Cool Domino use...

[Lou Miller]

I stole this from Lignum ( a poster on the Woodwork forum). I thought it was pretty clever and thought I'd post it over here. He used the domino to make bench dog holes. Very simple and I'm sure quite effective. I'll be doing this as soon as mine arrives.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Love it!  Domino dogs.

 

[ejantny]

That is a great idea, will setup a work bench this afternoon. It will solve a problem of having a dog where needed when needed.

 

[Greg B]

Doginos, Domi-dogs, Dom-in-hole. Very cool, especially since you'll never booger up another blade or tool on a metal dog,... ahem, not that I"VE ever done this, of course.

GB

 

[John Stevens]

I didn't know where to post these ideas, so I figured I'd put them here, because this thread is what inspired them.  I haven't tried them yet, but I will soon.  I figure that if the Dominos are sturdy enough to be used for bench dogs, they could also be used for:

(1) movable shelf supports for utility shelves (instead of 5mm or 1/4" pegs).

(2) knock-down joints for case-goods such as armoires or stand-alone cabinets.  Some explanation:  glue the dominos into the mortises that have been bored into the sides, but not into the mortises that have been bored into the back, top, bottom and any stretchers that span the front of the piece.  Assemble the piece.  Now pre-drill holes in toward some of the non-glued mortises (two or three on the each side of the back, top and bottom, depending on the size of the piece, and one on each side of one or more of any front stretchers).  Drive screws into the holes you just drilled, so the screws act as removable "pegs" for the Domino tenons that are within those mortises.  The screws should not be visible on the back, bottom and stretchers, but if the top is to be visible, you can cover it with a false top for appearance's sake.

 

[Lou Miller]

(1) movable shelf supports for utility shelves (instead of 5mm or 1/4" pegs).

Not a bad idea, but exactly how would you align them? With the domino against spacer blocks that are clamped in place? Side to side would be simple with the retractable pins registering off of both sides of the carcass material. Its a very interesting idea, and it would probably work much better than shelf pins for shop cabinets and stuff. I just wonder if it would make sense from a time stand point. I use the LR32 and I'm done in no time. I might give this a go on an upcoming shop project I have soon.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Domino shelf support mortises could be machined into the standards of a bookcase using the method outlined by Rick Christopherson in his draft Domino manual, using pre-marked lines and a shelf or other straight edged stock as the guide against which the Domino machine would be referenced.  For the shelves, you could set the Domino machine horizontal with its base flat against your MFT top and insert a spacer under the end of the end of shelf to be machined to create a mortise that was open to the underside of the shelves.  I would machine one end of the shelves first and then use the spacer which now has a pair of mortises in it to index my mortises in the standards.

Also, I have not tried it, but the aperture in the router drilling guide should be able to be adapted to support the Domino machine.  That together with the LR32 hole indexing guide rail should enable precise location of the mortises on the standards. 

 

[John Stevens]

Domino shelf support mortises could be machined into the standards of a bookcase using the method outlined by Rick Christopherson in his draft Domino manual, using pre-marked lines and a shelf or other straight edged stock as the guide against which the Domino machine would be referenced.

I was thinking of a similar method that I read in an article on biscuit joinery in FWW years ago.  Mark the first mortise on each work piece so they're all at the same height.  Bore the first mortise, then dry-fit a domino into it.  Now put the spacer onto the work piece and register it against the domino.  Bore the second mortise, pull the domino out of the first mortise and put it in the second mortise.  Do as above to bore successive mortises at even intervals.

For the shelves, you could set the Domino machine horizontal with its base flat against your MFT top and insert a spacer under the end of the end of shelf to be machined to create a mortise that was open to the underside of the shelves.  I would machine one end of the shelves first and then use the spacer which now has a pair of mortises in it to index my mortises in the standards.

Also, I have not tried it, but the aperture in the router drilling guide should be able to be adapted to support the Domino machine.   That together with the LR32 hole indexing guide rail should enable precise location of the mortises on the standards. 

Wow, great ideas!  Thanks, Dave.

 

[Tinker]

A specific project i have on the great drawing board in my head is a hanging jewelry cabinet for my daughter. she wants it for hanging necklaces.  I had originally thought to use dowels to hang the necklaces.  This thread has given me an even better idea.  i should be able to make mortices at, say, 30º or 45º angles and make up my own dominos for the pins.  I had also planned to make the top of the cabinet as 1/2 of an octagon or hexagon and use splines or dowels to lock in the joints.  I am now thinking of using the small dominos for that purpose if possible. It's all still floating around among the rocks in my head.

The Domino, as with so many of Festools toys, is limited in use only by the immagination. I am hoping to place my order Very soon.
Tinker

 

[Brice Burrell]

Not a bad idea, but exactly how would you align them? With the domino against spacer blocks that are clamped in place? Side to side would be simple with the retractable pins registering off of both sides of the carcass material. Its a very interesting idea, and it would probably work much better than shelf pins for shop cabinets and stuff. I just wonder if it would make sense from a time stand point. I use the LR32 and I'm done in no time. I might give this a go on an upcoming shop project I have soon.

I like Jonh's idea about using a spacer, I have also done this.

 

[bill-e]

A variation on a theme.  The Incra track idea is courtesy of Corwin (I think).  So you can index the the work using the Incra track and stop.  The metal rule is used to position the Domino horizontally.  You can use any spacer material up to 1/8" thick (1/8" hardboard works well).  Obviously multiple spacers for positions across the width of the work.

I still think it would be useful if there were horizontal marks on the Domino face and sides, 10mm up from the base to indicate the center of the mortise, so that we could position the Domino on a line.  If we could do that, then only one starting line would need to be drawn and the rest could be accomplished by indexing the work off the Incra track or some other indexing system..

 

[Brice Burrell]

This is what I did the other day,

Measure for centers(black marker line) then 10mm offset for the Domino's base (green line).

Line it up with the back of rail on the MFT (on the green line).

Index the Domino's pin.

Done.

 

[Lou Miller]

I'm reading all these different threads about the uses of the Domino and one thing struck me. I can't believe I initially didn't want one of these things. Not only did I eventually see the light, but now I've gone and sold my biscuit joiner and my hollow chisel mortiser too.

Its like the saw was when I bought that. I hated putting out the money for it, but it quickly became one of my favorite tools. Same thing with the Domino, I really hated to put out the $920, but I don't mind already now. Its just a really cool tool.

 

[Bob Marino]

Wow, fantastic ideas...and the Domino has only been available here for 2 weeks! Tinker once said that the limits of the MFT are only one's imagination - I think the same can and will be said for the Domino.

Bob

 

[Dave Rudy]

You guys are amazing!  Thanks once again for the great demo with pics Brice.

Keeping a 10mm spacer block/bar around (say 50x10x10mm) means you can index the base off any surface.

Also, I have not tried it, but the aperture in the router drilling guide should be able to be adapted to support the Domino machine.   That together with the LR32 hole indexing guide rail should enable precise location of the mortises on the standards. 

Brice and Lou and others familiar with LR 32 (where is Mirko?), is it reasonable to use the Domino with the LR32 system?  That raises another whole dimension of possibilities.

Dave

 

[Lou Miller]

Dave, as long as you can figure out a way that you're comfortable with to mount the domino to the LR32 plate, go for it. I haven't really looked at doing that yet, but have to admit I like the idea. I'll fool around with it in the near future. I'm betting someone comes up with a good way to do it long before I do though.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Some amazing ideas in this thread.

Bill-e,
Nice setup!  I really like the idea of having the flexibility and precision of the Incra added to the MFT.  Add the Domino to it, and the whole system approach we all appreciate is taken to yet another level.

Stay in touch,
Matthew

 

[John Stevens]

Hey, Brice, thanks for the demo pics!

Regards, John

 

[Dave Rudy]

Bill and Brice,

Just thinking that a 10mm spacer would automatically placee the guide rail where needed with repeatability.

Does anyone know where there might be a source for bar stock, gauge block, etc that would be 10mm (+/- good enough for wood but not as precise as for scientific measurement)?  I have found some metric gauge block sets on the internet but $300+ is overkill for what I am thinking about -- something roughly equivalent to the woodcraft brass setup bars but in metric sizes.

Any ideas for sources?

Dave

 

[greg mann]

Bill and Brice,

Just thinking that a 10mm spacer would automatically placee the guide rail where needed with repeatability.

Does anyone know where there might be a source for bar stock, gauge block, etc that would be 10mm (+/- good enough for wood but not as precise as for scientific measurement)?  I have found some metric gauge block sets on the internet but $300+ is overkill for what I am thinking about -- something roughly equivalent to the woodcraft brass setup bars but in metric sizes.

Any ideas for sources?

Dave

I'll bet there's one hiding in an offcut somewhere around your shop.  ;D