Best way to Align dominos in the center of cabinets

fifo28

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I have used the domino a bit - but I am by no means an expert.  What is the best way to align dominoes in the center of a cabinet.  I am building a number of built in bookcases and there will be a number of fixed shelves.  I plan to use the domino to attach these shelves. What is the best way to reference where to put the domino.  Is there a simple jig to use or make?

My guess was to mark where to put the shelf on the cabinet side and attach a strip of wood against the bottom of the line and use the dominos bottom as a reference point.  Then put the shelf flat on the workbench and use the bottom of the domino (keeping the same reference point) for the shelf.

Everything is 3/4 plywood - recommendations on domino sizes are also welcomed - thanks
 
Rick C's manual shows a method where you clamp the shelf to the cabinet side and cut the mortises.  I use the back side of the guide rail on the MFT table. 
 

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As Brice says, the manual goes over the procedure in detail, which is to use the shelf board and the stable reference point of the Domino machine's bottom, which is always 10mm from the mortise center.  The key to this, though, is making sure you can produce square 90 degree cuts on the shelf boards themselves, so make sure your cross-cut setup is calibrated and/or you have a dead-on square/triangle to check.

fifo28 said:
I have used the domino a bit - but I am by no means an expert.  What is the best way to align dominoes in the center of a cabinet.  I am building a number of built in bookcases and there will be a number of fixed shelves.  I plan to use the domino to attach these shelves. What is the best way to reference where to put the domino.  Is there a simple jig to use or make?

My guess was to mark where to put the shelf on the cabinet side and attach a strip of wood against the bottom of the line and use the dominos bottom as a reference point.  Then put the shelf flat on the workbench and use the bottom of the domino (keeping the same reference point) for the shelf.

Everything is 3/4 plywood - recommendations on domino sizes are also welcomed - thanks
 
How I do it (and I am quite thick regarding up/down and right/left):

Mark across the side piece where your shelf goes: draw a pencil line across. It does not matter if it references the underside or the topside of the shelf. What is important is that the pencil line is the ‘hinge’ — so when you lay down the shelf on the sidepiece the shelf ‘turns’ on the pencil line (In other words: if the pencil line is the bottom of the shelf, the shelf turns towards the bottom of the cabinet, and vice versa).

Next align the shelf with sides and pencil line (this is when you discover that stuff is not quite square), clamp together and possibly to your workbench and domino. For the shelf the Domino machine is in a horizontal position, flat on the side piece; for the side piece the machine is vertical, with the bottom pressed to the shelf edge.

Whether you use markings for the positions or another method is up to you. Do NOT forget to change the plunge depth (side is lesser than shelf!). The 5 mm domino will leave a measure of body of around 6 to 7 mm on the slimmer side, that should work okay.
 
Brice Burrell said:
Rick C's manual shows a method where you clamp the shelf to the cabinet side and cut the mortises.  I use the back side of the guide rail on the MFT table.

Huh, first time seeing that method - Neat way to do. You can set the stop flag too. I guess the disadvantage with this way compared to the way of using the shelf is that you can't do both at the same time. I still think this way would be faster.
 
Also note that part of the edge of the base is also the center line for the the cutter, which can help with positioning.

Edit - that's 10mm from the base to the center of the cutter, by the way.

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I just built a set of closet organizer cabinets by tipping the shelf/bottom back and clamping it to the workbench as described above. It was fairly fast and worked well. I was thinking about upgrading to the 700 XL with the Seneca kit for 500 tasks. Would the same method still work with the XL? I'd had to lose that functionality.

Thanks
 
Unfortunately the base distance of the Domino XL is 15 mm.
However the fence can be lowered to 10 mm.
But it's not as handy as with the Domino 500.
 
Thanks for the info, that really causes me to pause and rethink the decision I thought I already made. I'd like the XL to make some interior doors but I don't think I want to give up that ease of making cabinets.
 
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