First domino job

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mailee

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grimsby Humberside
Well I used the Domino for real today. I have a job to make two MDF cubes to hang on a wall. Being a glutton for punishment it is another job with long mitres again! :roll: Easier this time as they were only 12" long. ;) After cutting the mitres I cut the Domino slots.

I then had a dry fit using some sanded down Dominos so I could separate them again.

Mitres turned out well and I am very impressed with the accuracy of the Domino. Looks like I am a convert. :oops:
 
Those mitres look excellent - do you use a jig to cut them? If so, I would love to see a photo of it.
 
No Flynnwood, the mitres are cut on the table saw and then cleaned on the surface planer. No jigs or tricks just need to make sure it is tight against the fences and a steady feed rate. HTH. :wink:
 
Random Orbital Bob":pp8jnew4 said:
I wonder if they have some bullet proof patent?
I'd say that's almost a certainty; given how long it was before there was any real competition in track saws, I doubt we'll see a Domino clone anytime soon - and when we do, I'd expect them to be around a similar price-point, tbh.
 
So Alan will there soon be a biscuit jointer for sale in Grimsby, or are you keeping it in case you get tired of the Domino? :wink:
 
Well Charlie I have two of them now, a cheap Ferm one and a quality Elu one! Think I will hang on to the Elu just in case as it will still have it's place in the shop. :wink: Besides I still have around two thousand biscuits to use. :lol: P.S. I have been waiting for someone to make a cheaper version of the Domino but I gave up holding my breath. As has been stated they must have a good patent on it, I can see why now. :wink:
 
Domino's are mint! love 'em, so easy and accurate too. Incidentally, if you buy a 'plano' type blade for your table saw, you wont need to clean mitre cuts up at all. Not even in veneered or faced board...
 
The plano blades have a sharp negative rake to the teeth as well as a sharp rake at the top of the teeth, alternating on each tooth. This gives a very sharp needle like piercing cut for facing materials as well as providing a more plane-like cut on the cut face of the board. I think they are made by Guhdo or some such company. A good sharpening/saw right service will know what u mean if you ask for one.
 
baysider":328c73ce said:
The plano blades have a sharp negative rake to the teeth as well as a sharp rake at the top of the teeth, alternating on each tooth. This gives a very sharp needle like piercing cut for facing materials as well as providing a more plane-like cut on the cut face of the board. I think they are made by Guhdo or some such company. A good sharpening/saw right service will know what u mean if you ask for one.


I wonder if Doug at Cutting Solutions supplies this type of blade?

Baysider are these only suitable for facing materials or are they suitable for hardwoods too?
 
After orbital sanders Dominos are my most used power tool, so much so that I got the XL version to use alongside the 500 version. But even though I rate them very highly I haven't stopped using a biscuit jointer...and for that matter I still find myself making quite a few traditional mortice and tenon joints!

The main reason Dominos haven't completely taken over in my workshop is because there are real limits to their flexibility, sometimes I'll incorporate this at the design stage so that a design falls in a Domino sweet spot, sometimes there are workarounds to extend layout flexibility, but sometimes there's just no option but to use biscuits or M&T's.

I'll give you an example, recently I was fitting some 4 1/4" aprons to a table. Each apron to leg joint required two of the 100mm long XL Dominos, the top Domino joint was easy as it could reference off the top edge of the apron and the top of the leg. But the bottom Domino joint wasn't so simple, the spring out pegs on the baseplate didn't reach far enough, and the Cross Stop accessory doesn't function until the mortice centre is something like 115mm from a reference edge. In other words there's a "dead spot", from memory something like 70mm-115mm, where you can't cut a referenced mortice. Consequently in this range you have to work freehand to layout lines. And here's where you encounter an important fact about Dominos. The scribed line on the baseplate that marks the mortice centre is factory set and is dead accurate. But the perspex window that you use to manually cut to a layout line isn't factory set, you have to calibrate it yourself.

I've done this job for my own Dominos and those of other woodworkers, and I've found that there are often glaring errors that will really screw up your work if you don't do this calibration. It's easy to do (you can find the procedure on line) but it's an absolutely critical step. Whilst you're at it, you also need to calibrate the spring out pegs on the baseplate.

I've used Dominos extensively for over five years and I've found a few useful workarounds and accessories to extend flexibility.

