Domino models?

[Phil Thien]

There is an earlier (I guess) Domino that has steel index pins, and one that has plastic pins?

Are there differences in the model #'s for these?

Are there any advantages to one vs. the other?

Are the accessories interchangeable?

Are there any other questions I should be asking?

[johnny means]

When I bought mine I was quite perturbed to see the plastic stops as IME the metal pins worked great. The metal pins allowed for indexing off of the last mortise while the plastic tabs do not. The plastic tabs do allow for lateral adjustment which would seem like a plus, but IMO the slop of the tabs more than offsets any fine adjustments you can make. I don't like the tabs, but consider it a very minor issue, as I usually work from measured marking on the workpiece rather than a measurement determined by the Domino.

[Sam Babbage]

I use a pinned Domino at work and a tabbed one at home. In my experience the tabbed one is more accurate but the pinned one is slightly more versatile. I never reference off previous mortises but I have made jigs that reference off the pins, for example, to locate rails in a rear chair leg (where the mortise isn't parallel to the leg faces.) If I could choose one it would probably be the pinned version but by such a small margin that it's almost irrelevant.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I had the pinned version first. The pins always seemed to be in the way. I later got a tabbed version & locked the tabs back. I just never found the tabs or pins useful.
Any Festool Domino accessory will work on either model. Some after market accessories will not.

[Kelly Colin Mark]

Any Festool Domino accessory will work on either model. Some after market accessories will not.

Since the older, pinned Domino came out after the 4mm cutters, they will apparently not work with them unless you grind off part of the domino, thereby granting the fence a little more room to lower.

[Chris Rosenberger]

Since the older, pinned Domino came out after the 4mm cutters, they will apparently not work with them unless you grind off part of the domino, thereby granting the fence a little more room to lower.

I believe that only had to be done if you were using the 4mm dominos in stock thinner than 1/2".
I was in a woodworking class 2 weeks ago where both version of the Domino were used in 1/2" stock with 4mm cutters & they worked fine. No mods were done to the fences.

[Rick Fisher]

I remember reading somewhere that the steel pins created a patent problem.. someone had patented the idea.. so they switched to tabs.. I cannot say that is accurate..

I have the steel pin model.. like it .. Use the pins all the time wider stock..

[Greg Portland]

Since the older, pinned Domino came out after the 4mm cutters, they will apparently not work with them unless you grind off part of the domino, thereby granting the fence a little more room to lower.

This is the major plus of the newer model: stock 4mm cutter use. I have one of the original models and modified my fence (alternatively you could purchase a new fence for ~$150 IIRC and have both options).

I believe that only had to be done if you were using the 4mm dominos in stock thinner than 1/2".

Correct, is has to do with centering on thin stock. Of course, you would not likely be using a 4mm Domino on thicker wood (you'd use the larger Dominos).

[Paul Johnstone]

I have the steel pinned one (older version). There was a guy on ebay that was selling round magnet "spacers" that could slip over the steel pins.. This basically made fatter pins which put the mortise closer to the edge. IMO, this was a brilliant accessory. If you want pictures. look at ebay listing 270734923364.
They do not work on the plastic tabs.
Now granted, I have not used a domino with plastic tabs, but since I use these spacers so often, that would lead me to recommend the steel pin model if I was looking at used ones.

I don't use 4 mm dominos, so that's not an issue for me. I'm not criticizing them, but since they are the thickness of biscuits, I just use biscuits or an alternate method instead.

[Brice Burrell]

Phil, this is likely all moot since they're are very, very few new pin models still out there. For all practical purposes you could say none. Even in the used market they are hard to find. If you were to find a used one it isn't going to have any warranty left.

I have the steel pinned one (older version). There was a guy on ebay that was selling round magnet "spacers" that could slip over the steel pins.. This basically made fatter pins which put the mortise closer to the edge. IMO, this was a brilliant accessory. If you want pictures. look at ebay listing 270734923364.
They do not work on the plastic tabs.
Now granted, I have not used a domino with plastic tabs, but since I use these spacers so often, that would lead me to recommend the steel pin model if I was looking at used ones.

I don't use 4 mm dominos, so that's not an issue for me. I'm not criticizing them, but since they are the thickness of biscuits, I just use biscuits or an alternate method instead.

There is another after market product with flip stops that will work in place of the magnet spacers on both Domino models. Try a search for the MGS-20.

I think the 4mm Domino tenons have an advantage over biscuits on narrow stock. Also, with the tight mortise setting the Domino tenons don't allow for the side to side that you'll have with biscuits. There are times when that will be a big benefit during glue up.

This is the major plus of the newer model: stock 4mm cutter use. I have one of the original models and modified my fence (alternatively you could purchase a new fence for ~$150 IIRC and have both options).

Correct, is has to do with centering on thin stock. Of course, you would not likely be using a 4mm Domino on thicker wood (you'd use the larger Dominos).

I don't believe there any of the old pin style fence assemblies available anymore.

Since the older, pinned Domino came out after the 4mm cutters, they will apparently not work with them unless you grind off part of the domino, thereby granting the fence a little more room to lower.

Remember you don't have to center the mortise in the stock. I have the old pin model and I haven't bothered modifying it to center the mortise for the 4mm tenons, it works for my needs.