Domino cross stop alternative

[jbarr]

I've come from using a Dowelmax jig which is a great little tool. One of its best features is its indexing rod. Precise alignment of dowels along a long edge. The problem with the Domino is when you use two different widths, tight on one edge and loose on another its difficult to achieve the same accuracy ..... So my questions (sorry if this has been covered but couldn't find it) BTW I have seen the very expensive Woodpecker jig that relies on tight mortises

1. If I'm doing tight to tight (I can't see it working with tight to loose) is the cross stop a good tool to use or is it a bit sloppy? Is it worth getting?
2. Has someone made a jig that achieves this purpose regardless of tight to tight or loose? Aligned centered mortises?

3. Is the good old pencil mark on both boards just as good as any jig

 

[jeffinsgf]

I used the cross stop extensively this weekend, but not for edge gluing. I was making some leg frames where the top member was flush with the tops of the legs and the stretcher on the bottom was 4-1/4" up from the ends. Saved me a ton of time compared to working to a mark...saved time both marking and obsessing over alignment to the mark. Might be the first time I've taken them out of the box in the year and a half I've had my Domino.

The pins are adjustable in mm, so it seems if you want to match tight to wide you could adjust the spacing by half the difference and get them to line up centered.

You may already know this, but Dominos do not add strength to an edge-to-edge joint. They can help align faces, but they add no strength to the joint itself. My point is, don't go crazy with the number you put in an edge joint. Personally, I wouldn't put them closer than 18" to 24", which is outside the range of the cross stop.

That said, I'm glad I bought the set that includes the cross stop. Now that I've used it once, I know I'll start using it much more.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I used the cross stop extensively this weekend, but not for edge gluing. I was making some leg frames where the top member was flush with the tops of the legs and the stretcher on the bottom was 4-1/4" up from the ends. Saved me a ton of time compared to working to a mark...saved time both marking and obsessing over alignment to the mark. Might be the first time I've taken them out of the box in the year and a half I've had my Domino.

The pins are adjustable in mm, so it seems if you want to match tight to wide you could adjust the spacing by half the difference and get them to line up centered.

You may already know this, but Dominos do not add strength to an edge-to-edge joint. They can help align faces, but they add no strength to the joint itself. My point is, don't go crazy with the number you put in an edge joint. Personally, I wouldn't put them closer than 18" to 24", which is outside the range of the cross stop.

That said, I'm glad I bought the set that includes the cross stop. Now that I've used it once, I know I'll start using it much more.

I don’t agree that Dominos are insignificant in terms of adding strength to an edge joint, unless you space them 2 feet apart, but I usually place them about 3 times closer than that, depending on how straight the parts are and need to be.

“The good old pencil mark” if it’s a blunt #2 wood clinched version is not as good as a jig, but a tight straight 0.5mm line from a mechanical pencil is. It’s all I ever use.

 

[ChuckM]

This discussion on the dowel joinery should apply to dominoes as well:

"Fourth, when two pieces are joined using side grain (not end grain) and the joint is made properly, this joint without dowels will be stronger in tensile strength than the wood itself. In other words, the wood will fail first and not the glue joint. Adding a dowel to this strong joint provides only a little (1 or 5 percent) extra tensile strength to the joint. Shortening the dowel's length in half would reduce the tensile strength provided by the dowel by about one-half. As the tensile strength provided by the dowel when gluing side grain is just a few percent, the loss will be quite small."
https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/...you-explain-what-gives-dowel-pin-joints-their

The use of dominoes in edge jointing provides two significant advantages to me: The dominoes keep the joining reference faces flush (which can be three or four boards together, a more challenging task without using dominoes or dowels), and the boards don't slide under clamping pressure.

 

[jbarr]

The pins are adjustable in mm, so it seems if you want to match tight to wide you could adjust the spacing by half the difference and get them to line up centered.

Thanks Jeff! I will buy it but I'm a bit confused by your sentence above. I know that the medium loose setting setting is 6mm wider than the tight setting so could you explain how to set up the cross stop if, for example, I'm joining two boards edge to edge that are 2 feet (600mm) wide where one board's mortises get the tight setting and the other board gets the medium setting?

 

[jeffinsgf]

I would have to try it. I think if you cut all of the second board at the mid setting, the same spacing on the Cross Stop will work for both boards. If you cut the first mortise tight on both boards you'll have to make an adjustment for the second mortise to get them centered, then the same spacing should work after that. I'm not a spatial relations genius, so I would have to practice on some scrap stock.

 

[ChuckM]

This video explains a couple of issues with the cross stop:
=207

He's right about the cross stop in that a lot of owners do not use that accessory, but he isn't correct on everything. For example, despite what he said, you don't need to cut all the mortises in the tight setting when using the cross stop.

The "problem" of misalignment happened to him because he started with the pin on the cross stop, and tight setting on one board and wide setting on the mating piece. To use the cross stop properly, start with the paddle on both ends in the tight setting, then use the pins on the cross stop for the rest (wide/wide). I utilize the cross stop when I have 4 - 8 boards to join together. 3 or 4 boards will form one sub-assembly. I'm talking about milling 50 - 60 mortises in total without marking one single pencil line or straining my eyes (lining up with the scribed line)! [thumbs up]

Jeff's advice is spot-on that one should work with some scrap if the cross stop is used for the first time. I made my share of mistake...and I blamed Festool. [tongue] The Festool instructions on the cross stop are inadequate (non-existent?) on this accessory to be sure. 

Once again, this illustrates how important it's that if you're an owner of a DF500, you get the paddles calibrated so you can enjoy the full benefits of the machine and its accessories.