Fix for misaligned Domino scale

slb

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Apr 2, 2008
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There have been several threads in the past where people lamented that their Domino would not center a mortise accurately using the plastic indicator scale.  Sometimes there isn't enough room to slide the scale far enough to the side to correct the problem.  I encountered this on my new Domino and also noticed that when I centered a piece in the cross stop the two scales didn't read the same left as right.  They differed by 1.5 mm!  After studying this a while, I believe I have found the cause, a fix, and an easy way to check and adjust the centering  :)

The problem on my unit was that the tilting fence was not centered with respect to the rest of the machine.  I could measure different distances from the center line on the bottom of the base to the two sides of the fence.

You can test this alignment by making an accurately square piece of wood and then scribing a sharp line around all four sides perpendicular to the edge.  Put the tilting fence at 90 degrees and put the test piece of wood against it and the base of the Domino, pushing the two locater pins in so that the wood is tight against both the tilting fence and the base.  Align the scribe line with the center line on the base of the Domino.  It can be helpful at this point to clamp the wood to the fence with a couple of spring clamps.  Now turn the unit over and look at the top of the tilting fence.  If the scribe line on your wood does not fall exactly in the center of the triangular cutout in the fence, your fence is misaligned!  Likewise, the center line on the plastic scale should be exactly aligned with the scribe line.

If your Domino is misaligned, start by recentering the tilting fence.  It pivots on two pins in the fixed base, and they are held into the base by 2mm set screws from the bottom.  Loosen these set screws and push the tilting base whichever way is necessary to make the triangle cutout fall exactly on your scribe line.  Then retighten the set screws.  Now loosen the two T10 screws that hold down the plastic scale and put its center line exactly on the scribe line.

The acid test, of course, is to do the alignment test described in the excellent supplementary guide available in the Gallery.  Mine was now dead on, and the cross stop scales now match when a piece is centered!  ;)
 
Michael Kellough said:
slb said:
......and the cross stop scales now match when a piece is centered!  ;)

Take note you guys. You know who you are  ;)

Right...and for the money paid for the Domino I would expect it to be dead on from the get go.  I sent mine out to Lebanon, Indiana and it came back in a couple of days still misaligned.  I don't bother with the cross stops anymore; just the pencil method.
 
slb said:
There have been several threads in the past where people lamented that their Domino would not center a mortise accurately using the plastic indicator scale.  Sometimes there isn't enough room to slide the scale far enough to the side to correct the problem.  I encountered this on my new Domino and also noticed that when I centered a piece in the cross stop the two scales didn't read the same left as right.  They differed by 1.5 mm!  After studying this a while, I believe I have found the cause, a fix, and an easy way to check and adjust the centering  :)

Thank you for your interesting suggestion, and welcome to the Festool Owner's Group!

When I get a Domino (it's a case of "when", not "if"!), I'll certainly be testing it for accuracy, and will investigate your method of adjustment.

Forrest

 
Wow, I have this misalignment problem. I've hesitated sending my Domino away to Festool because I don't want to be without it. Your solution makes so much sense. I'm going to try it out ASAP. Many thanks to you for sharing!
 
I wanted to reply back on how this tip worked for my situation. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this is the best solution for me. When I looked at adjusting the fence side-to-side by sliding along the pivot pins, I noticed that if the fence was moved side-to-side, the fence angle guides would most likely bind when setting the fence angle. There appears to be no way to adjust the angle guides as they are fixed to the fence base. SLB, I'm curious if you've noticed any binding when adjusting the fence angle. There is also another issue that makes this solution problematic for me.

On my Domino, the center triangle point lines up with the center line of the cut. If I was to adjust the fence as suggested in this thread, then the center triangle point would no longer be lined up with the center of the cut profile.

For now, I've adjusted the clear plastic scale on the fence. Luckily, I was just barely able to get the center line of the scale lined up with the center line of the cut. This works OK for using the plastic fence scale with pencil marks on the work piece. However, when I use the Trim Stop accessory, I cannot get the work piece cut centered using the Trim Stop scales without offsetting those scale settings by about 0.5mm (eg 20.5mm left and 19.5mm right for a 40mm wide work piece). I've ruled out inaccuracy in the Trim Stop scales. So, that leads me to the conclusion that something on the Domino was machined improperly. I'm at a loss as to how to figure out what was machined improperly, though. Maybe, I'll have to bite the bullet and send my Domino back to Festool service.
 
No, mine doesn't bind.  There was only enough space for a small adjustment and the angle arms seem to be flexible enough to deal with it.  To clarify, you first adjust the fence so the triangle is centered and then adjust the plastic scale.  This ordering is necessary because the scale is mounted to the fence.  If your fence already centers, then this fix isn't for you.

No idea why the trim stop readings don't agree...although I usually center a piece with respect to the scribe mark on the bottom of the base and then just tighten the trim stop guides against it, ignoring the scales.  If your 40 mm is slightly off, that will still produce a tight fit in the stop and a centered mortise.
 
I am not happy either,I just found mine is misaligned

and I agree when you put 1000$ to buy the domino the first thing I need is accuracy

I had to reset the plastic piece, even now it is not exactly dead on, not sure about the rest fence,...

I'll check it out later

 
steverunner said:
I am not happy either,I just found mine is misaligned

and I agree when you put 1000$ to buy the domino the first thing I need is accuracy

I had to reset the plastic piece, even now it is not exactly dead on, not sure about the rest fence,...

I'll check it out later

Steve in you are in the US I'd recommend you send it to Festool to have is aligned.
 
I tried this method to allign the fence of my domino and I encountered the following problem: the set screws are tightened so hard, that they cannot be loosened with a 2mm allen key. The first key I tried it with flexed a lot, but wouldn't turn the setscrew, I then got a shorter black one that flexes less, but that one just snapped. I even tried briefly with a pair of pliers on the piece that was left of the broken one, but I then gave up because I don't want to damage my domino, so I just settled by setting the plexiglass window to the centerline.

I guess I might be able to loosen them by dissassembling the fence so I can reach the screws with a small hex bit in my impact driver, but I'm affraid that method might strip the screws. And since this method of allignment is not recommended by festool themselves, I won't risk trying.

Did anyone else that try this encounter the same problem? (The screws aren't left-threaded, are they?)
 
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