Domino Depths/Sizes

[gametaker68]

Hello Forum!

I am new to the forum and must admit it is very impressive.  I have been doing a lot of reading about various different tools offered by Festool.  I have finally made first tool purchase.  I bought the Domino 700.  I have a few questions for the professionals that have done way more with this than me.  So any advice will be appreciated.

Generally I have read that when using dominos, go with the 1/3 rule when placing them.  Most people have said that the spacing should be anywhere from 6" to 10".  I am working on building a table top out of old walnut.  The thickness of the wood is 1.5" or roughly 38.1mm.  Would I be better to put one 12mm in the middle, or would I be better to put two 8mm dominos?  Or do you think a 10mm would suffice?  I typically over design, but again I am new to this.  The length of the boards are around 6'.  My next question is the depth of the domino.  How deep should they be?  I have seen some say double the thickness of the domino itself.  Is that good rule of thumb?  Most of the wood varies from 6" to 8".  The top will be around 40" wide.  All of the boards are old barn wood planed and sanded.  All but one of the boards, the best looking natural board, are good boards.  This one has a bit of a warp to it.

My next thing question is for best measurement tool.  I have worked in construction all my life and have always used inches/feet vs mm/m.  So for that, I have always used a FatMax by Stanley.  I have seen on various posts/videos, that a lot used folding rulers or slide.  Both of which are new to me, so it will be a learning curve either way.  What is everyone's go to or favorite?  I can see the benefits of using mm, due to accuracy, just something new to learn.

Thank you in advance for the help,
gametaker68

 

[Carl Prentiss]

Welcome to the forum. Here, you'll find all the info you could absorb on the Domino or any other Festool. To start, I think I would look at what I'm expecting the dominoes to do. In the case of a long grain to long grain glue up as in a table top, I tend to think of the dominoes as an alignment tool only, and as such, I would use fewer and smaller dominoes. 1 close to each end but watch for where you will do your final trim cut. You don't want to cut through a domino. (damhikt) For the middle ones, 1 every 12" seems like enough. Just enough to keep the two adjacent pieces aligned.
For a more structural joint, go back to the commonly accepted rules. for example the 1/3 rule is good but a lot of forum members  tweek this depending upon the type of material and other factors.

Keep us updated with photos if you can.

[welcome]

 

[Birdhunter]

Charlie Mac gave you some good advice. I'd suggest watching Halfinchshy's videos on the Dominos. He has some great tips.

Re your question on metrics, I have reluctantly migrated from Imperial inch measurements to metric. I bought a Talmeter retracting metric tape measure through Amazon and use it a lot. Many of the Woodpeckers rules feature both Imperial and metric and are great products. I bought a Festool retracting tape measure and I didn't like it.

Question.... How are you going to use the warped board?

 

[semenza]

Hi,

  Welcome to the forum!  [smile]

      I suggest that you practice on some similar boards or cut offs.  To see how the alignment works out for you. To use dominos on that thickness for edge joining you really need to have perfectly jointed edges and the dominos need to be dead on perpendicular to the edge. If not, the dominos will actually misalign the joints.

Seth

 

[wow]

gametaker68 [welcome] to the FOG!

I don't have anything to add to what has already been said, except to welcome you to the addiction! Hold on to your wallet - it can be a bumpy ride!

[big grin]

 

[Nick C]

I would not use dominos for this. If your boards are true, the strength is in the edge joints. If your boards are not true, dominos will not force them into alignment.

 

[gametaker68]

Thanks for all the advice.  Forums like this are awesome.  It is good that people are so willing to post tips and tricks, especially for ones like myself who are new this, well these tools especially.

I took the boards to a wood shop.  They planed them down and straightened.  So they are pretty good as for being true.  The one that is warped, but straight, not crowned.  In the future, I would like to get one of the TS saws, but one thing at a time I suppose.

I originally was going to put the boards together and leave the ends of them grain cut, but have since thought about putting them together and putting a perpendicular board on the ends, as Nick has said.  I think this would add to the strength.  It is going to be a table top but will be supported well.

wow, you are right, it seems that it can be expensive.  It seems like the more you get, the more you need, but I suppose it is that way with everything.  Bottomline, you get what you pay for.  I have been reading about this stuff for a while, just haven't bought anything.

