Domino 500 Fence Alignment Woes

[marty schlosser]

Fellow Domino 500 owners & experts,

  I'm an experienced Domino user who has recently noticed an alignment problem with the fence that I'd not heard of before.  This mis-alignment results in the slots being made out of the vertical axis.  This poses a problem when I need to use the narrowest (13mm +) dowel-hole width setting, which is what I prefer to use most of the time.

  The alignment problem with the fence is observable when viewed from above the machine which you can see from the attached photos.  There is a .5mm gap between the fence and the body on the right-hand side, whereas there is none (or virtually none...) on the left-hand side.  That's why the bit isn't plunging vertically.  I am not sure if this is a result of the fence having warped through the tightening action of the fence horizontal clamping lever, or what.  Regardless, the fence is clearly warped.  The gap becomes more pronounced the higher the fence is raised.

  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Marty Schlosser
Kingston, ON, Canada
Ph 613-766-8270

 

[jacko9]

Marty,

I'll check my Domino 500 and Xl 700 to see if I observe the same issue.  I did have issues with my DF 500 when using the pins to index cuts on vertical shelf cuts and I'll check to see if I have the same issues you have observed.

Jack

 

[semenza]

So in effect it is as if the fence is twisted?  Hmmmm.

Wouldn't hurt to give the service number a call for their input.

Seth

 

[B_Swanson]

I just checked my DF 500.  Neither side is perfectly co-planer  (the fence is proud of the body by just a little bit on both sides).  The gap on one side is just slightly larger than the other (using the ever so-accurate rocking straight edge test).  The gap doesn't change noticeably with fence position on mine, so I doubt my fence is twisted.  Interested to see/hear how it is on others.

Brad  

 

[tiralie]

Interesting Marty.
When I tighten (reef it) the horizontal clamping lever to the maximum mime goes out about (more or less) 1mm in any position. If I back off the clamping pressure it goes back to coplanar.
I could see how this might create a problem for lining up Domino when jointing in the vertical (plumb) position, but I really haven't it noticed it. I usually use the tightest setting on my domino.
It would be interesting to calculate how much affect this (1mm) has on alignment.
Tim