DF500 - How to make carcase butt joints for 1/2" (12.7mm) stock?

[ChuckM]

The method laid out in the manuals (Festool manual & the Supplemental, P. 17) doesn't work for 1/2" stock as the cutter is 10mm from the baseplate, leaving not enough material on the shelf stock, if the mortises are cut in the manner shown in the manual.

Is there a better way to cut this butt joint for thin stock that is as straightforward as that for cutting workpieces 3/4" (20mm) and thicker?

Thanks.

 

[Birdhunter]

My Seneca plates for my Domino 500 work for 3/4" and 1/2". Guess you would have to use a 4mm cutter.

 

[ChuckM]

Thanks. The 4mm dominoes are too short for my application. The shelf concerned needed the 5mm.

 

[ChuckM]

Honestly this is where the Domiplate is worth every penny. It makes 1/2" and 3/4" work effortless. I got an email from Seneca woodworking showing 15% off for holiday weekend.

I bought one as soon as I got my D500 and it stays attached most of the time.

Other alternative is to attach a shim to your baseplate to shorten the offset.

Thanks.

How could shimming the baseplate solve the material thickness problem? Wouldn't it make the matter worse, as the baseplate is 10mm from the cutter while the stock is 12mm or so? If I shimmed it, it would raise up the DJ and the cutter would cut outside the thickness of the stock (shelf). Even if it could, it would create another problem: I cannot no longer use or rely on the end of the shelf as a reference edge to stand the DF500 upright to cut the mortises on the side piece.

Would the Dominoplate you suggested solve both problems at the same time?

 

[RKA]

Watch the video below, I think it explains it better than I could in written form. 

 

[ChuckM]

Thanks for the vid link, RKA, which I have watched before.

May be I wasn't clear enough in my previous messages that my problem was with registering and cutting the mortises for the middle shelves, not the top and bottom. Even without the Dominoplate, I could cut those top and bottom mortises using what came with the DF500.

The video does not show how the middle shelves can be handled in the same or similar manner as shown in the manual. Or did I miss the usefulness of the Dominoplate here?

 

[jrb9]

Thanks for the vid link, RKA, which I have watched before.

May be I wasn't clear enough in my previous messages that my problem was with registering and cutting the mortises for the middle shelves, not the top and bottom. Even without the Dominoplate, I could cut those top and bottom mortises using what came with the DF500.

The video does not show how the middle shelves and can handled in the same manner as shown in the manual. Or did I miss the usefulness of the Dominoplate here?

The method in the manual wouldn't work for thinner shelves for exactly the reason you mention. Using the domiplate you would move the shelf so it was overhanging the workbench and then cut the mortices. You could do the same thing adjusting the fence height, it's just not as quick.
Edit to add: Actually, no part of the method in the manual works the way you would want it to, now I think about it. For the sides, instead you would mark the bottom line on the carcass 10mm below where you want the center of the shelf to sit and clamp the shelf down, if you want to use the shelf to provide support while you mortice. 

 

[ChuckM]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. That was what I ended up doing to line up the shelves but was thinking if there was a better or quicker way of doing it. Your response confirmed that I was not doing it in an inefficient way.

 

[clark_fork]

Thanks for the vid link, RKA, which I have watched before.

May be I wasn't clear enough in my previous messages that my problem was with registering and cutting the mortises for the middle shelves, not the top and bottom. Even without the Dominoplate, I could cut those top and bottom mortises using what came with the DF500.

The video does not show how the middle shelves can be handled in the same or similar manner as shown in the manual. Or did I miss the usefulness of the Dominoplate here?

I got a lot out of this video:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTtoaellsUW/?taken-by=festoolsedge

 

[ChuckM]

Thanks. That's a video version of the procedures laid out in the manuals, which work very well for stock over 15 mm thick (for 5mm thick dominoes).

The 4mm cutter is easy to break and the dominoes are pretty short, too. If a third-party came out with a longer and stronger cutter for use on 1/2" stock, I would be interested. I can cut my own dominoes.