done with the back side of a guide rail and the kickback stops, but there is nothing to index the track to the edge of the part. The end stop from the Rapid Clamp could do that, but that's assuming a lot too.

 

[dlu]

...Since the cross piece is also captured by the dogs, I can put pencil marks there too. I just slide the part under and align it the 10mm spacer, on the correct side of the line.

Can you say more about the spacer? Is it there to offset the cross piece to set the center line of the dominos?

 

[grbmds]

While I have bought third party accessories for my Domino in the past, I've generally found that I really spent that money needlessly. The Domino is really self-contained as a tool; sold with the accessories that are required. I'm sure that, if I were a production woodworker, I might see the need for a single setup tool to do multiple identical domino placements, but I'm not. For my use, the Domino itself usually works just fine. I still do use at least one of my previously purchased accessories, but only sometimes. It's generally just easier get the Domino out, do the marks where needed, and make the cuts.

 

[ChuckM]

Snip. The Domino is really self-contained as a tool; sold with the accessories that are required.Snip

This.

 

[rmhinden]

Snip. The Domino is really self-contained as a tool; sold with the accessories that are required.Snip

My take is different.  I have several non-festool accessories that improve my DF700.  This includes:

TSO Bigfoot
Seneca Dockplate XL
Seneca RTS-500 Cutter Adapter
Ramon Valdez Dock

All these enhance my use of the DX700.

Bob

 

[ChuckM]

"Self contained" means the tool can do everything it is designed to do without the use of any third-party items. The accessories you listed may make the DF700 better for you, but they don't suggest that without them, the machine can't accomplish what its designer and manufacturer set it out to do.  For example, the DF700 has never been intended to cut smaller mortises by the manufacturer.

Many Domino users, including myself, use it day in and day out without any non-Festool add-ons. That is what "self contained" really means. It doesn't mean the machine can't be improved. The discussions on the non-existent (yet) DF600 tell us how much the machine could be improved.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

...Since the cross piece is also captured by the dogs, I can put pencil marks there too. I just slide the part under and align it the 10mm spacer, on the correct side of the line.

Can you say more about the spacer? Is it there to offset the cross piece to set the center line of the dominos?

The spacer is because I mark to the centerline. The baseplate of the machine is 10mm from the centerline of the cutter. This way, I can register the base of the machine on the MDF, as shown, and then one of two ways on the shelf/partition. I can do it with the part face up and referenced on the table or upside-down with the fence, on the Domino, set to 20mm.

 

[ChuckM]

While on the subject of third-party accessories, some of them indeed are helpful, such as increasing the stability or capacity of the Domino machine. But things like the Domiplate that restricts the machine to certain sheet goods have me scratch my head. The machine handles any sheet goods (1/2" & 3/4" included) very well without any clutches needed, but most importantly, the Domiplate must be removed before any mid-panel mortises can be milled, an unnecessary, extra step.

The Domiplate does not produce centered mortises (because sheet goods can vary in their thickness among batches) even if centered mortises are wanted (for whatever reasons), and it doesn't make the mortising process easier, quicker or simpler as compared to the use of the machine fence.

But as the saying goes, their money, their say, even if something may go against logic. [tongue]

 

[Crazyraceguy]

[member=57948]ChuckS[/member] I agree totally. I have never seen the point of the Domiplate either. The extra step seems tedious to me. I think I heard somewhere that the original intent was to combat the fence slippage problem that some people had with the early version? Whether it actually centers the mortice or not, it is 100% repeatable, and that's how they sold it initially. It has likely stayed because of some perceived notion that it's still needed? I kind of think the same about the 3D printed fractional version of the depth stop slider.
Marking the reference side and not worrying about the mortise being centered seems to be "best practice"

Though I would have like to get ahold of one of those "Self-Centering Guides" that [member=191]Rick Christopherson[/member] 
used to sell. It was taken off the market with the promise of something better, but that never materialized, at least to my knowledge?
The Festool one works, but is a bit tedious.

 

[ChuckM]

Yes, the self-centering guide does make sense, and the "better" version has never come out. Once in a while, I see the old guide up for sale (asking for $80 - $100?).

The discontinued multi position guide stop, a feature available in the DF700, is of more interest to me:https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/423690277439222020/

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I wonder what happened? Rick told me personally, in an E-mail, long ago that it would happen.
I just don't get why they wouldn't just keep selling the older SCG10 in the mean time? "Something" may be better, but the OG seemed pretty good? Beats having nothing
Too close to the Festool version? Patent problem?