Regarding the price tag for the "imperial" parts
The "stepped Fence to Center of Thickness" gauge could esily replaced.
(This is an injection mold part. While the cost of having the mold made
is in the $10-20K range for a set of production molds, the price may
be less thanks to CNC machines. So maybe this "option" might add
a few dollars - maybe even $10. But remember - you've got a very
large market in the USA with lots of Boomers with a fair amount of
disposable income. I probably will make my own out of lexan. I've
even got a letters and number set of steel stamps )
The "Fence to Mortise Centerline Scale" could easily be replaced.
(this one wouldn't add but maybe $5 to the retail price)
The "bits" could be made in 1/4", 3/8" and maybe 1/2".
(this one could be a problem - until someone comes up with an
aftermarket product - which I suspect WILL happen. $30
is right up the router bit makers alley and market)
The "Viewing Window Scale" could be replaced with 1/32" increments
(OK - add another $5)
The "Depth of Cut Notches" could be cut for 1/2", 3/4", 1", 1 1/4"
(I suspect that Festool has to do some machining on the die cast
part anyway - so machine a little differently - CNC machines
are VERY adaptable)
The retractable "stop pins" could be made 1/4" diameter
(since the die casting has to be machined anyway for the 5mm pins
and brass insert would it kill them to program the CNC to do a1/4"
hole - mortise side say 1 3/8" to centerline? OK add another $20)
The distance between the retractable stop pins (inside to inside) could be at 1/2" (12.7mm)
(see above - 1 2/8")
I'd have paid another $100 to have Imperial.
I've got a metric and inches pocket tape - Stanley
5m/16' (33-158) AND a digital metric/decimal inch
caliper. And the primitive "drawing program" I use
for my scaled illustrations will display dimensions
in millimeters or decimal inches. Hell, I've
got a Robland X31 combi - made in Brugge, Belgium.
It's got both metric and imperial parts - I even think
some of the nuts and bolts are SAE so I'm not
new to The Tower of Babel.
BUT - most USA woodworkers think and work in
inches and fractions of inches, not decimal inches.
YES - metric is really handy - no fun and games
adding, subtracting or dividing fractions. BUT
most of my tools have Imperial Scales and machine
heights for table saws, joiners, shapers etc. are
all around 34" off the shop floor. I KNOW where
34" is - without a tape, metric or imperial. But
if you asked me to show you with the palm of
my hand where 863.5 mm was - or how
wide a 610mm cabinet is - you'd get a blank
stare (it's damn close to 2 feet - or 24")
It's not hard to convert between mm and inches.
But converting the resulting decimal inches to
something on an imperial pocket tape - well that's
a bit more time consuming. And the more side
tracks I have to take before I get to where I
want to go may mean that I either give up
somewhere along the way or don't even start
down that path. It's just one more "challenge"
to play with - and some folks are pretty sure
I'm already "developmentally challenged" -
pun very much intended.
Let's go back to Furlongs and Cubits (my
father was an accountant so Roman
Numerals are out)!
charlie b
It is within 1/500" of being the same as 5/16". So non-owners of the Domino can rout mortises with a 5/16" spiral bit and use domino tenons.
