Domino Joiner Maintenance

[bevans]

Hoping to be able to do a little maintenance on an older domino that has pins for registration. One of the pins does not pop all the way back out when depressed and my guess is that over time dust has gotten into the internal area. I have tried using compressed air to dislodge the "stickiness" with minimal effect. The joiner works fine otherwise and the sticky pin does not interfere with the mortising operation. Is there something else I can try before I send it in for a thorough cleaning?

 

[squall_line]

I'm not near my pinned model, so I can't recall off the top of my head, but are the pins held in by a bushing that can be removed from the body of the fence?

Does the pin stick during its travel, or is it free-moving other than the final extension to fully extended?

Without causing undue alarm, we learned yesterday in another thread that Festool USA no longer has 100% of the parts necessary to completely rebuild a pinned fence, so if you send it to FUSA for cleaning, you may find that there is an issue with it that they cannot fix.
https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/...o-500-cutting-off-center/msg688864/#msg688864

There are probably solvents that may help clean out the pin and spring better than compressed air, but I'm not experienced enough with them to know which to recommend.

 

[bevans]

When the pin is pressed in it slowly (very slowly) returns to nearly all the way back out. It’s the pin on the side of the dust exhaust chute and looks to be held in differently than the other side.

 

[jeffinsgf]

There are a couple spray lubes I would trust for lubricating that pin. Gibbs is well respected in the firearms community, and I've never had it gum up anything. Fluid Film is another that I use a lot, but it is a little thicker, and I might shy away from it where fine dust might accumulate...though I've never seen it cause a gummy build-up.

 

[bevans]

I appreciate the input, will pick up some spray but I do have another associated question. Other than the pin itself, is there any other access area to the inner part that seems to be the sticking point of the pin? There just doesn’t seem to be a space or area that will allow the lubricant to get down into the pin area.

 

[jeffinsgf]

I would just put a tiny bit right around the pin where it fits back into the fence.