Domino 500 - mortise not parallel to fence

[peter halle]

I will offer this advice, and it has been offered before over the years. I am glad that you are taking it back. I can't imagine that anyone would really be trusting of that tool and would always be second guessing themselves with every plunge. With the amount of money spent, and the amount of time and effort to work things out, whereas Festool's policy allows for it without questions, starting afresh with a new tool might just be the thing to eliminate doubt and wash out any bad taste, let alone hopefully produce more accurate mortises.

If it were me, I wouldn't bother with taking in a sample board or doing test mortises there.

I hope we read that the new tool rewards your exchange with perfect mortises soon!

Peter

 

[Stevenski]

I hope we read that the new tool rewards your exchange with perfect mortises soon!

+1

 

[Vtshopdog]

Try cutting a mortise using the base of the machine as reference rather than with the fence set at 90 degrees.
Clamp some scrap to a bench and simply lay the machine on bench then plunge.

If you get same crooked result then the cutter head axis is skewed. If you get a proper cut then either the fence is off or you need more practice.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I just tested mine by making a single mortise in a piece of milled cherry. I measured the distance from the edge of the mortise to the edge of the board with a ruler, and it came out the same on both ends (sides?) of the mortise.

Occasionally, when connecting a rail to a stile with a domino, the rail will have a slight twist to it. I always assumed it was something in the wood since it didn't happen very often, but this thread made me wonder.

Given the test I just did, I am going to assume that when it happens, it is the wood or operator error. But given JohnV's experience, it also looks to me that it is a problem with the tool.

Make another mortise in another similar length stick and join them with a domino as John did and check if the sticks are coplanar.

 

[ReneS]

Make another mortise in another similar length stick and join them with a domino as John did and check if the sticks are coplanar.

Good idea. I like it.

I took the piece I did the first test with, added a domino mortise on the other end, and then cut it in half.

The pieces match up very well, coplanar, but with a very slight deviation in height alignment. I would say a little less than the thickness of a piece of pare (1 thou?).

Both times I clamped the wood to my MFT, had the wood stick out past the MFT, and referenced off of the fence (the part that allows you to cut mortises at various angles).

 

[ChuckS]

I will offer this advice, and it has been offered before over the years. I am glad that you are taking it back. I can't imagine that anyone would really be trusting of that tool and would always be second guessing themselves with every plunge. With the amount of money spent, and the amount of time and effort to work things out, whereas Festool's policy allows for it without questions, starting afresh with a new tool might just be the thing to eliminate doubt and wash out any bad taste, let alone hopefully produce more accurate mortises.

If it were me, I wouldn't bother with taking in a sample board or doing test mortises there.

I hope we read that the new tool rewards your exchange with perfect mortises soon!

Peter

Indeed, the sample board wouldn't be necessary. However, do expect that the store staff might do some test cuts to verify the machine is not performing to spec. At least, that was how I handled requests for returns (regardless of brands). Yeah, we did come across people trying to return something that had nothing to do with a power tool but with their own shop power outlet/supply!

 

[Cheese]

I don't know...I'm firmly of the opinion that when you show up and have GOOD examples to show that the tool in question is possibly faulty, it can be a quick vindication that you've approached the problem in a systematic manner and are not just another drama queen which I'm sure the store staff sees on a daily basis. If the examples are presented in a positive manner and not in an accusatorial manner, they do start a conversation as to what could be wrong with the tool rather than what is wrong with the user technique.

 

[luvmytoolz]

I don't know...I'm firmly of the opinion that when you show up and have GOOD examples to show that the tool in question is possibly faulty, it can be a quick vindication that you've approached the problem in a systematic manner and are not just another drama queen which I'm sure the store staff sees on a daily basis. If the examples are presented in a positive manner and not in an accusatorial manner, they do start a conversation as to what could be wrong with the tool rather than what is wrong with the user technique.

Gotta agree with this. Going prepared and armed with proof never hurts anyone and can save wasted time troubleshooting.

I know when we get a support call we assume in most cases people weren't holding their finger the right way, or clicking the mouse button properly! And most times we're right!

Ok that's exaggerating a little, but you get the point.

 

[Cheese]

FWIW...this same conversation came up several years ago on the FOG in 2019 and I had some Doug fir downstairs that I decided to experiment with. Here are the results using my personal DF 500. It's tough to argue with the results. One part of the photo is with the fence of the DF 500 fence resting on the top of the fir and the other is with the base of the DF 500 resting on the MFT.

That's only a .004" difference in height...I'll take that any day.

 

[luvmytoolz]

@Cheese That's pretty well perfect!