Consistent Domino Problem. Help!

[Phillip Mitchell]

Bryan,

Are you using proper dust extraction? Not sure if that has been addressed yet in this thread, but I could see that being a potential issue especially if plunging “aggressively”, causing the bit to deflect. Just a thought.

[Warren Lake]

dont get it, what you show working upside down, flip the panel and work off a table and the base of the machine. Ive never used a shoe on a lamello only worked from the bottom and it works great, it doesnt matter where. Im probably not understanding you and will re read it. I think they sort of work the same way though dont have one so would understand if I did.

[Randy Heinemann]

Any work around seems to ignore the core issue if the fence doesn't consistently sit at 90 degrees. There is something wrong with the Domino itself (unless there is some way of tightening that pin). All Festool tools have a 3-year warranty so, if the tool is less than 3 years old, send it in for warranty repairs. If not, then I guess it would be cheaper to use one of the work-arounds even though that wouldn't resolve the problem. Even if out of warranty it might be worthwhile to attempt to get a repair estimate. The tool allows me to design and build creative projects without giving thought to the difficulty of joinery.

I'm speaking for myself here, but it is one of several tools I just wouldn't do without regardless of price. It just has made my life easier and, in some cases, allowed me to do work I might not otherwise attempted. It's just worth it to make it work correctly.

[Steven Mehl]

Festool has a good basic video on using the dominio 500. I found for myself the most important thing was to make sure I was pushing down and forward tightly on the front handle and then pushing the bit in slowly. And of course like others have mentioned to make sure it is not sitting on bench rather than face. It may also be your bit is getting dull?

[Johnny Barr]

Great if all you do is edge work. The second you want mortise a face , the plate becomes a liability and takes more time to remove.

To each , his own. Seneca has sold a lot of em.

Yes Derek. I use the domiplate 99% of the time (so does Peter Millard on youtube) and love its accuracy. When mortising a face I just hold it vertically except if its in the middle of a board and yes you would then have to remove it (about 15 seconds) . I only use the fence when doing bevel joints. I found the fence locking system on mine isn't as rock solid as my old biscuit joiner or Mafelle's duo dowler for example. I think it is a viable alternative

As for the OP I wonder if you know another domino user and try theirs out.

[Randy Heinemann]

Alright I think I may have identified the issue.

Domino 500.

The pin that holds the fence is sloppy the whole way across the machine. As a result, it doesn't consistently land at 90 degrees. It looks like 90, but I have to hold a square to it and clamp the fence in order to get it to perfect 90. It naturally goes to about 91 degrees if I don't back it up. I re-ran the test after clamping the fence with a square and sure enough, everything came out perfect.

Anyone else having to mess with this on theirs?

Attachment 483069

Are you sure it's not just that the lever used to secure the fence is loose. That is adjustable.

[Michael Drew]

I have the same issue as the OP, quite frequently. I've narrowed the problem down to - well, me. I get in a hurry and do not focus on ensuring the machine is registered to the piece correctly. When using the fence, it's critical to make sure the Domino face and the fence are square to the work piece. It doesn't take much of an upward or downward tilt of the tool to cause the mortice to be just slightly out of place to where you want it.

Using the base generally results in better mortice placement for me, but that technique doesn't always work out on some projects. I did buy the Seneca plates, and they do work well - for edge work only though.....

[Randy Heinemann]

At this point, i assume that the 3-year warranty has expired for the OP. If not, sending it to Festool service for warranty service would resolve any defective parts if they exist.

[Greg Quenneville]

Depends. If it is an obvious manufacturing defect they may repair it free. When I sent my Kapex in for an electrical recall they upgraded my fence no charge.

[Jim Dwight]

If the nut that secures the fence is tight it will not move. It is one of those nuts where you have to lift the plastic piece off the actual nut sometimes to get another bite on the nut. Is it possible the OP got one where the nut was kind of loose and didn't notice it? If you can move the fence even one degree the fence is not tight. I would make sure that nut is tight lifting the plastic piece as necessary to turn it as far as necessary. I am not suggest any sort of extreme or even heavy force. Just turning it by hand until it obviously stops. It also seems possible the nut is loose but seems tight due to damaged threads. I will say again just for emphasis, if the fence moves the nut that secures it is not tight.

This does not seem to be the issue but the ergonomics of the 500 seem weaker to me than the 700. The 700 has a large vertical hand hold for plunging that I think makes it easier to just plunge and not rock the machine. The 500 is like my old Skil biscuit joiner where you grab the motor. I use significantly more force on the fence than I do on the plunge for both tools. I had problems like the OP describes with my old Skil until I got this figured out. If I pushed harder than necessary with the plunge hand I found it easier to inadvertantly tilt the tool. Nice smooth pressure on the plunge something like pulling the trigger on a gun. Firm downward pressure on the fence.