Festool 500 or 700?

[lift mechanic]

I looked for quite a while for the 500 on line, everyone was "out of stock". I finally found one in stock at festool.com.

[KevMel]

I suspect you'll find them out of stock pretty much everywhere. I know I've seen several posts from folks looking to buy one and can't find it. Good luck!

Thanks, Fred.

I think I'm going to just have to "roll the dice" and order one online (Hartville most likely).

[msweig]

I've handled both (and have the 500). I went with the 500 mainly because of price, figuring if I wanted to get the 700 in the future then I could. But those longer tenons are really tempting.

Even though it is heavier I preferred the feel of the 700. The big handle in the front made it easy to lean down on, so it felt like I would know my cut was parallel with that surface. With the 500 it feels a bit more tippy and I'm worried when using it that my cut will not go in straight.

That said, I'm not making cabinets. If I was doing a bunch of dominoes in a day I could easily see the lighter weight of the 500 being wonderful.

And one last suggestion. If you ever find yourself in Germany the dominoes themselves are significantly cheaper over there. (at least as of a few years ago).

[Handplanesandmore]

People (cabinemakers) I know here use mostly the taytools dominoes. Much cheaper than Festools unless it has changed because of the pandemic.Direct from taytools or amazon.com

Only one makes his own dominoes..... but his shop with an assistant has 3 domino joiners, 2 small and 1 big. Needless to say, we know who is tasked with making the tenons!!!!!!
Simon