Festool Domino. Tips and Advice?

[PeteG]

I picked the DF500 package today from Axminster. Do any of the regular users have any tips or tricks using one of these little beauties?
http://www.axminster.co.uk/festool-domi ... ckage-deal

 

[Stu_2]

Grab a copy of the US manual as that has a lot of useful info for setting it up, as well as tips and tricks.

The only thing I'd advise is to be gentle when plunging the cutters in, and they should last

Have fun.

 

[PeteG]

Thanks Stu, I'll have a search for the US manual. Haven't done anything with it yet except hold it, will try a couple of test cuts tomorrow.

 

[MrYorke]

Think this is the link you'll want.....

http://www.festoolusa.com/media/pdf/domino_df_500.pdf

 

[PeteG]

Thank you Mr Yorke that's great

 

[Benchwayze]

Have a look on YouTube at the videos by 'HalfInchshy.
He covers most things Festool, and also has a video on calibrating the Domino, straight out of the box.

HTH

John

 

[woodchip]

1) calibrate it (watch the video mentioned above)
2) always, always use a vacuum
3) get into a routine, I do this:
A) check the depth is what I want
B) check the fence is at the height I want
C) check the width switch is on the setting I want
4) I usually do one side of the joint spot on, and on the other side I make two cuts, one half a mil over the line, then one half a mil under the line, this then gives 1mm of wiggle to get the pieces perfectly aligned. I only use the tight setting, but haven't done any panels yet

 

[PeteG]

Have a look on YouTube at the videos by 'HalfInchshy.
He covers most things Festool, and also has a video on calibrating the Domino, straight out of the box.

HTH

John

1) calibrate it (watch the video mentioned above)
2) always, always use a vacuum
3) get into a routine, I do this:
A) check the depth is what I want
B) check the fence is at the height I want
C) check the width switch is on the setting I want
4) I usually do one side of the joint spot on, and on the other side I make two cuts, one half a mil over the line, then one half a mil under the line, this then gives 1mm of wiggle to get the pieces perfectly aligned. I only use the tight setting, but haven't done any panels yet

Thank you John and Woodchip, that's great I made a basic frame this morning using some scrap shop bought PAR. It's 44mm wide so I marked the ends at 22mm on the two horizontal pieces and the attached the trim stop. I then marked 22mm down on the two vertical pieces.
The top horizontal piece was slightly out which I put down to a rather thick pencil line and not lining it up correctly. I didn't glue it up and it still feels very solid. First impression is it's a fantastic tool and I can see why so many rate them so highly. Will need to sort out the extraction, I was hoping the hose from the circular would fit but it's a bit to big. I reckon I'll be using this quite a lot.

 

[davin]

Hello there.

I removed the guide stops from mine yesterday. Don't use them and found that sometimes if dominos are spaced in a certain way they caught in a neighbouring hole and caused the machine to tilt causing a wonky domino,
This will probably make sense as you use the machine more .....

Davin

 

[PeteG]

Hello there.

I removed the guide stops from mine yesterday. Don't use them and found that sometimes if dominos are spaced in a certain way they caught in a neighbouring hole and caused the machine to tilt causing a wonky domino,
This will probably make sense as you use the machine more .....

Davin

Hello Davin. I watched the videos John mentioned by HalfInchshy and he mentioned the pins catching, although he has the previous model so I wasn't sure if it also applied to the current one.

 

[Benchwayze]

Hello there.

I removed the guide stops from mine yesterday. Don't use them and found that sometimes if dominos are spaced in a certain way they caught in a neighbouring hole and caused the machine to tilt causing a wonky domino,
This will probably make sense as you use the machine more .....

Davin

I always shift my domino a little to one side. I know that there is always a bit of 'wiggle-room', as someone put it. I don't get the two settings idea. If one mortice along an edge is spot on and tight, then I don't see how you can use any 'wiggle-room' you've put into the others! :?

My main problem was an error the other way; that is the rail would be slightly higher than the leg. I discovered I had been registering from the bench top for the one cut, and from the top of the work-piece for the other, thus getting a 'stepped' joint. So now I always work with a piece of 25mm MDF under the whole job, and register the domino from the top of the work.

John

 

[custard]

The top horizontal piece was slightly out which I put down to a rather thick pencil line and not lining it up correctly.

Have you calibrated your Domino?

 

[PeteG]

Hello there.

I removed the guide stops from mine yesterday. Don't use them and found that sometimes if dominos are spaced in a certain way they caught in a neighbouring hole and caused the machine to tilt causing a wonky domino,
This will probably make sense as you use the machine more .....

Davin

I always shift my domino a little to one side. I know that there is always a bit of 'wiggle-room', as someone put it. I don't get the two settings idea. If one mortice along an edge is spot on and tight, then I don't see how you can use any 'wiggle-room' you've put into the others! :?

My main problem was an error the other way; that is the rail would be slightly higher than the leg. I discovered I had been registering from the bench top for the one cut, and from the top of the work-piece for the other, thus getting a 'stepped' joint. So now I always work with a piece of 25mm MDF under the whole job, and register the domino from the top of the work.

John

Hello John.

