Mortised into a screw with my domino

LiranB

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2021
Messages
14
Hey

Well... Idiot me.
Just mortised with my domino joiner into a screw.
10mm cutter, under a magnifier you can just see the nick in the cutting edge.

Is it still usable?
Any chance I damaged the machine itself?

Thanks

Liran

 
There is probably none among us that has not done something like this over the time we've been doing things with tools. "Stuff happens".

Yes, there's a good chance that the cutter needs to be replaced or re-sharpened. Things like a brad or a pin nail are generally something that's recoverable from, but a screw may be hard enough and large enough to do damage to the tooling. Inspect it carefully, but I suspect you'll find it's not looking very pretty. I do not believe your Domino machine would have suffered any damage from this incident.

A corollary to this situation is that it's not a terrible idea to have a spare for the tooling sizes you use the most...even more so if one is a commercial user doing work for others for money.
 
Thanks.
Would you give it a how to see if it's still cutting? Or avoid the risk?
 
Don't feel like the Lone Ranger (bet you haven't heard that one in a while), I did the same last year but I totally killed my 10mm cutter using the DF700.

Broke it into two pieces hitting a steel screw that I swore I had removed just minutes before. Got distracted (my fault, I was the only one in the shop) looking at something else as I was about to remove the screw and never did take it out. This was revealed when reviewing the video from my security camera in the shop because I was sure I had removed the screw and I figured it would be on video if I had. But nope, stupid me didn't because I felt the need to do something else and set the screwdriver down, then never did go back and remove the screw.
 
Depending on how big the chip and how it is situated, the cutter might not make the mortise deep enough or the right shape / size. If it needs to be sharpened to get rid of the chip the sharpening might change the size also.

Try cutting a narrow setting mortise and see if a tenon fits in properly.

Seth
 
I’m the cautious type so I would junk the cutter. I once had to dig a piece of a cutter out of a mortise. Not fun.
 
Birdhunter said:
I’m the cautious type so I would junk the cutter. I once had to dig a piece of a cutter out of a mortise. Not fun.

I think the prior post was suggesting to do a narrow test mortise and push the tenon in on a test, scrap piece of wood.  NOT on a figured walnut, birds eye maple desk being built on commission.

As for testing the cutter to see if it will work.  Look at the chip and the cutter edge with a magnifying glass and see if it looks like just a chip or if its a break with a line going quite a ways.  Indicating more of the cutter will come off if you use it.  If it looks like its just a chip, then give it a test cut.  See if the chip in the cutter is really distorting the mortise.  Of course, wear a safety shield covering the whole face and safety eyeglasses too.  Caution.
 
Jim_in_PA said:
There is probably none among us that has not done something like this over the time we've been doing things with tools. "Stuff happens".

A corollary to this situation is that it's not a terrible idea to have a spare for the tooling sizes you use the most...even more so if one is a commercial user doing work for others for money.

I have never hit a screw with mine, but I have hit a 23ga pin. It made a bit of a crunchy noise and went on about cutting. I took it apart and nothing seemed amiss. It cut the same, as far as effort to plunge, and was in service for quite a while after that. This was on a 6mm cutter, which is the size I use most.
I do have access to a service who will sharpen them and I have had it done a few times, but there is an issue with doing that. As it is sharpened, it gets shorter. This is a double-whammy. The depth of plunge doesn't have the same clearance. This is ok with one sharpening, but too close for more than that. The other problem is that the shorter bit makes a narrower mortise. This can make for a very tight fit of the Dominos.
After that, I quit doing more than a single resharpening. I have toyed with the idea of putting a small diameter washer (like one for an Allen head screw) behind the cutter, to push it back out. But I don't think it's worth the risk, that little registration point of the mounting stud is pretty short.

I always have at least one spare for my saw blades and most of the router bit profiles or at least an alternative method/tool to compensate. I have a new and a re-grind plus the one in the machine for the 6mm Domino cutter, plus on spare each for the 8mm and 10mm. I just don't use the tiny ones very often, still have more than half of the original bag of 4mm Dominos that came in the assortment set. But again, this is in a commercial environment, so time matters.

The shop's standard practice is to have at least 3 of everything for each of the machines. One being used, one as a back-up, and one potentially at the sharpener.
 
LiranB said:
under a magnifier you can just see the nick in the cutting edge.

Is it still usable?
Any chance I damaged the machine itself?

That doesn't sound like a whole lot of damage. I'd make a few test cuts in scraps, but I would think it is still useable.

No chance of damage to the machine itself.
 
I was having trouble getting 6mm biscuits into mortise so I was sanding the edges with 120 pad.  Why because I was hurrying to finish.  Later I took a magnifying googles and discovery the smallest nick on the outside edge of the tip.  I figured I nicked a 23ga in when reusing a test piece.  I now keep CMT spares for all my cutters, and quit reusing test pieces.
 
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