New Dominos Coming to North America

Cheese said:
I don't know...there's a reason why Domino bits look like they do and a reason drill bits look like they do. With the absence of lateral motion, the Domino bit will not easily clear the wood chips, that's the job of the high helix angle used on drill bits. Without the high helix angle wood just gets drilled, chips become packed in the void, the bit overheats and the precision of the drilled hole goes South.
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They don't use drills, you actually fit a trimmer in it and use router bits suitable for plunging.
 
mino said:
With a DC power source, for brushless you do a "simple" curve-generation to generate the 3+ phases of AC needed for the motor. Relatively simple and cheap addon on top of the single AC curve a brushed motor gets by with.

With an AC source, you first need to generate DC from the AC power you got, then you can do the same as with the DC power source. One more conversion, at a high voltage at that, and you can see why it is more tricky. There are phase-shifting tricks to make this more efficient, but the gist of more complexity stays.

Further, a brushed AC tool allows you to leverage the AC input directly, a simple capacitor is all that is needed for a single-phase brushed motor to operate. True, the full-wave electronics Festool uses are more complicated than that, but still those electronics only "tune" the AC wave they are presented with, they do not do the full AC-DC-AC conversion a brushless single-phase AC tool requires.
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My brain now hurts
 
Its great Festool is bringing the cordless model the the USA. I could not be happier with mine and feel its much more comfortable to use for extended periods than the corded model.

The new base is nice, the pins being metal and there being 2 sets of them really makes a difference.
 
BWS said:
Its great Festool is bringing the cordless model the the USA. I could not be happier with mine and feel its much more comfortable to use for extended periods than the corded model.

The new base is nice, the pins being metal and there being 2 sets of them really makes a difference.
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Plunges almost too easily with the new D handle, took me a little by surprise when I first had a go. It really changes the ergonomics dramatically I reckon. It is a really nice model.
 
Michael Kellough said:
Don’t forget you’re handling a new tool with recently lubed plunge rods.
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The newly lubed rails would have helped for sure, but I think it was more that for me I'm so used to doing a really controlled plunge on the DF700 with the 14mm cutters, that using the teensy DFC500 with the D handle and a small cutter in comparison was just so effortless. Kind of like if you've been pounding 6" nails into hardwood sleepers, and then you try hammering a few 1/2" brads!

It's so damn cute though! ;-)
 
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I am so torn on this new release- I waited and waited.. years- before I could afford the domino, then bought it when the 100 year came out. Then saw the announcement about an upgraded fence system maybe 1 month after my 30 day return window closed. I still have it, brand new unused in the case- and I'd been waiting. I'm thrilled by the video I just saw the other day by Dusty Lumber that his fences seemed to be swap-able and the one I saw today by Peter Millard showing that it basically works minus a little calibration issue which I still don't know for sure if it can be worked out through some sort of machine calibration... but at the same time- I also really am intrigued at the D handle on the cordless since I do a little bit of everything and while I wouldn't be doing shop-production work with the domino, there would be many times a quick cordless shot would work great, even if I need the vacuum- and I don't mind the whole batteries required thing unless they phase out of existence with a working machine... but seeing as the new batteries still work with my 10+ year old T18 drill.. I'm slightly less concerned there as much as I am with the hassle of possibly selling my domino, or the weight of the cordless domino like if I need to use it in a repair fashion on say some existing built-in cabinets. In Peter's video comparing the two fences on his same older domino- he notes there's still a bit of of a calibration offset on his original fence compared to a larger offset with the newer fence... does anyone know if that offset is at all something that can be altered without significant labor? I did see one person suggest they did it but it involved drilling and tapping to actually get theirs to be "dead on" which sort of seems... weird that there isn't a way to calibrate it- as if every single domino that comes off the line is calibrated between it's own fence and body individually off the line.

All that said- I probably wouldn't have an issue selling my new one locally as much as I despise having to sell something- but has anyone had any hands on experience with using dominos on repair work type jobs where the D-handle of the cordless might come in handy or think the added weight might actually be a hindrance? I've seen what people say about the accidental activation over the switch and handle style of the 700's but I also think about how they talk a big game about why the handle of the Kapex is designed upright vs horizontal like SOOOO many other brands do with their miter saws, and talking about the ergonomics of the vertical handle are a far more natural grip style to the body over something horizontal and I wondered how that might play a roll here for the cordless vs the more barrel-grip like style of the original.
 