You can vary the depth of the mortices by clipping a length of hard plastic tubing (B&Q stock the correct diameter tube) over the sliding bars, this works well and is fully detailed in this guide to the Domino which really is essential reading,

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

If you have one of the earlier 500 Dominos with the spring out metal pegs you're in luck, you can get a range of aluminium discs that slip over these pegs to give you a much wider range of offsets which I find invaluable when assembling frames. If you have one of the later 500 models with the black plastic pegs then these are very accurate and useful accessories (incidentally they also fit the XL),

http://www.dominoguide.com/

And one final thing, I once came across an article where someone had tested the strength of Domino joints, comparing gluing both the Domino and the mortice with gluing just the mortice. Gluing both the Domino and the mortice was much stronger. I repeated the test and found the same thing, consequently I always put a thin smear of glue on the Domino biscuit as well as in the mortice.
 
Baysider
you are correct that blades with heavy negative rake and severe alternate bevel will work well in the table saw on different materials.

They really work best on material like ply and othe firbrous <sp> timbers and give good results on board material where no scoring unit is available on the machine.
But any good quality saw blade will leave a clean sharp finish provided its sharp and has the correct number of teeth for the material being cut and the finish required.
 
custard":322q1ejz said:
After orbital sanders Dominos are my most used power tool, so much so that I got the XL version to use alongside the 500 version. But even though I rate them very highly I haven't stopped using a biscuit jointer...and for that matter I still find myself making quite a few traditional mortice and tenon joints!

The main reason Dominos haven't completely taken over in my workshop is because there are real limits to their flexibility, sometimes I'll incorporate this at the design stage so that a design falls in a Domino sweet spot, sometimes there are workarounds to extend layout flexibility, but sometimes there's just no option but to use biscuits or M&T's.

I'll give you an example, recently I was fitting some 4 1/4" aprons to a table. Each apron to leg joint required two of the 100mm long XL Dominos, the top Domino joint was easy as it could reference off the top edge of the apron and the top of the leg. But the bottom Domino joint wasn't so simple, the spring out pegs on the baseplate didn't reach far enough, and the Cross Stop accessory doesn't function until the mortice centre is something like 115mm from a reference edge. In other words there's a "dead spot", from memory something like 70mm-115mm, where you can't cut a referenced mortice. Consequently in this range you have to work freehand to layout lines. And here's where you encounter an important fact about Dominos. The scribed line on the baseplate that marks the mortice centre is factory set and is dead accurate. But the perspex window that you use to manually cut to a layout line isn't factory set, you have to calibrate it yourself.

I've done this job for my own Dominos and those of other woodworkers, and I've found that there are often glaring errors that will really screw up your work if you don't do this calibration. It's easy to do (you can find the procedure on line) but it's an absolutely critical step. Whilst you're at it, you also need to calibrate the spring out pegs on the baseplate.

I've used Dominos extensively for over five years and I've found a few useful workarounds and accessories to extend flexibility.

You can vary the depth of the mortices by clipping a length of hard plastic tubing (B&Q stock the correct diameter tube) over the sliding bars, this works well and is fully detailed in this guide to the Domino which really is essential reading,

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

If you have one of the earlier 500 Dominos with the spring out metal pegs you're in luck, you can get a range of aluminium discs that slip over these pegs to give you a much wider range of offsets which I find invaluable when assembling frames. If you have one of the later 500 models with the black plastic pegs then these are very accurate and useful accessories (incidentally they also fit the XL),

Agreed. I found that pdf "extra manual" also and its way beter than the festool one shipped with the tool. Another really useful bit of knowledge is that the centre of the mortice is exactly 10mm above the base. Knowing this makes freehand layout to scored lines really handy. I now use a "cross hair" approach to layout on difficult to reference surfaces. I score the centre of the stock with a veritas marking gauge and then the horizontal layout line with an appropriately accurate gauge and mark it with a knife rather than pencil. That horizontal layout is 10mm shy of the mortice centre. Then I offer the domino switched on to control the vibration and align the red index lines on its base with my cross hair. It's pin accurate every time. I'm yet to have a domino joint fail and I've built several outdoor projects with it.
 
Hmm I shall have to read that on the Domino. Well I got the cubes finished today, they didn't turn out too bad. Now on to the next job. :D
 
Nice job, looks very tidy. What's the plan for hanging them on the wall, and if they're going to be side by side, getting them dead level?
 
custard":3og8ay1m said:
...... in this guide to the Domino which really is essential reading,

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

........

I have printed off this guide and it is so much more helpful compared to the standard manual that comes with the Domino machine.

However I am a little confused by the section "Domino Tenon Placement Guidelines" on page 10. The first diagram states "Minimum Spacing Equal to to Twice Domino Thickness" which I take to mean that if you are using say a 5mm domino then the gap between the mortices should be at least 10mm - is that correct?
 

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