Are you talking about the same thing as Half-Inch Shy on this video? He explains why he rests it near the edge of the bench five minutes and 30 seconds in.

 

[PeteG]

The top horizontal piece was slightly out which I put down to a rather thick pencil line and not lining it up correctly.

Have you calibrated your Domino?

Hello Custard. I haven't yet, just found a video on how to do it. Thankfully it doesn't look as complicated as I feared

 

[Benchwayze]

Hello there.

I removed the guide stops from mine yesterday. Don't use them and found that sometimes if dominos are spaced in a certain way they caught in a neighbouring hole and caused the machine to tilt causing a wonky domino,
This will probably make sense as you use the machine more .....

Davin

I always shift my domino a little to one side. I know that there is always a bit of 'wiggle-room', as someone put it. I don't get the two settings idea. If one mortice along an edge is spot on and tight, then I don't see how you can use any 'wiggle-room' you've put into the others! :?

My main problem was an error the other way; that is the rail would be slightly higher than the leg. I discovered I had been registering from the bench top for the one cut, and from the top of the work-piece for the other, thus getting a 'stepped' joint. So now I always work with a piece of 25mm MDF under the whole job, and register the domino from the top of the work.

John

Hello John.

Are you talking about the same thing as Half-Inch Shy on this video? He explains why he rests it near the edge of the bench five minutes and 30 seconds in.

What I was getting at Pete is: When cutting a line of mortices, there is a recommendation to have one mortice absolutely dead size, and the rest with a little 'wriggle-room'. This is said to facilitate adjusting the workpieces, but I can't understand how this could be. If you have one mortice that is dead to size, it isn't going to move anywhere, thus making the 'wriggle room' on the other mortices redundant. Or am I missing something! :?

I think Paul Marcel was referring to the benchtop interfering with referencing in the vertical plane, and he solved it by resting the work near the edge of the bench so the Domino overhangs. I solved it by putting the work on a sub-base of 18mm MDF and I reference from the top of the work; which of course achieves the same purpose.

Plus, since realising where I was going wrong, my joints are all spot-on, and I haven't needed to 'calibrate' my domino as per 'Half-Inch-shy'.

John

 

[pcb1962]

What I was getting at Pete is: When cutting a line of mortices, there is a recommendation to have one mortice absolutely dead size, and the rest with a little 'wriggle-room'. This is said to facilitate adjusting the workpieces, but I can't understand how this could be. If you have one mortice that is dead to size, it isn't going to move anywhere, thus making the 'wriggle room' on the other mortices redundant. Or am I missing something! :?

I thought that the first domino is supposed to align the pieces correctly, and the reason for then using the wider setting is in case the subsequent dominoes don't line up exactly, as it would be impossible to assemble the parts if one of the mortices was a couple of mm out.

 

[Benchwayze]

What I was getting at Pete is: When cutting a line of mortices, there is a recommendation to have one mortice absolutely dead size, and the rest with a little 'wriggle-room'. This is said to facilitate adjusting the workpieces, but I can't understand how this could be. If you have one mortice that is dead to size, it isn't going to move anywhere, thus making the 'wriggle room' on the other mortices redundant. Or am I missing something! :?

I thought that the first domino is supposed to align the pieces correctly, and the reason for then using the wider setting is in case the subsequent dominoes don't line up exactly, as it would be impossible to assemble the parts if one of the mortices was a couple of mm out.

True, I suppose, but the Domino is supposed to be accurate, so adjustment shouldn't be necessary anyway. If the first domino is dead-on then the rest of the mortices should be aligned, as long as the operator uses the domino properly. As said, I get around the problem by having a tiny amount of lateral 'wriggle-room' in all mortices. So far I have had no problems. Joining boards, using dominos does allow you to get the jointed board flat. Boards that can move side to side are no problem, as invariably, I make tops over-size and trim them to length after glue-up. So providing the mortices line up in the vertical plane, everything is golden!

John (hammer)

 

[PeteG]

Thanks John, and my apologies for not putting the link to the video in, just realised. I too didn't understand the wriggle room when one mortice or Domino is exact, but I haven't had any proper time with it yet. I watched the video on Calibration last night, something I would never have thought of until it was mentioned by Custard. I'll make a few more mortices and double check everything before I start tampering.

 

[custard]

The top horizontal piece was slightly out which I put down to a rather thick pencil line and not lining it up correctly.

Have you calibrated your Domino?

Hello Custard. I haven't yet, just found a video on how to do it. Thankfully it doesn't look as complicated as I feared

You're right, it's not difficult, in fact reading about it is far more complicated than just getting on and doing it! But it really is an important exercise, most 500 Dominos seem to very slightly out, oddly most 700 Dominos (well, out of the three or four I've seen!) seem to be spot on when they come from the factory. Unless it's bang on accurate you'll never achieve the full potential of the machine.

Another little tip, if you've got a new Domino it will have shipped with a plastic tube over the slide mechanism, don't chuck it away as it's ideal for cutting down to give you a depth stop for a non standard mortice depth...sooner or later that's something you'll need!

 

[mailee]

As mine was second hand I didn't get the small protectors for the rods. I used some plastic electrical conduit which worked fine. :wink: