hi there guys. i've got a job to do tomorrow with 15mm melamine. i've got to make a carcass from it. i'm having trouble getting my head around how to setup for referencing the shelves on the carcass side. the method shown in the supplemental guide won't work in my head as the domino will be too close to the edge of the 15mm melamine, i will be using the 4mm dominoes. any help would be appreciated as have only used my df500 a handful of times so still getting my head around how to use it.
DF500 Use with 15mm melamine
- Thread starter paddee87
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pingvinlakrits
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Totally misread the post so I will try again...
I recently made a large 15mm birch ply /melamine bookshelf myself - though I did use the 5mm Dominos as they are still 1/3 of the material thickness. I centered the Domino on a piece of scrap though I have sometimes used the 16mm preset hard stop for 15mm material which works fine as long as you remember orientation and inside/outside on carcass and up/down on shelves.
If you start by making the actual carcass which I am sure you know how to do - you can just make a template by using the bottom end of the carcass and do both sides of holes the same way - starting from the bottom.
Say you want the space between the bottom to the first shelf (underside) to be 200mm I would go about it this way, assuming you have centered the holes in the shelf:
The DF500 is 10mm from the base to the center of the Domino so you need to factor that in:
200 + 7.5mm to center is 207.5mm - 10mm for the baseplate so make a piece of scrap 197.5mm long, square and same width (or wider) than the carcass and simply place it against the bottom. Sidewall flat down and bottom in place. Place your spacer down against the bottom and clamp it in place and then you can reference the Domino flush against the bottom and against the edges or other markings.
If you run the Domino on the 16mm hard stop and plunge the shelves from the top side you will be off set and you need to factor in that off set in the set up of your spacer piece.
Once the first one is done you simply move the bottom piece (or shelf) along and repeat the procedure. This will give you perfect same spacing with just one spacer and one shelf moving along all the way. Repeat for the other side, remember to start from the same side!
EDIT:
If your carcass is wide so the bottom is "wiggly" when carcass is laid flat on its side just make a short piece the same width as the carcass from a piece of scrap or an off cut. Remember: all you need is that reference to bottom by using same thickness/material as the "true bottom".
On these I ran the pocket calculator and worked out the uneven spacing and made all cuts in a row with different spacers. It was then glued up and shipped out in two pieces, it was 305 cm tall with the bottom cabinet added so too tall to ship out in one piece.
This was 16mm Walnut veneer mdf with edgebanding. Same procedure though.
In the picture you can see the spacer piece with the measurement scribbled on it (to make sure I did the math right).
I recently made a large 15mm birch ply /melamine bookshelf myself - though I did use the 5mm Dominos as they are still 1/3 of the material thickness. I centered the Domino on a piece of scrap though I have sometimes used the 16mm preset hard stop for 15mm material which works fine as long as you remember orientation and inside/outside on carcass and up/down on shelves.
If you start by making the actual carcass which I am sure you know how to do - you can just make a template by using the bottom end of the carcass and do both sides of holes the same way - starting from the bottom.
Say you want the space between the bottom to the first shelf (underside) to be 200mm I would go about it this way, assuming you have centered the holes in the shelf:
The DF500 is 10mm from the base to the center of the Domino so you need to factor that in:
200 + 7.5mm to center is 207.5mm - 10mm for the baseplate so make a piece of scrap 197.5mm long, square and same width (or wider) than the carcass and simply place it against the bottom. Sidewall flat down and bottom in place. Place your spacer down against the bottom and clamp it in place and then you can reference the Domino flush against the bottom and against the edges or other markings.
If you run the Domino on the 16mm hard stop and plunge the shelves from the top side you will be off set and you need to factor in that off set in the set up of your spacer piece.
Once the first one is done you simply move the bottom piece (or shelf) along and repeat the procedure. This will give you perfect same spacing with just one spacer and one shelf moving along all the way. Repeat for the other side, remember to start from the same side!
