By David Slotsvik
Intro
The Festool DF500 is a precision joinery tool designed for creating mortises and tenons in wood. It is a versatile and efficient tool that allows woodworkers to create strong, precise joints quickly and easily. The DF500 features a unique pivoting fence system that allows for precise alignment of the mortise and tenon, ensuring a tight fit and strong joint. The tool also includes a depth stop for repeatable accuracy, and an adjustable height stop for consistent placement of the mortise or tenon. It’s mostly used for butt joints, miter joints and edge joints.
This video from Festool gives a proper introduction into the machine and how to use it
Safety
- You have to wear hearing protection
- On thin workpieces the cutter can come through the back of the material if the depth setting is wrong
- Keep fingers away from the oscillating part of the machine on the underside
Things to consider
- Size of material and size of dominoes: The minimum thickness material is 16mm. Rule of thumb is to use a domino that is ⅓ of the thickness of the material
- Placement of plug in the material: Always try to use the edge stops and the extension stops. This eliminates the need for marking. The plug doesn't need to be and almost never is in the absolute center of the material.
- Edge registration tabs: Plastic parts on the side that help register the domino machine to the material on the 2 parts that need to be joined together
- Marking: Important to use proper marking of the workpiece. Put a piece of tape that shows the orientation of the workpiece.
- How to start and hold: The machine should be turned on away from the workpiece to avoid accidental cutting. Its best to grip the machine back towards the power plug to avoid your hand stopping against the dust extraction port.
- Setting the stops and depth: Most of the time the depth of cut needs to be different depending on if you are doing cutting in the edge or on the face of the machine. This is the most common mistake
- Changing the bit
Common mistakes