Festool576423 DOMINO Joiner DF 500 Q-Set

I run a small woodworking business and watch several woodworking youtube channels. I've seen the domino used on a lot of the channels. Some channels hate it because it's not an old school skill like using a chisel. I suppose those people still have horse drawn carriages. For me, this thing is amazing. Much better than I could have imagined. It's fast, accurate and well designed. It's been a game changer for my shop. I now have changed several of my designs to incorporate using the domino. I have yet to buy anything from Festool that hasn't been top notch.

While pricey - this works great for applications where floating tenons are called for. Easier than a spline in my application.

I purchased this tool because a guy on YouTube told me too. It cuts oblong mortises in wood like nobody’s business!

Everyone knows this is an expensive product. It does one thing, basically. But it does it quicker and with more accuracy than anything else I've tried. I thought about using my Pantorouter for this current project, but the setup time with that is longer, and not as repeatable as with the Domino joiner. No regrets here. My only concern so far is that the "wide" setting created enough chatter that the dominos did not fit tightly, so I had to remake those mortises using the tight setting. From what I've been able to tell, maybe I plunged slightly too quickly, creating a climb cut that led to chatter. Not sure yet.

The Festool Domino DF 500 is known for its reputation as a premium joinery tool, but I can’t give a full assessment because the unit I received appeared used, despite being sold as new. This left me questioning its reliability and performance.For those considering this tool, make sure to verify the condition upon receipt to ensure you’re getting what you paid for.

Way too expensive for the only one feature that makes. Holes.

I’m I glad I purchased this, yeah plan and simple. Saves so much time and closed joints like butter. Little bit to learn but very easy to learn.

I finally decided to get a domino after several years of thinking about it. The only thing that has stopped me is the cost. I still have sticker shock after buying it, but it is an awesome addition to my shop. I'm sure once the patten runs out the market will be flooded with cheap knockoffs but the quality of Festool is unbeatable. I don't like that you need to use a proprietary dust port attachment, but I 3D printed one to hook to my Ridged vacuum. You can also get hose attachments from the box store and make it fit but it's a pain in butt. Harbor Freight just released a Hercules Hepa filter dust extractor for $300 to rival the $1000 Festool extractor so I may give that a try as well. The only reason I am giving it 4 stars is because of the dust port not the price. The price is on you not them. If you are willing to pay for it than the price doesn't matter as much anymore.