Does anyone else bevel the domino ends??

[Memphis Larry]

I buy dominos by the case for my cabinet shop.  For years, I always take time to bevel both ends whenever I open a new bag.  Makes assembly go a lot smoother.

Negatives are taking about 30 minutes per bag and fingers close to bandsaw blade. 

Maybe this topic should be added to the "I wish Festool made" thread. I wish Festool sold Dominos with the ends beveled.  Am I alone here??

 

[Gary in Texas]

I've never felt the need to bevel the tenons.  I can imagine though if beveled the tenons would be easier to place into the mortise.  Too time consuming for the benefit of bevel one these myself.....

 

[Doug S]

I don't bevel the end but I do rub the end/corner on a piece of rough sandpaper which takes the squareness off and helps them slide in a bit easier.

Doug

 

[CO_JCD]

I just put a batch on an enamelled plate in the oven on a low heat (~100C) for 10 - 15 minutes and then let cool before use.
Makes all the difference.

John

 

[Bill Chang]

I shave a hair off with my pocket knife if necessary, takes me about 3 seconds.

 

[wow]

I just put a batch on an enamelled plate in the oven on a low heat (~100C) for 10 - 15 minutes and then let cool before use.
Makes all the difference.

John

To what end - to remove moisture? How long do they stay 'demoisturized'?

 

[sancho57]

I just stick them in the hole and hit them with a  plastic mallet

 

[Birdhunter]

I made a bunch of tenons from the long Festool stock and beveled the ends I used a stationary belt sander. Just had touch the ends to the belt for a second to get the bevel. Seems a lot safer than using a bandsaw.

When I use the premade tenons, I used them right out of the bag.

 

[NERemodeling]

I just stick them in the hole and hit them with a  plastic mallet

Haha.  That's what I'm talking about!  No need to fix something that isn't broken

 

[tdragomir]

I made a bunch of tenons from the long Festool stock and beveled the ends I used a stationary belt sander. Just had touch the ends to the belt for a second to get the bevel. Seems a lot safer than using a bandsaw.

When I use the premade tenons, I used them right out of the bag.

this is what I do also.

 

[CNX]

One thing I love about Domino, compared to biscuit, is, I can dry fit the entire project without worrying about it falling apart. One thing I don't like about Domino is, I  have to pull them out with priers and sometimes they are so tough even though I always cut off the ears (the notches at the side) of Dominos! Cutting off the ears sure takes only 5 seconds but if I have 24 of them, it is a pain.

Last time, I was assembling a dinner table with mitered legs. The clamps gave pressure at 45 degree. I couldn't really use a mullet in this situation. It went fine for dry fit but with glue, I was panicking because the tight Dominos refused to go in......

Memphis, I assume you bevel Dominos because they are otherwise too tight? Is beveling better than removing the ears?

Sure, they go in with a mullet but I feel I always have to at least remove the ears. I wonder what other people do.

 

[mike_aa]

...Sure, they go in with a mullet but I feel I always have to at least remove the ears. I wonder what other people do.

I think you need a new barber! [scared] LOL!

 

[Mavrik]

I also just use a mallet. Isn't the whole point that they're supposed to be a tight fit?
If I were to reduce them I'd definitely use my belt sander rather than a band saw.
The consequences of error is very different.

 

[blakjak220]

I shave the "ears" off too some of the time... oddly enuff my 5mm and 6mm dominoes are the only ones I have to do that too, the other sizes are perfectly tight but I can usually get them out after a dry fit with my fingers rather than tearing them up with pliers like those 2 sizes (and all my cutters were brand new). Never thought about beveling but I honestly don't use them enuff to make it worth it... shaving get that edge ridge off with a sharp knife is really fast.

 

[jacko9]

I use a set of dry fit dominos marked with a black X and rather than use pliers, I use players made to chip stained glass to fit. 

See attached photo (dry fit dominos in this picture only had blackened ends)

Jack

 

[Mavrik]

Fun challenge.  Design a simple jig to allow you to "trim" the tenons in large numbers quickly, accurately and safely.

 

[Hiersekorn]

I just use them the way they come out of the bag. If I ever have trouble removing a domino after a dry-fit, I just take a small drill bit and drill a hole through the flat side of the domino. I can then put a short wire through the hole and pull the domino out.

 

[sancho57]

I keep a small vise grip on my work center for that. But the idea of haveing some modified dominos for test fitting isnt a bad idea.

 

[JeromeM]

I use a set of dry fit dominos marked with a black X and rather than use pliers, I use players made to chip stained glass to fit. 

See attached photo (dry fit dominos in this picture only had blackened ends)

Jack

For my dryfit dominos I have sanded down sets and mark both sides of each one using a black magic marker with the dimension [ 5 X 40 ] for example. This makes it easy to find the set I need and difficult to mix them up with the full sized ones

 

[CNX]

Jack, brilliant idea. This would solve the problem of pulling tight Dominos after dry fit.
However, have you ever experienced one of the glued Dominos in one side were slightly crooked and refused to cooperate? Situation could get messy quickly with glues? I guess beveling could make the assembly smoother.