The hardest thing for me now is the metric.  Don't get me wrong, not that hard to learn, but just getting in a mindset.  If someone says 3 1/2 inches, I know what to expect.  If someone says 89 mm, I am like what.  It is like using your left hand, and mine is not so good.  [smile]

Ok, another question.  I know it depends on what you are doing, but if you can only get a couple of tools to start with, which would they be?  What can you not live without with them?  I am leaning toward a Kapex.  It might help the process that my mitre saw is an older model Dewalt.

 

[wow]

I know it depends on what you are doing, but if you can only get a couple of tools to start with, which would they be?  What can you not live without with them?  I am leaning toward a Kapex.  It might help the process that my mitre saw is an older model Dewalt.

The Kapex is a great saw, and I'd never try to talk you out of it if you're leaning that way. A lot of people - me included - had to start with a lesser expenditure and ease our way into the addiction...err, investment.

Many of us started with the Track Saw because of it's versatility and utility. It's likely that you will use it on virtually EVERY project you tackle. You *COULD* use it - with the proper jigs, time, and skill - to do pretty much everything that the Kapex does if you HAD to, but the reverse is not true. The Track Saw along with the MFT can replace the Kapex for most or all crosscuts. It wouldn't be as fast, or as fun - but you could do it. I'm also not saying that you would WANT to do this, only that it's possible and is the justification many of us used to decide on the Track Saw.

That said, don't agonize too much over your first purchase. For one thing, you can't really make a mistake. For another, it almost certainly won't be your last purchase...

[thumbs up]

 

[sancho57]

Festool is system. The system can be customized to fit your particular needs. IMO the foundation of the system is TS55/75 (whichever you perfer) MFT and CT. after that everything else will be bought to fit your particular needs wants to make your life easier

 

[Birdhunter]

I had trouble thinking in metric after a lifetime thinking in inches and feet. Keep practicing as metric "fractions" are much easier than Imperial fractions.

Without knowing what equipment you already have, it is difficult to advise you regarding other tools.

I had a very comprehensive workshop before I caught the Festool bug. The Domino ( I have both models), the MFT with TS55 and track, and the Kapex were game changers for me. I had a very nice miter saw, but I could not use it indoors due to the dust it generated. Festool drills, routers, sanders, etc are all great tools, but they were not game changers for me, just improvements over the older tools they replace. Good vacs go along with all these tools. I think both Festool and Fein make very good shop vacs.

Welcome to the FOG. I've gotten a lot of excellent advice over the time I've been using Festool products.

 

[gametaker68]

Well, I have one thing to say so far.  Why did it take me so long to start this?  I have begun playing with the domino.  I haven't used the pegs or cross stop yet, only marking the line and lining up the marks.  This thing is awesome even for someone who is not as good as others.  I am making a cabinet out of rough cut lumber right now.  The hardest thing is that rough cut is not perfect, so sometimes it is not as precise as say cabinet boards.  I used it on the front frame of the cabinet.  I have a Kreg jig, so I put a domino in the joint and then, put two screws in it as well.  I know this is overkill, but I needed to practice using it.  One good thing is I had some scrap wood that I have been using.  So far, the one thing I will say is, just use it.  If you screw up, big deal, keep going.  I am not using 100 year old mahogany yet so its not a big deal.

Birdhunter, jobsworth, and wow, I think you guys are right just from what I have already done.  I need a TS to square everything.  I may start with the 55, and then upgrade at a later time.

I most definitely need a table to work on in my very near future.  I have been using a make shift table and even the floor and it is awful.  I am curious about the Festool tables, are they big enough for most, or do you need a larger assembly table?

One other minor thing I need to do is rig up the hose/cord to keep it out of the way.  Right now I don't have anything holding it up and it sometimes gets in the way.

 

[Mavrik]

Cords and hoses in the way are a major pain. I have a simple bunjee cord loop hanging above the table.  Works perfectly