Domino Help

[Mike Goetzke]

I've had my Domino for about a year but haven't had really many projects to use it on. When I first got it I had the slipping fence problem and was told by FT customer service to tighten the snot out of the elevation lever. Seemed to work at the time. But, today I had a perfect use for the Domino. I was edge joining several pieces of 8/4 stock. The stock is planed and edge joined so I have perfect faces to work with. I made probably 30 to 40 holes to find out the fence is moving again. So I searched and found a fix to rough up the surface the clamp rides on a bit. This seem to hold the fence in place but only if I push the clamp super tight. But, I'm still getting errors of around 0.010" and even some larger! I'm thinking some of this must be technique. I'm working with white oak. I also tried examples in a pine 2x4 and get the same variance. To me this tool cost a fortune and I have yet to find a success story with it. I had way better success with my previous P-C plate jointer.

Please help.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[peter halle]

Mike,

When you say you have a deviation, in what direction - vertical, horizontal, or diagonal?

Peter

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Mike,

When you say you have a deviation, in what direction - vertical, horizontal, or diagonal?

Peter

Vertical - If I measure the distance from the top of the slot to the surface the fence sits on.

 

[tbellemare]

Mike:

Is that distance getting progressively greater as you make more holes?

Tom

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Mike:

Is that distance getting progressively greater as you make more holes?

Tom

originally it was but now i think it's the user. I think I need advice on where to apply the pressure and how fast to plunge.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Mike,
Are you using the fence at 90 degrees so that the flat part is on the top of the 8Q workpiece?  If so, press firmly down on the handle after you are sure the fence is snug against the edge.  Speed should be reasonably slow and smooth.  If you are pushing hard, you are probably going too fast, let the tool do the work!

Having said all that, personally I think using biscuits or dominoes for edge jointing is a waste of time.  If the workpieces are well milled and you are assembling on a flat surface, there should be no need for biscuits or domis.

Look in the thread "consolidated list of Festool References" in this area.   There are a couple of videos on the domino and some excellent articles.  I especially recommend Jerry Work's manual.

Good luck,
Jess

 

[peter halle]

Mike,

At the training class we learned some things about the domino.  Many of these things are out there as Jesse wrote.  Here are some things that you might want to try:

Based on questions they have received the most common problems are:

As Jesse said, make sure that the majority of your weight is on the forward portion of the tool to keep it flat on the workpiece.

Make sure that the piece you're working on overhangs your bench, table, etc.

Don't plug too slowly - 2 seconds or so is normal.

Make sure that your plunging motion does doesn't lift the tool off the work piece or tilt it.

These steps correct most issues.  Hope that this helps.

Peter

 

[tbellemare]

Make sure that your plunging motion does lift the tool off the work piece or tilt it.

Peter:

Didn't you mean to say, "doesn't" lift or tilt the tool?

Tom

 

[peter halle]

Correction made.  Thanks Tom.

Peter

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Mike,
Are you using the fence at 90 degrees so that the flat part is on the top of the 8Q workpiece?  If so, press firmly down on the handle after you are sure the fence is snug against the edge.  Speed should be reasonably slow and smooth.  If you are pushing hard, you are probably going too fast, let the tool do the work!

Having said all that, personally I think using biscuits or dominoes for edge jointing is a waste of time.  If the workpieces are well milled and you are assembling on a flat surface, there should be no need for biscuits or domis.
Look in the thread "consolidated list of Festool References" in this area.   There are a couple of videos on the domino and some excellent articles.  I especially recommend Jerry Work's manual.

Good luck,
Jess

Yeh - I agree, but, just wanted to play with the domino I guess. I'm an engineer and am very impressed with the mechanics of this machine but I still can't believe the inefficient fence lock they built in it. To get it to lock constantly (even with the roughed up clamping surface) I had to re-index the clamping lever in such a way that the clamp slightly drags when it is in the fully loose position - otherwise the clamping lever hits the stop when tightened.

Are there any retrofit kits to fix this mistake???

Mike

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Mike,

If you believe there's an issue with the fence locking mechanism, I would highly recommend that you send it in for warranty repair.  Our turn around for repairs is usually less than 48 hours from the time the tool is received.  Call the toll free number in my signature below and select the option for repairs.  Feel free to PM or email me if you have questions.

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

I would agree with what Shane suggested, send it in and take advantage of your warranty.  It is part of what you have paid for and then you can be very confident that the tool is as it should be and any further problems may be with your technique.  The few days without the machine does not sound like it will be a major issue for you.

I can also say that I grip the fence and push it in and down on the reference surface with my left hand and lightly wrap my right hand around the top and sides of the rear part of the motor and gently push forward to cut the mortise.  I also switch the tool on most of the time prior to doing the alignment with my marks so that I don't pull the tool off my marks when I switch on the machine.  Not sure if that is recommended or not but that is how I have done it and it works for me.

Best,
Todd

 

[ForumMFG]

Tod, I do the same thing.. typically you are doing more than 1 joint at a time so you leave the domino on anyways.  I've been surprised at how little the domino moves during this alignment with pencil mark period is.  It's very easy to do so.

 

[marty schlosser]

I also found that over time my bits became dulled (duh!), resulting in misalignment.  Once I put in a sharp bit, the problem went away.

That prompts a question:  does anyone know of a location here in Ontario, Canada that resharpens these bits?

Marty Schlosser
Ottawa, ON, Canada
www.MartysWoodworking.ca

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Definitely take Shane's advice.  The fence clamp shouldn't be that loose.  Mine isn't.    BTW, ironically its fairly easy to overtighten it and damage the mechanism which makes it perform really poorly - maybe thats what happened.  Give Festool a chance to make it right - I'll bet they come through.

 

[ForumMFG]

Marty,

I don't think you should sharpen those bits.  Everytime you sharpen the bit you obviously make the diameter smaller and that would defeat the purpose of how accurate the domino is.  You might be able to get away with one sharpening and thats it in my opinion.  If your looking to save money you can buy domino router bits from CMT at a very good price but I've never used them or heard reviews on them.  You can search the forum for CMT domino router bit and a couple threads will come up.

-Dave

 

[Notorious T.O.D.]

You might be able to sharpen, more like touch-up, the bits but I am not sure it is worth the trouble.  If you can find some round and conical tapered diamond files to use that is what I would try.  You pretty much need diamond to sharpen carbide effectively. 

Best,
Todd

 

[Forrest Anderson]

Regarding resharpening, the official Festool advice seems to be as follows, taken from the Festool support Knowledgebase:


Q: Can the Domino cutters be resharpened?

A:  Domino cutters can be resharpened as many as 3 times. After 3 sharpenings they become too short to mortise the necessary depth. Domino cutters will bore between 4,000 and 15,000 mortises before they require sharpening. On average, 4,000 mortises into end grain on hardwood, and 15,000 mortises into side grain on soft wood.

Forrest

 

[ForumMFG]

If thats the case, I would have a pro do it..Knowing this now, If I were to do it, I would sharpen it once and throw it away.  I'm not a pro at sharpening.

 

[Mike Goetzke]

I called CS a few times on this issue, but, I was told the only thing they would do is clean the fence clamping face and re-index the lever. They also said just to torque the lever much harder.

Last night I followed a post here and applied self stick sandpaper the the clamp face and to the two little feet on the locking block. The fence is rock solid now. If I get offset slots now it's user error  ;D  .

(I think I was trying to do too much with the plunge action. I was trying to also use it to put some pressure down and inward but sounds like all the alignment/holding pressure is done with the non-plunging hand and the plunge action should be straight into the board.)

Mike