Domino DF 500 wearing is this correct or a defective unit?

[sicd_steve]

hey guys

I have noticed my Domino DF500 is showing signs of abnormal wearing due to the tolerances of the swinging arm and chassis plate, I don't see why this should be happening,
the bottom of the swing arm casing is rubbing on the stainless steel chassis head plate??? I don't see why this would be, surely there should be some form of clearance between the
two units. I have noticed at times when doing a bit of dominoing the unit getting warm...no wonder it's the metal to metal friction.

Anyone got any answers or is this normal?

Cheers

Steve

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Steve,

I checked with our service department on this, and I do believe I've seen this before. Here's what I was told...

The normal clearance between the two components is only about .3mm.  It is common for the two components to look polished due to wood dust getting trapped between the two surfaces.  If the base plate gets damaged (base plate gets bent upward), it can cause the two surfaces to come in contact with one another.

 

[woodie]

Mine had the same wear out of the box. I just assumed it was normal.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Steve,
As Shane pointed out, when this type of polishing/wear appears on a Domino, it is typically due to sawdust getting brushed back and forth. What I noticed from your second picture is that it appears that you frequently use your Domino without any dust extraction. The line of discoloration closer to the front of the Domino base where the cutter sweeps out its path is indicative of a lot of sawdust getting swept back and forth, and this area has a very large clearance between the cutting bit and the baseplate. So that means there has been a lot of sawdust in this area during operation.

Even though it is not recommended to operate your Domino without dust extraction, if you do occasionally do this, you should always shake out the dust from the base after each plunge. 

 

[NZrol]

Steve,

I had the same issue but mine was possibly worse and the unit was getting very hot on the bottom, so hot in fact that the depth setting lever wouldn't move after a few minutes use.  My photos are at the bottom of the following post - http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tool-problems/domino-running-hot/. I use a Festool dust extractor.

I sent mine back to Festool and they 'polished' the bottom of the machine section removing a small amount of material and it is fine now. Bottom line is I think a small amount of wear is normal due to the occasional bit of sawdust but if it becomes hot or the wear is extreme it may be worth sending it in.

Cheers Roland

 

[sicd_steve]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your help and advice. Just a few things from the comments to note.

#1 - I have a CT26 and a CT36 and I use the domino all the time with either one of these as they at either end of my shop, I cannot say I have ever used the domino without the dusties being on.
        there may have been an occasion where I thought it was connected but the hose may not have been in the vac by mistake. After a few seconds you realise this, but I sure can say I have never for
        any length of time used it without dust extraction. Just for the records.

#2 - I have a shop floor that is covered in air dimple rubber mats for a few reasons, firstly for under foot comfort, sound absorption, preventive damage to sheet goods or furniture that may slip and
        hit the floor and lastly if any tool has the misfortune of dropping off the bench there is no damage as falls on a cushion of air and rubber. So I can safely say again that I have never dropped
          the Domino machine. I have dropped a TS55 saw and a Router Trimmer OF700 both survived with no scars and work fine and I can't see that the Domino has been damaged as was pointed out from the  guys at Festool USA .

But I wanted to point out these few things, Also to note .3mm is not much of a clearance? so I will be more observant to any dust in there in the future if thats what is causing it. Note the 700 XL version has a much bigger clearance, so one wonders  are the Festool engineers aware of this issue and improved it in the 700XL model .

So it seems that this not really a problem for the future I will just be aware of dust being there, I will polish it up and see how it goes.

So again thanks for all your comments and help.

Cheers

Steve

 

[sicd_steve]

UPDATE.........

Brett from Festool Australia called me this morning and informed me that it's all OK and is quite normal and nothing to worry about and it due not to damage but
to the tolerances of the machine and in no way affects the performance.

Pheww.....my baby is OK and won't have to go to surgery

 

[Stephen B]

That's good news.

Checked mine this morning (AEST), not a scratch.

Did you call them or was their call from monitoring the FOG, or Shane working behind the scene?

 

[NYC Tiny Shop]

One of the problems with the dominoes is that you can get so fast with them that you don't realize that it's too fast for the machine. These babies will heat up fast. I recommend putting on the dust extraction hose and plunging a little slower, so that the vacumm can get more of the dust out of the tool without any build-up. Also, use a blower when you're done to have it totally free of dust before the next use.  My Dad would always say, " Take care of your tool and your tool will take care of you." Hope this helps.

 

[Stephen B]

One of the problems with the dominoes is that you can get so fast with them that you don't realize that it's too fast for the machine. These babies will heat up fast. I recommend putting on the dust extraction hose and plunging a little slower, so that the vacumm can get more of the dust out of the tool without any build-up. Also, use a blower when you're done to have it totally free of dust before the next use.  My Dad would always say, " Take care of your tool and your tool will take care of you." Hope this helps.

This has reminded me that following some recommendations on the FOG when I first considered purchasing mine, I plunge in two stages, half in then fully, to allow shavings to freely be removed. I also run the vacuum over most cutting/sanding tools, hand and powered, Festool and others, before I put them away.