Festool has new limited edition Domino joinery tool sets coming out, and a reader asked if it’s a good buy.
Tom (thank you!) asked:
Do you think this is a good deal? It looks like the Domino doesn’t come with some of the normal accessories, like the cross stops. I don’t know how useful those are though.
I was thinking of finally pulling the trigger on a domino since I have a lot of cabinets that I need to build.
I haven’t looked at Festool’s Domino 500 tool set recently. Tool Nut breaks down the pricing, showing a $1069 set with the addition of a trim stop, handrail fence, and tenon assortment kit.
The bundle price is $1299.
If you’re wondering “Domino… what?” it’s Festool’s floating tenon mortising machine.
While expensive, the Festool Domino is very good at what it does.
The question is whether these limited edition bundles are a good buy.
Let’s focus on the Domino 500 tool, which is standard for 3/4″ plywood and similar joinery. The XL 700 tool is better sized for larger hardwood construction. There are plenty of discussions online as to which is better for different tasks, but I think the 500 is best suited for building cabinets and similar.
Festool’s standard DF 500 “Q-Set” with support bracket, trim stop, and cross stops, for $1199.
The cross stops retail for $87.
Going with the Q-Set gives you a different $87 accessory in place of the handrail fence, which also retails for $87.
Thus, the biggest difference price-wise is the Domino assortment.
Here’s another look at the limited edition set.
You get a Systainer full of floating tenons, plus a full set of cutters.
The official description says you get: Domino DF 500 + LA-DF Trim STOP + RA DF Hand Rail Fence + Beech DOMINO Tenon Assortment, and the support bracket is listed in the list of included contents.
It seems to me that you get approximately the same value as in the $1199 kit, plus the tenon and cutter set (probably minus the one that’s usually included in the regular kit), for $100 more.
Will you want to experiment with other tenon sizes? You’ll need the appropriately-sized cutter, which runs around $50 and up. No? Use the tenon sizes you need, dump the rest of the contents into a bin, and you have another Systainer tool box.
If you were looking to buy a Domino tool kit, the limited edition bundle does look to be a good buy.
It seems to me that these limited edition sets are designed to shove potential buyers off the fence they’ve been perched on.
Festool’s Domino tools are expensive, but there’s still no substitute. There are alternative joinery methods, but still nothing that performs similarly. There’s speculation about what will happen when the patent runs out. But in the meantime, there’s just one Domino (plus a larger XL model).
Festool is not discounting the Domino tools, they’re throwing in discounted add-ons and slightly changing the accessory inclusion.
Compared to the price for just the Domino 500 tool set, I think you would definitely get your money’s worth with the new limited edition bundles.
If I were buying a Domino DF 500 joinery tool right now, or were thinking of buying one, I’d definitely go for the limited edition bundle.
There’s also a limited edition bundle on the Domino XL 700 set, for $1749.
