Narrow mortises

[MusicByMark]

My domino 500 on the narrow setting cuts mortises exactly 18.35 mm, but the 5x30 mm os measure exactly 19 mm. I'm guessing this is not normal, as I would have to really pound them into really hard woods.

Is there an fine tuning adjustment (beyond the three presets)?

 

[tjbnwi]

Check the tip of the cutter, whenever this has happened to me the tip has had issues.

Tom

 

[MusicByMark]

I think the cutter looked fine, has had almost no use of course since I haven't made any joints with it other than a couple practice ones, but I will double check now and report back if I notice any damage to the carbide tip or any irregularity. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[luvmytoolz]

You can definitely pound the 19mm tenon without issue, the ribs on the edges will just compress a little more, but your mortise is absolutely a little undersize, on my one the narrowest setting for the 5mm cutter is 19mm on the nose.

Aside from checking the cutter as Tom suggested, maybe do a few mortises in a row and measuring them to see if there's any variance might be worth doing.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

As suggested above, there is a bit of an interference fit, but most of it is just the ribs on the edges. That is part of what causes the alignment. If they weren't that tight, there would be some movement.

 

[Sparktrician]

Until you find the actual cause, a block (or sanding pad) with 150 grit Granat will provide a bit of slack if you give the domino a light scrub before inserting it.

 

[MusicByMark]

As suggested above, there is a bit of an interference fit, but most of it is just the ribs on the edges. That is part of what causes the alignment. If they weren't that tight, there would be some movement.

I had some trouble finding the exact specs online, but does your Domino tool cut mortises as narrow as mine? Using the 5x30 Domino's without sanding (or using a larger mortise selection) would mean not getting them out of the slots without some damage to the edge surface, or very tedious / time consuming cautionary efforts when pulling them out with pliers, to protect the surface from denting with the pliers.

 

[ChuckS]

Your measurement looks similar to the readings I took (18.2 to 18.3 mm). I have used the DF500 for well over 10 years, with no issues about its milling width.

Microwaving the dominoes will remove moisture and shrink their thickness, if ever needed. For dry fitting, I keep a batch of sanded down dominoes of various sizes and reuse them.

 

[rst]

I had the same situation where the cutter seemed fine until I checked with magnifying googles and discovered the tiny tips were gone.