Festool Domino vs Hybrid PantoRouter

[@tcbridges]

I love watching and learning from you . Thank You. I have the Pantorouter and the Domino 500. I wish that Pantorouter people would make more build video's on things they do with there's. I love your work and actually go to your page and am watching all yours.

[@SkyValleyStudio]

Thanks, Thomas! We appreciate all of our regular viewers like you! I’ll try to separate out of the Pantorouter specific uses. I end up using it quite often, and it’s become one of the most versatile power tools in my shop.

[@SkyValleyStudio]

There is also a PantoRouter Facebook group that occasionally gets some useful posts. You may want to check that out, too.

[@btdga]

I own a PantoRouter and use it to make mortises for bed frame hardware that end up looking like the double mortise with the housing mortise. I made a "two stage" template and cut the housing mortise and the deeper mortises with one set-up. Basically the guide bearing follows the larger part of the template at one depth and then I set it to a smaller part of the template at a deeper depth to cut the smaller mortises. I set the plunge depth depth stop to the smaller deeper mortises and use a spacer to limit the depth when cutting the housing mortise. I use the PantoRouter on very large workpieces. I regularly edge drill for knock down hardware on 3/4" panels up to 2' x 4'. I've also used it for mortise and tenons on a 5'5" x 8'8" two panel barn door with 1-3/4" x 9" rails and stiles. You just need the proper support for the workpiece that hangs off the table. Rough castings that don't affect the function wouldn't bother me. I'd rather have a functional and reasonably priced piece of equipment than something that's "polished" and overpriced like Festool.

[@kevinkennedy7237]

I think it would be great to compare the PantoRouter to the Leigh FMT Pro which does compound angle tenons fairly easily.

[@SkyValleyStudio]

We don’t own the Leigh FMT Pro or that would have been a video! But the PantoRouter does such a great job and is versatile in many other ways. Donations anyone? 😉

[@jesper1406]

The pantorouter can do a LOT of things, and with a jig, it's great for making a lot of the same cut. And if you buy the plans from Matthias Wandel, you can build your own for very little money. The Festool is more compact and portable, but it's VERY expensive, and can do one thing, and one thing only.

[@SkyValleyStudio]

Pretty much spot on there! We got the Domino first. It mostly sits in the sistainer. Thanks for the comments!

[@garyhanson4106]

Do you think the Pantorouter would work doing bread boards?

[@SkyValleyStudio]

It would only work for smaller projects as you want to be able to secure the work to the PantoRouter table. I am assuming you mean bread board ends...? Bread cutting boards don't usually require much joinery in the way I would build them, so I am not sure about your application.

[@garyhanson4106]

Sky Valley Studio..... Thanks. I was hoping to get by w/o a Domino.

[@SkyValleyStudio]

For breadboard (cutting boards) joinery, I’m considering using the PantoRouter to make dovetailed joined end grain boards, similar to what avoid block uses. As soon as I finish up the works currently in progress!

[@rhshel]

As of this date I have had no answers even to my e mails asking simple questions about parts availability. Seems Woodcraft Solutions LLC has zero service after the sale!

[@SkyValleyStudio]

Try hybridpantorouter.com/shop/ or write them directly

[@mor4y]

I got really good service (in english) from Dictum in Germany, they're a European supplier for the metal pantorouter

[@tcbridges]

Woodcraft doesn't sell Pantorouter or there parts. Go to Pantorouter direct and you will get everything you need with in a week

[@kalisaggu5086]

wich price

[@SkyValleyStudio]

Sorry, Kali. I don’t understand. Not a full post?

[@kalisaggu5086]

we want wood working panto ruter machine price

[@SkyValleyStudio]

Sorry, I didn’t see this comment until now. Go to hybridpantorouter.com for the most current pricing for your country. For me, much less than a mortising machine, and it does more.

[@marka9292]

Seems like a bit of a biased test. Maybe show how portable the pantorouter is, take it to a jobsite. Assemble a house worth of window and door trim. They are different tools what's the sense in saying one is better than the other.

[@SkyValleyStudio]

"They are different tools what's the sense in saying one is better than the other." I absolutely agree! This review shows why we chose the Pantorouter for doing our chairs. The right tool for the job. Our Domino 700XL hasn't been scrapped by any means.

[@mor4y]

"Take it to a jobsite...." Have you seen how delicate the Domino is? Our one doesn't leave the shop, and even then its had a couple of close calls! 😱 and dropping a bit for the 700 model can cost you $70 if it breaks, they're more expensive than the standard 500's, and ordering them is a pain as places *always* send you the 500 version by mistake.... At least the Panto lends itself to sitting flat by its design, sit it on a table, secure it and off you go. I mean if it gets whacked by the tail end of a passing 8x2" and hits the floor it won't be pretty but it'll be fixable (and square!) for a fair price by a local engineer, now would you want to make the same bet with the domino getting whacked of a table onto concrete? It'd be fixable, but at festool prices 😱 Personally I love both, but resistance to damage is not the domino's strong point! 🤣 but for getting piled through a bunch of window frames, domino wins for speed, that spyhole on the front guard makes it so easy to position quickly and accurately

[@benswoodcrafts]

@@mor4y Wouldn't say my house is a 'Jobsite' but I have taken my 500 around with me for various jobs. I don't think either tool is going to survive being beaten with a bat but I don't think that's the point.

[@dsdragoon]

Fun video but I'll keep my Festool Domino 700 XL.

[@rhshel]

yea, I bought my pantorouter and I do like it. However, Woodcraft Solutions LLC who sells it has a real problem with quality. At least when I got mine the cast parts which hold the router were delivered with castings that were well below the quality of the rest of the machine. And I have tried everything trying to get the parts replaced. Their only remedy was to "send the whole thing back" ! By that time I had it assembled and a cart built for it. I wasn't about to disassemble it to send it back! They have yet to address the replacement of defective parts! I don't even think they know what is going out to customers!!

[@SkyValleyStudio]

I do know that they recently changed the design, but it seemed like it would make the framework more consistent by replacing some of the bars and connections. Is the casting problem functional? Personally, I would not care if there is just some roughness from mold seams.

[@SkyValleyStudio]

It’s possible that the router you have isn’t compatible with the Pantorouter. We had to get a new router for the proper fit.

[@rhshel]

It took eight months to get the replacement parts with no apology of any kind! Not only that they banished me from the blog and refuse my orders for accessories!

[@rhshel]

You would think WoodCraft Solutions LLC would stand by their machines and have replacement parts at a cost of $1809. I was told "their are no replacement parts"

[@postholedigger8726]

I always suspected that the PantoRouter was just another flimsy desktop hobby toy. Trying to make an industrial quality machine tool from extruded aluminum, whose initial application was to provide framing for safety screens, always seems to end up with a flimsy low precision tool. The concept of the machine is great but the marketed version of the initial concept looks like a piece of junk. david

[@macsheldon]

Please look at our newer models with cast base, pantograph and table supports. It's vastly different and much improved, but in fairness the original extruded aluminum version is extremely strong and rigid. It would surprise you if you actually used one.