Found a couple-year old thread elsewhere that was quite discouraging, regarding repair of a domino machine by factory service, so wondering if fixing my 10+ year old machine is a good idea, or give it a proper burial and just buy a new one.
Symptoms: Aligning parts flush. Constantly off by about .5mm, especially when using the smaller 5x30 dominos. Just completed a process this morning, being very careful about my methods and used a block of wood to assure alignment of fence/tongue. One series of joints came out pretty good, other side was back to the half-mm off issue again. My old Makita biscuit joiner does a more accurate job now.
Also, pencil lines used to be dead on for alignment. No matter how much I try to adjust the index line on the tongue, just seems to constantly be floating, again, roughly .5mm each direction.
User error certainly is always a possibility, but this baby is very well worn. Inspection with straight edge indicates that plate/tongue is not truly flat any longer.
Quick search shows that part for my model# has been discontinued, eliminating the idea of a quick R&R myself. Assuming Festool would replace that part with a newer version if I pay for repairs ( or that parts NLA, and a new machine is in order anyway?)
Have gone through cases of the 10mm dominos over the years, meaning I've racked up thousands of joints with this unit. Almost every project in my full-time shop gets at least a couple somewhere, and I really rely on this machine very heavily. Just recently, the problems have really been getting worse, and I need to re-establish my trust in either this machine or a new one.
Anyone else do the repair option through Festool service lately?
If I decide to buy new, what to do with the old one?
Are there any upgrades over the years that I might find beneficial anyway?
All thoughts/input appreciated.
jeff