½" thick material with the Domino 500

[countrysideworkshop]

This is my first time to use the domino and I have done plenty of research but am still confused. I am building a couple pizza peels. The wood is ½" (12.5mm i believe is the conversion). The domino is only marked down to 16mm (.63 inches I believe). Can I not cut mortises in ½" material centered in the thickness of to wood with the 500?

I want to use 6x40 dominos.

 

[bkharman]

This is my first time to use the domino and I have done plenty of research but am still confused. I am building a couple pizza peels. The wood is ½" (12.5mm i believe is the conversion). The domino is only marked down to 16mm (.63 inches I believe). Can I not cut mortises in ½" material centered in the thickness of to wood with the 500?

I want to use 6x40 dominos.

The 6mm dominos will be too large for ½" material. Works fine in ¾" but use the 5mm bit and dominos in ½" stuff.

The math is generally ⅓ of the thickness to get the domino you want. Not a rule, but good advice.

Cheers. Bryan

 

[countrysideworkshop]

This is my first time to use the domino and I have done plenty of research but am still confused. I am building a couple pizza peels. The wood is ½" (12.5mm i believe is the conversion). The domino is only marked down to 16mm (.63 inches I believe). Can I not cut mortises in ½" material centered in the thickness of to wood with the 500?

I want to use 6x40 dominos.

The 6mm dominos will be too large for ½" material. Works fine in ¾" but use the 5mm bit and dominos in ½" stuff.

The math is generally ⅓ of the thickness to get the domino you want. Not a rule, but good advice.

Cheers. Bryan

Either way the 500 only goes down to 16mm based off the black gauge on the side that moves back and forth. I may not be setting this up correctly either. Either cases I am lost on the setup.

 

[TOOLTOWN]

If you find 5's too thick, there are also 4mm dominos. 

A domino assortment kit is a great investment if you don't have one yet.  It comes with a good amount of each size domino, and all the cutters.  At $295, you get a sys 2 with bins ($85 value), all cutters ($197 value), and 1060 dominos for essentially $13.

Ken

 

[bkharman]

check out the Supp manual if you haven't already.  Lots of good "extras" in it. 
http://www.festoolusa.com/media/pdf/Domino_DF_500.pdf

Cheers.  Bryan.

Edit:  Look on page 8 to override the height gauge and use the fence adjustment.

 

[countrysideworkshop]

If you find 5's too thick, there are also 4mm dominos. 

A domino assortment kit is a great investment if you don't have one yet.  It comes with a good amount of each size domino, and all the cutters.  At $295, you get a sys 2 with bins ($85 value), all cutters ($197 value), and 1060 dominos for essentially $13.

Ken

I have that and the question wasn't what tenons to use but how to use the actual machine on ½" material.

 

[mike_aa]

[member=28105]countrysideworkshop[/member]

You can try using shims to get it to center or you could use a Seneca Domiplate.

Mike A.

 

[stvrowe]

If you desire to center on 1/2" material, you will need to either 1) use a shim (such as 1/8" ply, lexan, etc.) doublestick taped to your fence and adjust for the shim thickness accordingly or 2) get a Domiplate.  You can pull the preset stop out all the way but that will only get your fence down about 7mm which may work for you depending on the domino size but it will not center on 1/2" material. 

The fence has a hard stop built in to prevent you from cutting into your fence with the largest cutter diameter.  Unfortunately, that feature requires alternate means to overcome with thinner stock.  I am aware that some have milled or filed off the hard stop on the fence but realize, that sets you up to cutting a Domino slot in your fence if you are not careful.

 

[grbmds]

Also, keep in mind that it is not absolutely necessary to center the Domino in the thickness of the wood as long as you reference the fence from the same face when plunging (or the correct edge) and as long as there is sufficient thickness on either side of the Domino. A slight off-center won't matter as long as the mortise isn't too close to an edge or face so that it weakens the joint.

 

[tjbnwi]

I had to machine the factory boss to get my Domino to center in 1/2"material. Doing this is a choice for you to make. Stud the fence and hows it stops, you'll figure it out.

I use 5x30 or 4x20 in 1/2"material.

Tom

 

[rvieceli]

As Steve has pointed out you can push the stepped block out of the way and just use the height gauge. But it has a hard stop at 7mm from the fence to the cutter center line. Festool wants 2mm of space safety margin on the largest 10mm cutter. That spacing may or may not work for your project.

You could also try gluing those up without the Dominoes. The joint is long edge grain to edge grain. Using modern glues that joint should be stronger than the surrounding wood. Try using cauls in the glue up to keep your surfaces aligned.

 

[Birdhunter]

The Seneca Domiplate is the best answer by far. It is a plate that screws to the base of the 500. You have to use the 500 upside down. Sounds screwy, but it works very well.

It allows you to center the mortise on 1/2" material. Flip it over and you can center on 3/4" material. Another nice feature is that you never have any fence creep (where the fence move slightly due to not being tightened).

It is a high quality accessory.

When I got my 500, I went crazy buying a bunch of aftermarket accessories. The Domiplate is the only one that ever gets used.

When you buy the 700, Seneca has a equivalent shim.

 

[Kevin D.]

Also, keep in mind that it is not absolutely necessary to center the Domino in the thickness of the wood as long as you reference the fence from the same face when plunging (or the correct edge) and as long as there is sufficient thickness on either side of the Domino. A slight off-center won't matter as long as the mortise isn't too close to an edge or face so that it weakens the joint.

This is also what I found out too.  You don't HAVE to be perfectly centered.  Just hake sure your mating piece is mortised with the same offset for a flush edge and that the mortises are not too close to a visible edge where they could possibly radiate a bulge after glue up.  Not much different than biscuits in that regard.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

    Pull the black gauge block all the way back, set the pointer on the fence to the 2mm or 3mm mark. Use 5mm or 4mm tenons. If you are not perfectly centered just keep track of your reference faces.

Seth

 

[jacko9]

I did the shim thing at first but if your not careful in holding the Domino joiner flat against the shim you introduce error into your joints.  I got the Seneca Domiplate which you can use for both 1/2" and 3/4" (just flit the plate over with the engraving indicating the correct side).  It's attached too the two threaded holes on the bottom of your joiner and goes on and off pretty quickly.

Jack

 

[guitar_ed]

Hi,

I had a similar situation, but with 3/4" (real) stock.  I ended up putting 6 index cards under my stock to almost centered.

I did not NEED to do this, but the OCD in me required that I at least get close

edg

 

[grbmds]

Really, centering isn't important just as long as you keep track of your referenced sides or faces. I actually remember a video (possibly from Half Inch Shy) that said he felt it helped him during assembly when the Dominos weren't centered on the thickness. You have to assemble the parts in a particular way or things just don't line up. I have actually found that this is very helpful sometimes.