100 mortises

[woodwreck]

I am making plantation shutters and want the best method to place 3 Domino tenons in the end of a 4" wide rail. This means they will have about 1/2" between them. Since the rails are 7/8" thick and the joined stiles are 17/16" thick it is necessary to automatically center the two stock pieces in thickness. At the moment I have 8 shutter panels in progress (due to space and equipment limitations),  requiring 36 joints with ~100 mortises.

An illustrative example of an alternative would be to use a self centering doweling jig with 3 bushings and drill all three in a single self-centered placement.

I have the RTS Eng. Multi-position Guide for my Domino.

If anyone as any operational suggestions of the most efficient way to use this device, or an alternative device, please share your comments.

TIA

 

[tjbnwi]

The stiles are 1-1/16", 3/16" thicker than the rail?

What size domino are you planning on using?

Are the stiles also 4" wide?

Tom

 

[woodwreck]

Tom, the vertical stiles are the customary 2" wide and the horiz. rails are 3", 4".  and 4 3/4" respectively, similar to the  attractive piece you have in your avatar on the left.

The point of my question is to assume the mortises to be A, B, ... n. the size of the Domino used is irrelevant.  For those with experience using the  RTS device, do you find it easier going through the stack of all N pieces of rail and stock, making cut A thus not reseting the levers on the device, then repeating the stack OR to make all  3 or 4 mortises on one piece at a time, flip flopping the levers up, down, up, down... repeating the mortises?

I know the manufac.. of the device is a member, hopefully he will chime in and suggest what their design intention was in terms of greatest speed and efficiency. I prefer the latter, to avoid repetitive clamping which seems to be the apparent answer. It is the next best thing to dowels in terms of production time.

When done, I will have likely another 8 panels to do.

Yes, the stiles are 3/16" thicker, as stated the goal is to make sure the rails are centered on the stile, not an issue.

 

[Rick Christopherson]

Hi Woodwreck, I got your email about this thread.

Even though this is not what you asked, my first suggestion is to use only 2 tenons on a 4-inch joint. Although it is really just a judgment call, I don't think the third one is gaining you anything, and is borderline on even weakening the substrate.

For those with experience using the  RTS device, do you find it easier going through the stack of all N pieces of rail and stock, making cut A thus not reseting the levers on the device, then repeating the stack OR to make all  3 or 4 mortises on one piece at a time, flip flopping the levers up, down, up, down... repeating the mortises?

I prefer the latter, to avoid repetitive clamping which seems to be the apparent answer.

I think you answered your own question. It would be the repetitive clamping that would be your slowdown, so that should be avoided. In that case, flipping the stops in and out would be faster than re-clamping the next piece. It is after all, the reason why the Multi-Position Guide Stop has multiple stop locations.

Another tip for you. When you are machining your thinner rails, instead of resetting your fence, just place a shim on the face of your fence. Something like a piece of Formica should be about the right thickness. This way, just in case you make any mistakes along the way, you haven't changed any settings on the Domino joiner, and could go back and more easily repair a previous mortise.

 

[woodwreck]

Thank you for the insight and suggestions Rick, I will follow your advice.

 

[Stone Message]

Hi Woodwreck

I hope I understand your requirement correctly. I have not used the gadget that you describe but I have shown a simple (and cheap)  method of doing repeat mortices in one of my videos on making plane framed doors.

Take a look at this video at about the 3 min 20 sec mark:



It refers the viewer to a Basics video:



This method can be used with multiple mortices by using more than one spacer which is illustrated in Part 2 of my Table Project:



These jigs cost nothing and can be made on the fly at a job site.

Peter

 

[woodwreck]

Peter, your method makes good points dealing right in line with what I am doing. Thank you for taking the time to post it.

 

[woodwreck]

Rick's device is fine within its width limits. It works for the stiles' lower mortise but is not wide enough for the upper, so I blocked the stiles  in a placement jig along the lines of what Peter's video shows. The clamped blocks at the left and right provide stops for the tool.

For the rails, I'll use Rick's RTS product for the left and right justified tabs and will post a pic when I do them next week.