Domino add-ons

[PaulMarcel]

What companies need to notice is that on forums, anybody glowing about their new SawStop or Leigh D4R Jig invariably makes a comment about the completeness of the manual, right down to shop-friendly spiral binding.  Couldn't have cost that much, but the ripple effects are worth so much more.

And thanks for the compliment, williaty!  Guess I should re-record my last video I did in Chingrish just for 'raughs'  [embarassed]

 

[Rick Christopherson]

There was a safety section that starts: "You must always be careful when using power circular saw."

Shall I point out this was a manual for a jointer/planer?

So not to sound like a suck-up, but thanks for the real manuals, Ick.

Thank you Mr. St.-Orange  [big grin]

Back when I started writing manuals for Festool (specifically for power tools in general), I never realized that there are ANSI and UL documents that specifically mandate what safety warnings are required for each type of tool. So instead, I gathered all of the similar product manuals I could find on the internet and pulled out the applicable warnings. I found that nearly every manual out there had ridiculous warnings that weren't applicable to the tool. What really throw me for a loop was when I saw bad grammar and typos, all of the manuals had the same mistakes.  [scared]

A few years ago, when I started working with the law firm retained by Festool USA, they gave me a copy of the ANSI and UL standards, and that is when I discovered that all of these typos were coming directly from the Standards!!! Believe it or not, but the typos and bad writing were actually MANDATORY under the way the regulations were written. I corrected this poor writing, and the lawyers even signed off on my corrections.  8) Most writers would not go head-to-head with the lawyers, but I did. That's why my safety warnings aren't as ridiculous as most other manuals.

 

[rmwarren]

Actually, all kidding aside, I did download your Domino manual when I first received the Domino, AND I read it. Still have it out in the work-shed.

I recall it was very clear & contained useful info, I just need a refresher.

RMW

 

[Rick Christopherson]

What amazes me is that, as bad as user manuals are, service manuals are often worse! ...

Ummm....Willi....Pal.....Friend....My day-job is writing Service Manuals!  [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

All kidding aside, I know exactly what you are talking about. Before I went independent, I had this cow-worker that convinced our manager that she was capable of writing hardware manuals (as opposed to software), and was therefore on-par or even better than I was (because I refuse to ever write a software manual).

I was working on a Service Manual for a $500,000 product, and I wanted to see if there was any information I could steal from a sister-product manual. There was a procedure for replacing a stepper motor. The procedure should have been, "take these 3 screws out, and you are done." Instead, the writer had the technician removing the main assembly from the base (1 hour labor), then remove the subassembly from the main assembly (15 minutes labor), and then remove the 3 screws that were accessible the entire time.

That wasn't an isolated incident. The entire manual was written that way. The writer didn't realize that her 10 to 15 words actually amounted to hours and hours of labor. It took 30 seconds to type, but she didn't comprehend what that meant in real life.

When I write a service manual, I physically tear the machine apart in my office or shop. When I don't have access to a machine, I still virtually tear it apart within SolidWorks.

===============================================

Oh, You'll get a kick out of this. I was under a tight deadline, so I took one of these $50,000 modules home over Christmas break one year. I had to reassemble it before bringing it back. Unfortunately, my cat wanted some attention from me, and did everything she could do to get in my way. Instead of fighting it, I started snapping pictures. I then re-wrote the procedures based on these pictures.

I went all the way up to the Vice President of the company to get permission, but the following pictures were released in the final Service Manual, and they remain there to this day!!! The whole machine costs between 1/2 and 1 million dollars, and these are what the Service Manual portrays.

Use the observation Port to verify that the belt is tracking correctly.

Have an assistant hold the pulley while you tighten the screw.

Don't lose your patience. Paws to reflect on your task before reassembly.

 

[williaty]

Nice.

Two of my current favorites are the brake section that has you torquing a M12x1.25 steel bolt into an aluminum caliper to a torque of 85lbf-ft. The manufacturer of said caliper says that under no conditions should you EVER torque beyond 55lbf-ft because the caliper will fail. For this reason, there are "Subaru Brembo Specific" kits available from Helicoil and Timesert. There's also the suggestion to torque M6x1.00 bolts to 52.8lbf-ft to hold the clutch pressure plate to the flywheel. Needless to say, you discover the tensile strength of the little bolts.

In the automotive world, we get the added fun of the fact that the times allowed to complete tasks are based off some pencil pushers guess about how long it should take. Then they forget simple things like "the engine has to come out first". Even better, sometimes they allot time for taking the engine out once to do the clutch, then allot another amount of time to take the engine out a second time to get to the flywheel. I do wonder why these guys think the right side of a car is faster than the left. 4 hours to replace the left side cam seals. 20 minutes to replace the right side seals.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

You'll probably get a kick out of this, but aside from writing manuals, I am also designing some performance auto parts for a company local to me. Over at my own forum I have a write-up about designing an intake manifold that is used for a 4-cylinder, 850 hp engine. It sounds as though you know engines, so when I say this is for a 30 psi turbo, you'll probably understand just how unusual that is. It's over at the Woodworking Cafe under the Blowhard: Part 2 thread.

