5mm dominos in 2 inch rails?

[ReneS]

I am considering using two 5mm domino's to join a 2" rail to a stile.

This would leave a little over one eighth of an inch top, bottom, and between the two domino's on the rail.

I am looking to get a little more meat then I would using just one 6 by 40 millimeter domino.

This approach seems reasonable to me.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks

 

[Crazyraceguy]

It looks like more work than necessary, for an unproven/theoretical advantage.
This would get you approximately 25% more tenon area, but it's all in the width, and giving up some depth.
Then you have the marking for the cuts. Without measuring for myself, I'm guessing that this would all have to be done with pencil marks? Double the marking, and not being able to you the wider setting for at least some of the slots, seems unnecessarily difficult.
I don't see it.

If you really want a wider tenon, it might be worth it to make your own custom sized ones. I made some a few months ago. They were made to fit the widest slot that the DF500 can cut. You could also make them 50mm long, rather than the usual 40. These were for apron to leg connections, of a small table, but the concept still applies.

 

[smorgasbord]

What's the actual application? Rail-Stile for a small box, a kitchen cabinet door, the back of an entertainment center, the top of a table?

Remember, the 5mm domino is only 30mm long, so that's less than 15mm deep the 6mm is 40mm long, so you get almost 20mm of depth, which may help more with strength.

Are you worried about racking forces, pull-out forces, or what?

 

[waho6o9]

One Domino should suffice

 

[ReneS]

This is for the box of a freestanding cabinet that will be approximately seventeen inches by seventeen inches, thirty inches tall.

The sides of the box will be stiles, rails and floating panels.

There will be a smallish drawer at the top and then below that adjustable shelves covered by a door.

 

[ReneS]

By the way, I make all of my domino mortises tight, and then shave a very small amount off of the side ribs on the domino.

 

[semenza]

Are the rails and stiles 18mm thick ?

Are you planning to place the dominos side by side taking 30mm out of the 50mm rail width?

Or are you planning to stack them taking 10mm out of the 18mm thickness?

In any case it seems unnecessary. I'd just go with the 6 x 40.

Seth

 

[smorgasbord]

Assuming your stock is about ¾", I'd just use a single 6mm domino. If the rail/stile stock is ⅞" or thicker, though, I'd use an 8mm x 50 for strength (mostly from the additional mortise depth).

Another helpful thing is to make the floating panel have no gap at top and bottom. Both stile and panel will be long grain, so they won't move. Having the panel fit tightly at top and bottom can also help prevent racking. And, you have two sides to the box as well. Of course, you'll still need a gap at the side for panel expansion/contraction.

 

[ReneS]

Thanks guys. Those are some interesting ideas.

Yeah, the rails and stiles are 3/4". If I do this, I will lay out the dominos to increase glue surface, placing them to have a wider, not thicker, tenon.

But I have some cherry I am going to mill up, so I will have scraps that I can use to make some larger dominos, like crazyraceguy suggested. I am leaning towards doing that.

I see most of you think it is overkill, but based on my experience, at this time, I like the idea of some amount of overbuilding. And this seems like a small expenditure of time and energy relative to the increase in strength.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Thanks guys. Those are some interesting ideas.

Yeah, the rails and stiles are 3/4". If I do this, I will lay out the dominos to increase glue surface, placing them to have a wider, not thicker, tenon.

But I have some cherry I am going to mill up, so I will have scraps that I can use to make some larger dominos, like crazyraceguy suggested. I am leaning towards doing that.

I see most of you think it is overkill, but based on my experience, at this time, I like the idea of some amount of overbuilding. And this seems like a small expenditure of time and energy relative to the increase in strength.

The only time overkill is bad is when you are doing work for a profit (assuming it takes extra time)
But even then, it's not always more costly, if it eliminates rework/repairs.

On a normal face frame, I would stick with the normal 6x40, since it is supported by the cabinet. I go to the extra work for things like leg to apron connections, where there would be more leverage against the joint. (racking)

I usually make up a few sticks, while I'm at it, storing them for later.
I also make regular width sticks, for times where I need extra length. The most common reason is when I have 2 fixed shelves on opposite sides of a single partition. A 40mm Domino, when inserted as a though-tenon, of a 19mm think partition, sticks out less then 10mm on each side. I cut them to 60mm, in that situation.
I have bought them from Woodpeckers, but since I got the router bit, I just do it myself. It is far better than making 4 passes, with a simple round over bit.