Domino miter Vs mitred rabbet joint

weedyau

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Joined
Oct 22, 2016
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I’m wishing to mitre many boxes made from 100 x 40/50 mm timber. How does using dominos on simple mitres compare to mitered rabbet joints cut on a table saw? I’m seeking advice on speed and strength .
 
It is hard for me to imagine that the process of cutting a mitred rabbet joint could be faster than a domino mortising. If you are familiar with the domino mitreing, there can be zero test cuts. It is almost impossible that you can set the saw fence right without test cuts.

Strength-wise, it is an end-grain to end-grain, and long/face-grain to long/face-grain glue-up in a domino mitre, while the mitred rabbet is an end-grain to end-grain, and end-grain to long/face-grain glue-up. So I would say the domino mitre is stronger.

One additional benefit of using the domino joiner ... dust free.
 
It is easy but, if you've never done it before, it's a good idea to practice with some scrap the same thickness and width as you will be using in the final project. Then there are no surprises with the wood that you are expecting to use for the boxes.
 
I've made quite a few mitered frames for my wife's native Indian horse blankets and other art.  These a shadow box style with 2.5" - 4.5" raised sides with the art mounted and a shadow line inset.  All were mitered, dominoed stained black and assembled.  I suspect that they could fall off the wall and still remain as solid as the day assembled.
 
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