 

[williaty]

Looks like a nice project. I can't enlarge the images, but is the coupe in the first picture (the project car, I think), an S2000? Yeah, 30psi is pretty high for a non-WRC car. It gets interesting trying to keep all the couplings in the intake tract done up much above 20psi. I'm sure some of the other race series run high boost as well, but I'm mostly exposed to rally-related stuff, which runs up to 90psi. But only for about 200mi at full boost before it's a paper weight. Before opening my own shop, I did some design of suspension-related parts. It's nice to realize that probably half the modified Imprezas running around out there from 2002-2007 have a part I either designed, tested, or sold on them. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time to work with a couple of companies that are pretty dominant in that niche. I've been around high-power cars, worked on them a bunch, but it was tab-a/slot-b stuff from my end, someone else was doing the power design. I've gotten some pretty hilarious drives in them though. Restrictor-plate cars crack me up. Drive around and it almost seems like a normal car (well, other than the cage, straight-cut gears, etc). Flip the switch marked "STAGE" and suddenly the "idle" jumps up to 4kRPM, the boost settles on 20psi, and the car starts sounding like a string of firecrackers going off. Put the gas flat to the floor, clutch down, pull back on the paddle, and sidestep the clutch. Computer takes over and 800lbf-ft of torque tries to stuff your eyeballs into the back of your head. I honestly think I've got plaid a couple of times, lol. Then the restrictor plate takes over and the shove just dies more and more and more. By redline, it almost feels like a normal car again (though in reality it's still really making a lot of shove, it just feels normal in comparison).

I get guys coming up to me and giving me heck about driving a non-turbo station wagon all the time. They ask how I can have fun in the car without 300-400hp. I tell them once you've driven a car that weighs 2,000lbs and makes over 800hp, it just doesn't seem impressive do drive a 3300lbs car with 400hp. Those are, inevitably, the same guys who have all sorts of reasons why I was able to just calmly drive away from them on a mountain road even though I have a 250+hp disadvantage.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

That's surprising, because I set the forum up so that visitors have full access to all images and information. Maybe you just didn't click on the thumbnails. Yes, it is an S2000.

I left my speed days behind me quite a few years ago, but my 13 year old son sure gets a kick out of it when we're late for school and I poke the pig pulling out in traffic. I picked up a GMC sierra SLT a few months ago, and it has a nice throaty sound when you let it loose. At these gas prices, I am a little more conservative than I used to be. It's fun, but I can't help but seeing dollar signs flash past. I've never had a 6-speed transmission before, but I'm sure I will find a stupid reason to test it out sooner rather than later.

 

[williaty]

I click the thumbnail and it tells me I have to log in.

Yeah, I have to admit I use the gas pedal less than I did even just a few years ago. Of course, I use the brake pedal less now too, what with there being no original parts other than the unibody and a couple of years of driver education. When the speed limit is 25mph, I just set the cruise on 29mph these days. Then again, I don't cancel the cruise to go around 90* corners onto a new street either...

 

[Kev]

The Festool US to Oz price ratio is nowhere near as bad as it is for petrol. For High octane petrol we're paying over the equivalent of $US7 per gallon.

I've gone from a thirsty monster to a frugal Audi that returns 6l/100km on the highway (over 45 mpg).

 

[Rick Christopherson]

I click the thumbnail and it tells me I have to log in.

Sorry. I thought I had that fixed a long time ago. I thought it was working, because you can see the images in Firefox. It was only Internet Explorer that wouldn't show them. I found the setting and changed it. Try it now.

 

[williaty]

Well, in Firefox on the Mac, it still wasn't working. However, whatever change you made now causes the images to show up full-size inline as the page loads, no click required.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Yeah, that's the way I always wanted it to work, but couldn't find the setting. The name of the setting isn't obvious for what it does. It sets "download" permission, which to me should have nothing to do with seeing in-line images. It was actually Shane that originally brought it to my attention a couple months ago, and I thought I fixed it back then. It worked in my Firefox browser, but I had no reason to think of testing it with any others until you mentioned it.

 

[Rembo]

that's how I look and I can not understand why work Domino  upside down?

 

[live4ever]

So let me get this straight.  You guys dig up my old thread, only to turn it into a thread about MANUALS??  Seriously!  [tongue]

For the record, I figured out all on my lonesome (and with some help from Paul-Marcel's review) that the SCG would be very handy.  So I got one a while back and so far it has been great.  Thanks, Rick!

Hope to pick up a Domiplate soon as well - wish there was a way it could be combined with some sort of indexing system as well but ya can't have it all I suppose.  Perhaps a Domiplate Deluxe is in the works?

 

[Rick Christopherson]

So let me get this straight.  You guys dig up my old thread, only to turn it into a thread about MANUALS??  Seriously!   [tongue]

Hey, every kid on the planet knows that when the teacher steps out of the room, the children are going to get rambunctious.  [eek]

Ya can't blame the children....cuz we're children after all.  [big grin]