Seneca Adapter Alternative

[Festool14]

Is there an alternative to the RTS-500? I had the DF 700 with it before and loved it. Unfortunately had to sell it but am in the market again and disappointed that I can’t readily buy it. Seems like a super easy thing to machine and keep in stock. Profit margins have to be through the roof on it so maybe they ran into problems with Festool.

RTS-500 Cutter Adapter for Festool Domino DF 700

The RTS-500 Cutter Adapter allows mounting any of the Festool Domino cutters on the Domino XL so you can make mortises from 4mm to 14mm with your Domino XL

www.senecawoodworking.com

 

[Neil Lickfold]

I thought that there was another company also making the Seneca style adapters for the DF700 to use the DF500 cutters. The problem with the adapter is it is a simple looking part to make and people assume it should not cost much to make. When in reality, it is a very precise part , and alot goes into making them correct. I know, I made my own. It is all about the absolute squareness of the end faces, and the concentricity of the 2 reference diameters. The end that fits the DF700, then the end that fits the DF500 cutters. As well as that, it needs to balance very well, or else it will damage bearings in the machine. When all made correctly, and the cutter mounted, it will still cut the correct width mortice. The length of the mortice will be slightly less, as the DF700 has a slightly narrower left right movement amount, compared to that of the DF500. The Domino's still fit ok, just little bit tighter to go in the holes.
It will cost alot more to have a machine shop make you a few adapters.
I don't think Festool approve the use of the extensions on the DF700 machines.
I have not seen any specific wording that voids the warranty if you use a Seneca adapter.
Neil

 

[Festool14]

Understand that there is precision to it and some technical considerations. I’m definitely not interested in paying to make some of them and would happily pay Seneca to ship me one but have emailed them and yet to receive any response. Ideally, it would be nice if Festool would just release cutters that went down to 5 or 6mm for the DF 700 but I get that would complicate the market. On the other hand, it would drive more sales of the DF 700 and at $1900 it is a far cry from a cheap option and people would still likely choose the DF 500 most of the time.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

I have no knowledge of why it might have been discontinued. I honestly never ended up using the one I bought, especially after scarfing up a DF500 "barely used" for a very good price.

 

[Cheese]

That's a strange turn of events...even the Seneca dealers are sold out. The USTF website asks you to pre-order the item?