Domino Placement - How obsessive are you when it doesn't matter as much?

[eddomak]

Just a general interest question more than anything else... Maybe it's a personality test?

We all know that there are certain times exact domino placement matters, but how obsessive are you when it doesn't matter as much?

- Are you the type who wants everything nicely "lined up" on all sides? (eg the domino placement on the left edge pieces is exactly the same as the right edge pieces)

- Are you the type who wants an exact and even spacing between dominoes for a given space? (eg Xmm between each domino boards that are to be edge joined) or maybe you just go by eye (eg scatter a couple across the join lines and shift them into place)

Personally, I like having both the same spacing on similar pieces, as well as between dominoes. And as a result I also like using a story stick to reference off.

I tried one project where put dominoes at approximate locations and yes it all came together fine, but I somehow did find the project a bit harder, and don't know why. Maybe I just wasn't at peace within myself.  [big grin]

 

[Birdhunter]

I'm making a series of 24" by 10" serving boards. Each board has a border of contrasting wood. I use Dominos to attach the borders to the center.

I match the mortise locations on the opposing sides and on the border pieces. This way, it doesn't matter if I get the border pieces switched. I use this technique every time I'm doing projects where pieces might get switched. I also tend to space the mortises evenly. I lay the Dominos on the workpiece to get a rough idea how many and spacing. I then do the final layout with a ruler.

I always use narrow mortises on one side and wider on the other. This way. I have some slop to work with. Maybe not an elegant technique, but it works every time.

 

[abutte]

I just mate the pieces up, and mark a quick line across both pieces, sometimes using a square, sometimes not depending on my mood! I eyeball the approximate spacing to get dominoes 8-10 inches apart.  Being a hobbyist, I don't do mass production stuff, so it's not usually worth the effort to create a consistent layout.  Though if (like Birdhunter) I had many repeating mortises, it may well be worth the initial time to make a jig or marking stick to get consistent spacing and then bust all the mortises out at once.

 

[Kodi Crescent]

I was trying for them to be consistently spaced.  I found I was mixing pieces up and then things would not go as well at assembly time.

In the future I'm going to do plan out the spacing and offset things at particular ends so that I can't mix the pieces up.

 

[JBag09]

I was gonna try to explain this, but figured I would just send you the link to Festools Jedi Master
This should explain it easy enough that you can use it on almost anything your doing.

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[zapdafish]

I take the eyeball approach, not obsessive at all.

 

[Lou in DE]

Depends - I've been working on a few smallish cherry shaker tables - I used 2-10x50 dominos to attach the legs to the aprons with the aprons set back about 3mm (thankfully I found Peters table videos before starting - thanks Peter!) - needless to say, the placement of the mortices was critical as they were all referenced off the top & outside face. On the other hand, when doing the glue up for the table tops I just drew lines spaced by eye. As an aside, this was the first time I used the domino to build tables - the accuracy was amazing!

 

[sheperd80]

I take the eyeball approach, not obsessive at all.

Same here. If it matters it matters, but most of the time eyeball is good enough. And the height adjustment stops are usually good enough for me as well. I will never throw money away on a domiplate.

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[JakobProgsch]

I make the intermediate domino placement intentionally irregular and asymmetric so I can't accidentally glue them up wrong later.

 

[Kevin D.]

I was gonna try to explain this, but figured I would just send you the link to Festools Jedi Master
This should explain it easy enough that you can use it on almost anything your doing.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This guy makes it way more complicated than it needs to be.  Lots of wasted time with his setup imo. 

He also shouldn't need to go and remortice all his mortices he under underplunged the incorrect depth setting of.  Had I done that, I would just go and trim my Dominos shorter on the band saw so they would fit.

 

[Poindexter]

I just mate the pieces up, and mark a quick line across both pieces, sometimes using a square, sometimes not depending on my mood! I eyeball the approximate spacing to get dominoes 8-10 inches apart.

This mostly.  Plus this for repeatable accuracy: http://www.woodpeck.com/sspro96.html

 

[sancho57]

I eye ball the domino to centre of the piece, take a few practice cuts when im happy i mark the face as face and mark where im going to place my dominos. i try to keep then evenly spaced but Im not fanatical about it. my OCD doesnt kick in for that

 

[clark_fork]

Not to accept any suggestion of being obsessive, this is my Domino mm guide and Domino spacer templates. The templates are various widths and can be positioned side by side if wider distances are necessary. They hang on the wall out of the way.

[attachimg=1]

Guide

[attachimg=2]

Templates

 

[eddomak]

Not to accept any suggestion of being obsessive, this is my Domino mm guide and Domino spacer templates. The templates are various widths and can be positioned side by side if wider distances are necessary. They hang on the wall out of the way.

[attachimg=1]

Guide

[attachimg=2]

Templates

Fantastic! I reckon that this almost makes it the best compromise - you can  be obsessive,  consistent AND quick. [emoji3]

 

[JBag09]

I just mate the pieces up, and mark a quick line across both pieces, sometimes using a square, sometimes not depending on my mood! I eyeball the approximate spacing to get dominoes 8-10 inches apart.

This mostly.  Plus this for repeatable accuracy: http://www.woodpeck.com/sspro96.html

This was the version I used when I did all my deck railing. Just found the center after they were cut to length, put the rail side by side and marked them from the center and turned the story pole around. Worked like a charm.

Deck boards to be refinished this spring

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