EDIT:
If your carcass is wide so the bottom is "wiggly" when carcass is laid flat on its side just make a short piece the same width as the carcass from a piece of scrap or an off cut. Remember: all you need is that reference to bottom by using same thickness/material as the "true bottom".
On these I ran the pocket calculator and worked out the uneven spacing and made all cuts in a row with different spacers. It was then glued up and shipped out in two pieces, it was 305 cm tall with the bottom cabinet added so too tall to ship out in one piece.
This was 16mm Walnut veneer mdf with edgebanding. Same procedure though.
In the picture you can see the spacer piece with the measurement scribbled on it (to make sure I did the math right).
pingvinlakrits
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I didn't find the edited shots of the Melamine build but here are three from the phone, pardon the tilted image/s. It was a bit cramped getting the whole thing in the shot so I had to hold the phone up and didn't see the screen properly.
Shelves were holed up as per the previous post and since the customer wanted slightly recessed shelves (top and bottom flush on the carcass though) I did them all same depth/width and after doing the Domino plunge cuts I cut them down to size. There is a hard backing on the shelves so I had to cut both front and back down to size which was a bit nerve wrecking but I did the math and had two test pieces.
This bookshelf faces two ways so the trick was using the same spacer for both sides to line up the rows of holes. The kitchen facing side was then attached to the wider side facing the dining table using 5mm Dominos there as well to line up all the edges.
Shelves were holed up as per the previous post and since the customer wanted slightly recessed shelves (top and bottom flush on the carcass though) I did them all same depth/width and after doing the Domino plunge cuts I cut them down to size. There is a hard backing on the shelves so I had to cut both front and back down to size which was a bit nerve wrecking but I did the math and had two test pieces.
This bookshelf faces two ways so the trick was using the same spacer for both sides to line up the rows of holes. The kitchen facing side was then attached to the wider side facing the dining table using 5mm Dominos there as well to line up all the edges.
pingvinlakrits
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After re-reading your post I am not sure if I understand your problem with the "head of the Domino" getting in the way or something?
Are you adding shelves to an existing carcass?
If you tell us how it looks like I think someone can chime in with the solution.
Are you adding shelves to an existing carcass?
If you tell us how it looks like I think someone can chime in with the solution.
Hi Henrik many Thanks for your speedy reply. What you have said has been very helpful. With regards to the head comment that's my head I was on about I was having trouble working out how to do it in my head! I'll re read your reply in the morning at work and mess about on a couple of scraps. Thanks again.
pingvinlakrits
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Thanks and no worries.
I edited the post a little just now.
My process:
Make carcass. Mark top ends (or bottom) Mark inside or outside on the side panels. I use masking tape or a pencil depending on type of material.
Lay side wall down flat with bottom piece in place. If your carcass is wide so the bottom is "wiggly" when carcass is laid flat on its side just make a shorter piece or just a strip the same width as the carcass from a piece of scrap or an off-cut with the same material. Holes of course placed the same as the real bottom piece.
Easiest way is to take an off cut from the same previous cut and hole it up the same as all the others. All you need is that reference to bottom by using same thickness/material as the "true bottom" so it can be an offcut rather than the finished bottom.
The you can just walk the length up to the top and repeat for the next side wall. If spacing is uneven like in my first photos just mark the spacers Long / Short / Medium and/or mark it with the exact measurement and you bring your strip or bottom piece with you along the way.
EDIT: you move along the bottom piece - or a shelf piece and fit it to the last pair/row of holes you did and repeat the process using the latest row of holes as a new reference.
It can be hard to get the exact spacing down to that last half a mm but by doing it this way I can have that last (usually the top) shelf "off" by a half a mm which I usually don't have to care about as long as both sides are identical which they will be with this procedure.
For the Melamine shelf I wanted some wiggle room for the shelf so after fitting the Dominos to the shelves (deeper plunge so less protrusion of the Domino) I filed down the back end of the Domino a mm or so but not more. This ensured a perfect fit against my back stop. I did not widen the holes on the carcass with the Medium setting as I think it is a little too much for precision cut shelf/carcass parts.
After you have done a bookshelf or two like this it becomes second nature and the large piece on the photos came on a simple sketch. It is very easy but it is still possible to mess things up. If you make sure the spacer is square and the bottom is in place correctly there is very little that can go wrong though. In my case I used the outside edges to reference the Domino base so easy as can be. For deeper shelves you might want one extra Domino bit you can make a spacer for that too. I usually make the middle slot on the medium setting and simply use a sliding square and remember to set that square up and always reference from the same side on the carcass - that means outside from both left and right standing panels/sides. Then I can use any measurement as long as the square is set the same on all.
I didn't have much edgebanding so I could not mess up that shelf but I was confident that if I kept it simple and just did all cuts according to plan I would not screw it up. I don't even remember how many holes there were but I didn't mess up a single one except for that when I switched to the shelves I plunged the first two holes "short" - an easy fix. Just had to go back and replunge with the deeper setting.
I usually start with all the short plunges as that means that I am sure I don't mess up the material when my mind starts drifting off.
Anyway, let us know what happens with the build!
/ Henrik
I edited the post a little just now.
My process:
Make carcass. Mark top ends (or bottom) Mark inside or outside on the side panels. I use masking tape or a pencil depending on type of material.
Lay side wall down flat with bottom piece in place. If your carcass is wide so the bottom is "wiggly" when carcass is laid flat on its side just make a shorter piece or just a strip the same width as the carcass from a piece of scrap or an off-cut with the same material. Holes of course placed the same as the real bottom piece.
Easiest way is to take an off cut from the same previous cut and hole it up the same as all the others. All you need is that reference to bottom by using same thickness/material as the "true bottom" so it can be an offcut rather than the finished bottom.
The you can just walk the length up to the top and repeat for the next side wall. If spacing is uneven like in my first photos just mark the spacers Long / Short / Medium and/or mark it with the exact measurement and you bring your strip or bottom piece with you along the way.
EDIT: you move along the bottom piece - or a shelf piece and fit it to the last pair/row of holes you did and repeat the process using the latest row of holes as a new reference.
It can be hard to get the exact spacing down to that last half a mm but by doing it this way I can have that last (usually the top) shelf "off" by a half a mm which I usually don't have to care about as long as both sides are identical which they will be with this procedure.
For the Melamine shelf I wanted some wiggle room for the shelf so after fitting the Dominos to the shelves (deeper plunge so less protrusion of the Domino) I filed down the back end of the Domino a mm or so but not more. This ensured a perfect fit against my back stop. I did not widen the holes on the carcass with the Medium setting as I think it is a little too much for precision cut shelf/carcass parts.
After you have done a bookshelf or two like this it becomes second nature and the large piece on the photos came on a simple sketch. It is very easy but it is still possible to mess things up. If you make sure the spacer is square and the bottom is in place correctly there is very little that can go wrong though. In my case I used the outside edges to reference the Domino base so easy as can be. For deeper shelves you might want one extra Domino bit you can make a spacer for that too. I usually make the middle slot on the medium setting and simply use a sliding square and remember to set that square up and always reference from the same side on the carcass - that means outside from both left and right standing panels/sides. Then I can use any measurement as long as the square is set the same on all.
I didn't have much edgebanding so I could not mess up that shelf but I was confident that if I kept it simple and just did all cuts according to plan I would not screw it up. I don't even remember how many holes there were but I didn't mess up a single one except for that when I switched to the shelves I plunged the first two holes "short" - an easy fix. Just had to go back and replunge with the deeper setting.
I usually start with all the short plunges as that means that I am sure I don't mess up the material when my mind starts drifting off.
Anyway, let us know what happens with the build!
/ Henrik
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