Matt Truiano Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 i recently went to use my festool domino (which being a full time dad doesn't allow me to use very often at all) and i came across the situation that the dominos themselves weren't fitting into the mortises i was making. my first thought was that the dominos expanded since the last time i used them and the rest of the bag is shot. but after some further investigating, i realized that the dominos were fine, but my mortises were undersized. WTF? so then i checked the diameter of my bit, and sure enough, its about a half mm smaller than the dominos. i've had the tool for less than a year and in that year i've only used it a hand full of times. only on cherry, walnut and red oak and pine. is that normal? anyone have similar situations? should i contact festool and ask for a replacement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 That is interesting. I just measured mine and the tip of the bit was right around 5mm and the tenons were just slightly larger (keep in mind this is a cheap HF micrometer). I’m in a similar situation where it sits unused for long periods of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 I'd try measuring the mortise in a dense hardwood (not sure the wood in the picture) like hard maple or similar. Measuring the bit may be more tricky as the mortise will be the distance from cutter edge to cutter edge. To make it so the cuter doesn't bind in the slot some material is removed behind that leading edge which would create a smaller measurement. It is super odd that the mortise is small. I'd look into the wood. It looks like you placed the mortise right on a glue line. There could be some internal stress causing the mortise to close. I don't know how a carbide cutter would shrink 10%.... I have the cutter pack and mine are 3-4years old and they all still work fine..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Truiano Posted February 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 The wood used here is cherry. It was cut on a glue line in this particular piece. But the 3 others had no glue line and it was the same measurements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minnesota Steve Posted February 26, 2019 Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 Could it be wider on the very tip? Then maybe a question of technique, pushing it in too fast results in an odd hole? I'm reaching here... I don't see how it could shrink without you obviously seeing chunks of metal missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Truiano Posted February 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2019 3 minutes ago, Minnesota Steve said: Could it be wider on the very tip? Then maybe a question of technique, pushing it in too fast results in an odd hole? I'm reaching here... I don't see how it could shrink without you obviously seeing chunks of metal missing. Even if the bit is wider at the tip, that would result in a wider mortise and the domino should fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barron Posted February 27, 2019 Report Share Posted February 27, 2019 If the bit worked before, meaning you could insert the dominos, and you have not tried to sharpen the bit, then I think the dominos are the problem. I’ve had some that were hard to insert, and I had to sand the domino-usually the edges. It also helps to bevel the ends a little to get them started. A metal bit won’t shrink or expand on its own. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark J Posted February 27, 2019 Report Share Posted February 27, 2019 If you can re-align exactly you could run the Domino cutter in the mortise again and see if the Domino now fits. Assuming you've succesfully used this bit before this has got to be wood movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted February 27, 2019 Report Share Posted February 27, 2019 Are you using a CT with it? Any chance you just got the cutter head way too hot and it quickly wore the edges? Long shot in a carbide bit for sure, but not impossible either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 27, 2019 Report Share Posted February 27, 2019 I just measured my domino's 5mm cutter and it's 4.94 ish at the tip 1mm back from the tip it's down to 4.6mm. Dominoes are 4.91 ish mm. Maybe try a few test cuts in some ply or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted February 27, 2019 Report Share Posted February 27, 2019 I’m with @Barron. I thInk the tenons are the problem. I now dry fit all of mine and those that require ChannelLocks to remove. I hit them with a block plane. Mount the plane in your vise and hit the edges 3-4 times per side. Makes all the difference. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnG Posted April 9, 2019 Report Share Posted April 9, 2019 What ever happened with this? Any developments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Truiano Posted April 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 Dad life got in the way and actually haven't had the time to dive deeper into it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 10, 2019 Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 On 4/9/2019 at 4:17 AM, JohnG said: What ever happened with this? Any developments? It's bad when you go to respond, and you already did two months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 11, 2019 Report Share Posted April 11, 2019 We all have those lapses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 11, 2019 Report Share Posted April 11, 2019 7 minutes ago, K Cooper said: We all have those lapses. Did you already 40 years ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 11, 2019 Report Share Posted April 11, 2019 40 years ago, my mamma didn’t know who my daddy was going to be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyJack Posted September 11, 2019 Report Share Posted September 11, 2019 Usually its just the bit wearing down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlyoak Posted September 13, 2019 Report Share Posted September 13, 2019 If the dominoes took in some moisture they will expand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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