Domino for lattice building

[Kodi Crescent]

The Domino is a great tool for creating elongated slots.  Most of us think of these slots for joinery, but perhaps they can be used for decorative purposes.  I'm thinking of using the Domino to create a lattice effect on a fence I'm designing.  Has anyone tried using the Domino's slot cutting ability for anything other than joinery?  Any special techniques to share?

 

[mouppe]

I am going to mortise some slots in the top of my workbench, so that I can insert dominoes as bench stops when I am planing. Being of wood, they will not damage the material, they can be easily removed and they are flat so the material will not pivot.

I am going to mortise at about 88 degrees so the dominoes are very slightly angled towards the workpiece. I can also mortise at various depths so the dominoes can protrude at different heights.

I don't want to riddle my bench with holes but one or two slots in appropriate locations will be very useful.

Richard.

 

[tbellemare]

There's a thread here about making louvers with the Domino that is pretty clever and after seeing how it was done, seemed obvious.

It wasn't obvious to me until after I'd seen it, then it SEEMED obvious...

Tom

 

[peter halle]

Brice did that post.

I'll go looking...

Peter

EDIT:  Check this out on Brice's website:  Louvers

 

[Tezzer]

I am going to mortise some slots in the top of my workbench, so that I can insert dominoes as bench stops when I am planing. Being of wood, they will not damage the material, they can be easily removed and they are flat so the material will not pivot.

I am going to mortise at about 88 degrees so the dominoes are very slightly angled towards the workpiece. I can also mortise at various depths so the dominoes can protrude at different heights.

I don't want to riddle my bench with holes but one or two slots in appropriate locations will be very useful.

Richard.

Richard this is what i do with my Domi Dogs

Each Dog has 2 mortices on the bottom, the 2nd using the index pin. Then just glue in some Dominos. I lightly sand, then wax with some parafin to make them slide in and out easier. I have four different thicknesses from 30mm (shown) down to 5mm. I put some wide plunges in the ends to make it easier to lift out.

Then for the bench, plunge a mortise using the normal setting, and the the second plunge with the pin indexed on the widest setting. It works a treat and very quick.

 

[greg mann]

I made a lattice for a climbing plant last year. Super simple and the wife was amazed how quickly I made it. It was made to fit in a big pot so it had two 'styles' with through mortices. I made them on the mid width setting and then made 'rails' to the same width dimension as a domino. This allowed for easy assembly and allowed the styles to splay out at the top. I spent more time ripping the rails and rounding them over than anything else but the whole job took about 45 minutes.

 

[butzla]

I let in the back slats on this porch swing here.  I also used it for the joinery.

 

[Kodi Crescent]

Thank you for uploading the pictures.  I think I need to clarify what my question is.  Instead of using the Domino to install slats, has anyone used the slot cutting capability to cut decorative slots into either a solid piece of wood, or planks butted against one another? 

For example, I am thinking about having a arched privacy fence installed.  Ideally, I would like part of the fence to be made out of diagonal or straight lattice panel, but I'm not sure how to get a curved cap board to fit over the convex top edge of the lattice.  If I could figure it out, I think it would warp or do something that would reduce its longevity.  However, I would still like the lattice effect, hence my desire to find an easy way to create lattice from the standard arched fence design.

I figured that I could use the Domino to punch a bunch of elongated slots into the boards in some pre-arranged design, thus creating a lattice effect.  I could make T's or H's or I's or some other design in the boards just by using the Domino to punch the holes.  Has anyone used the Domino for something similar?  If so, how did it turn out?

 

[grobin]

I used mine to make a jig for routing a slot in the domino.  I just set the depth to as low as I could get and plunged a mortise.  There was a little very thin wood left and I just cut that out with a chisel.  I think that if I understand what you thought you told me; that the Domino would work for that.  You will just need to play with it a little so that it completely cuts a shallow channel rather then leaving a little wood.  I think that it would be faster and if you use the rounded edges would hold better than a routed latice would.  But you will be limited to lattice with curved edges and of the same size as the tenons.

 

[mattfc]

Here was a lattice I played with in walnut, had to steam the pieces first to bend them. Domino worked a treat

 

[Brice Burrell]

Here was a lattice I played with in walnut, had to steam the pieces first to bend them. Domino worked a treat

Very cool. [thumbs up]

 

[jvsteenb]

I may be completely wrong here, but if I understand Kodi's question right, he ask is there's anyone who has use the elongated slots the Domino produces, as the actual perforation in a panel, thereby creating a kind of lattice/webbing effect. After all, some high quality webbing panels are indeed made on a CNC router using a round router bit in a more or less similar way.

Am I right Kodi ?

My take on this:

It would only work out right if you could figure out a way to accurately position the Domino in a grid-like pattern, (LR32 perhaps ??) and you would have to plunge at least one time for each perforation, two times for a simple cross perforation or a "V" , three times for an "H" pattern, or four times for a 4 point "offset star" pattern. The orientation of the baseplate (the angle of the slot re. the workpiece) will be another critical successfactor, so some way to fix this in a bomb-proof fashion would be prudent as well.
All in all, repeatability is key, and this may prove not to be as simple as it sounds. Then again: what would life be without a decent challenge now and again?

Experience shows that the Domino somehow entices people to come up with new ways to possibly use the tool. IMHO this is a perfect example !

Regards,

Job

BTW Matt, I love your walnut lattice ! No internet involved and you still managed to create a "woodweb"  [big grin]