@idratherplaytennis As someone who started with the DF700 first and then got the DF500 some time later, I absolutely prefer the D handle and find it much more manageable and controllable. I know a lot of people complain about the weight of the DF700 but the ergonomics with the handle are so good I don't actually notice the weight at all. I also tried the DFC500 and think it's a fantastic upgrade, and don't find the weight to be of any concern whatsoever.

But for myself I wouldn't consider selling the DF500 just to get the DFC500, but my needs may be very different to yours, as I use the DF700 much more than the DF500.

If I didn't have the DF500, I would buy the DFC500 in a flash though.

At the end of the day you want to be happy with the tool, so you might be able to justify selling the DF500 and buying the DFC500 for your situation, it certainly sounds like you greatly prefer the idea of the DFC, so I'd suggest just think of the long term and whether you would regret not getting the DFC500 every time you use the DF500?

When I first started in CNC I wasted an awful amount of money on inadequate machines and hardware, but given where I am now with it, I don't really regret it.
 
I agree with @luvmytoolz that the long term use should dictate your decision. If the additional cost of the battery and the need for charging don't bother you and your preference is cordless, the DFC should be choice as long as you have tried the machine at the store.
 
Thanks for the input on that. I have the table saw and a t18 and pdc18 and I honestly have enough batteries to rotate through with my normal use that I don't find myself draining anything particularly fast. For severe heavy duty stuff over and over and over, worst case I have 20 Makita batteries and a ton of Makita stuff. My main consideration is more of getting something else so that I just keep all the Festool batteries in rotation on and off to keep the batteries in mostly functioning order. I have a few Milwaukee batteries left with maybe 2 rarely used Milwaukee tools from when I sold them almost all off to friends when I dove back into Makita and I know from my own use and a plumber friend that at least with Milwaukee, if you don't keep a nice decent charge on their batteries and don't use them, their batteries tend to die fast early deaths. I've had extremely good results with the way my Makita batteries were going back to their 3.0's and letting them sit quite awhile sometimes months without use and not gone bad- and have since been working on just adopting good rechargable lithium battery use habits.

Watching Peter's video on the cordless does seem to make that model a bit more appealing to me though. I know it's missing the trim and cross stops but at the same time- if I go the cordless route, don't need the extra batteries, use it infrequently but value it for when it is there, buying the extra accessories which it looks like I would wind up getting a bunch of third party things from Peter's video which help with weight distribution like heavier plates for using it in different positions- none of that would be a big deal. I honestly was really set on just keeping the 100 year anniversary one I have and buying the table from the festool parts site and just deal with a little adjustment issue if ever needed- but I am thinking more about selling it and going for the cordless at it's June release instead now.

Thanks for your guys' thoughts and opinions. I really wanted to go for that 700 at one point because of the sizes but similar to getting talked out of the 75 track saw and sticking to the smaller sizes, and then winding up with the ts60 or whatever one they came out with that shares the blade size with the table saw, I do appreciate some cross-functionality but lighter ease of use when needed.. even if that dumb tracksaw has a permanent wire corded to it... and for me- the cordless might just be a bit better, even if I need a vacuum with it- I'm not someone who minds that, trying to keep things clean as I can when working places that really need to be kept clean like inside tenant's apartments where there's almost always power. I think I'd be more annoyed managing the power cord coupled with the hose like using my sanders... but I just haven't bought a shroud to tie the things together or zip tie it or whatever like I should.
 
idratherplaytennis said:
I have a few Milwaukee batteries left with maybe 2 rarely used Milwaukee tools from when I sold them almost all off to friends when I dove back into Makita and I know from my own use and a plumber friend that at least with Milwaukee, if you don't keep a nice decent charge on their batteries and don't use them, their batteries tend to die fast early deaths. I've had extremely good results with the way my Makita batteries were going back to their 3.0's and letting them sit quite awhile sometimes months without use and not gone bad- and have since been working on just adopting good rechargable lithium battery use habits.
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That's a few times I've heard the same from different people about Milwaukee batteries dying an early death, I would have thought by now battery design and manufacture has been well and truly sorted out. Especially from what is probably the biggest selling brand in the west at least anyway.

Couldn't agree more on the Makita batteries though, I bought a bunch of LXT gear when it was very first released in Oz and aside from the early "dead fuse" bug, they have been the best battery platform I've ever used. I can use and abuse them, and leave them for months on end with varying charge levels, and they still charge to full capacity and perform amazingly. Makita definitely got the LXT design right! They're almost indestructible!
 
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