Dominoes not lining up when joining panels
- Thread starter drmaz72
- Start date
Tinker again thanks for the advice on technique. Having said that, I have place dominoes both incorrectly and correctly. The test piece I showed has two dominoes and they line up with one another.
GRBMDS, I really can't make this stuff up. At Festool, Eric showed me the pins that would need calibrated. Those pins, or what is held by them, sit unevenly with respect to one another. Due to this the workpiece cannot sit flush with the fence. See my first attachment below. I have the workpiece upside down so you can see the gap to one side. Yes I am pushing the piece evenly.
GRBMDS, I really can't make this stuff up. At Festool, Eric showed me the pins that would need calibrated. Those pins, or what is held by them, sit unevenly with respect to one another. Due to this the workpiece cannot sit flush with the fence. See my first attachment below. I have the workpiece upside down so you can see the gap to one side. Yes I am pushing the piece evenly.
Attachments
Grbmds, here is another photo where I have removed the workpiece. If you look outside of the black tabs you will note that on the left there is a metal piece that sits above the fence and that its counterpart on the right sits at or below the fence. Aside from that you can visibly see that the guidelines on the bottom of the fence are not in line with the line in the plastic viewer. Like I said, I cant make this stuff up.
copcarcollector
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drmaz72 said:
[member=60813]drmaz72[/member] I cant offer any help most likely, but am interested in your issue, can you please revise this posting with the picture that you mentioned?
Bobfog thank you for the vote of confidence. I work in mm in my day job and have been know to be a bit meticulous in my technique and most critical of my own results. But in this case I really feel this machine is not meeting expectations. Finally, I am not writing on this blog to criticize or complain, only to share my experience that it may help the next person having similar problems. But I will say that I am more than disappointed that the good people at Festool would this back to me so blatantly out of line. Not sure what the next step is.
copcarcollector
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drmaz72 said:
[member=60813]drmaz72[/member]
Have I hi lited the parts you are talking about? Just trying to visualize how the Domino does not sit flush as in your other picture, obviously something is protruding on one side more than the other to make the Domino 'cocked' to one side.
[attachimg=1]
Attachments
"I really can't make this stuff up. At Festool, Eric showed me the pins that would need calibrated. Those pins, or what is held by them, sit unevenly with respect to one another. Due to this the workpiece cannot sit flush with the fence."
Absolutely didn't mean you were making it up. I now see what you are referencing. I guess I don't understand, though. If Festool has indicated which pins are not lining up and that they sit unevenly, then there should be no problem with them repairing or even replacing the tool. It obviously is, in some way, defective or needs some repair. I assume they are doing that. I did not have any tool problems other than those which I created myself by either allowing the tool to move just slightly or not lining the marks up by looking directly on top of the cursor, or leveraging the tool so the plunge wasn't 90 degrees. Sorry for your problems. Hope Festool corrects them quickly so you can enjoy the tool itself.
Absolutely didn't mean you were making it up. I now see what you are referencing. I guess I don't understand, though. If Festool has indicated which pins are not lining up and that they sit unevenly, then there should be no problem with them repairing or even replacing the tool. It obviously is, in some way, defective or needs some repair. I assume they are doing that. I did not have any tool problems other than those which I created myself by either allowing the tool to move just slightly or not lining the marks up by looking directly on top of the cursor, or leveraging the tool so the plunge wasn't 90 degrees. Sorry for your problems. Hope Festool corrects them quickly so you can enjoy the tool itself.
Copcarcollector you have highlighted the correct part. There are set screws in the sides. They loosen the set screws, place the domino in the calibration machine and then align and tighten. My guess is that somewhere something is just not lining up.
copcarcollector
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I would think they could swap out the entire fence assembly and that might solve your problem. Please let us know how this gets resolved...
ajones
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There are hardly any issues with domino machines reported on the fog. so to get one that is not right is very unusual. I wonder if it may been dropped at some point.
Best just send it back and I'm sure it will get sorted, The dominos are the best machines festool make, and you will get many years of great use out of it once once you are past this issue.
Best just send it back and I'm sure it will get sorted, The dominos are the best machines festool make, and you will get many years of great use out of it once once you are past this issue.
Birdhunter
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I have to complement you on your patience. I would have returned the Domino for immediate replacement after the first few attempts to correct the problem failed. You have pursued the solution with both patience and calm analysis.
I returned an RO sander after one usage because the mode selector switch was loose. The dealer took the unit back and handed me a replacement with a smile.
I returned an RO sander after one usage because the mode selector switch was loose. The dealer took the unit back and handed me a replacement with a smile.
If you look at the machine, the fence and base of the domino slide against each other on machined surfaces. There appears to be no alignment possible to correct this issue. It seems this kind of issue could only be caused if the two vertical posts on the base are not coplaner. Maybe the machine was dropped before you got your hands on it? But it does seem like replacing the cast base would resolve the issue.
Now that you have a more clear idea what the issue is I'm confident it will be returned operating perfectly after one last trip to service. I can see how this may have been overlooked.
Now that you have a more clear idea what the issue is I'm confident it will be returned operating perfectly after one last trip to service. I can see how this may have been overlooked.
bobfog said:
Yes, it is entirely possible. I think the OP was asking for suggestions. I don't think anybody who has replied has argued that his suggestion was a final approach to a solution. as far as my own reply towards how to line up the domino if the machine is in perfect condition and every thing in proper alignment was not aimed specifically at the OP, but might prove helpful to others who, down the road, might run into the same problem. I, and other responders that have ventured solutions, have not spoken as presenting a final solution. We have covered nearly all bases. Some from a base of a lot of experience. Some, as I, have presented from the standpoint of having minimal experience.
Tinker
Hey guys let me start by saying that I feel every single post has been nothing but constructive. A ton of great advice for domino users and I have appreciated every post. Quick update, I drove back down to Festool this morning and Brad from service took a look. He thinks it is a defective Fence. I told him the original problem was different than when it came back which might make sense if they were calibrating but the fence was defective. I will give an update when I get her back. Thanks again for all of the positive solution searching!
