Domino Tenon Kit...What am I missing here?

RPSmith

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Feb 1, 2011
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I think I have secured the purchase of a used Domino from a FOG group member...which I'm psyched about [smile]

I was on Bob Marino's site putting together a Domino Tenon Kit.

To buy the thing as a set costs $270.

The set contains :

Tenon 4 x 20 mm 450 Qty.
Tenon 5 x 30 mm 300 Qty.
Tenon 6 x 40 mm 190 Qty.
Tenon 8 x 40 mm 130 Qty.
Tenon 8 x 50 mm 100 Qty.
Tenon 10 x 50 mm 85 Qty.

Cutter Asst 4/5/6/8/10 mm 1 ea. 

in a Systainer box.

To buy all the parts separately costs:

Tenon 4 x 20 mm 450 Qty. x $15.50
Tenon 5 x 30 mm 300 Qty. x $15.50
Tenon 6 x 40 mm 190 Qty. x $15.50
Tenon 8 x 40 mm 130 Qty. x $15.50
Tenon 8 x 50 mm 100 Qty. x $15.50
Tenon 10 x 50 mm 85 Qty. x $15.50

Cutter Asst 4/5/6/8/10 mm 1 ea.  x $30.00

in a Systainer Box x $80.00

for a Total = $203.

So I save $63 to put it together myself? 

I must be missing something.  Right?
 
The problem is with the cutters.  The web site is a little misleading.  It shows several domino cutters and the price of the cheapest one.  When you go to the detail screen it shows each price.  It should probably say something like "$30 and up".  If there were a $30 set, that would be a huge bargain!
 
Piece meal    15.5 x 6 =  93.00
                    5     x 30= 150.00
                    1    x  80=   80.00
  totals                          323.00

Purchase the kit. Good luck in your decision.  [big grin]
 
The cutters are priced as follows:
D4--$ 30, D5--$31.50, D6--$33. D8--$ 34, D10--$ 35  Total of $ 163.50
The Dominos are $ 15.50 x 6= $ 93
Systainer is $ 80
Total is $ 336.50

The savings is 336.50-270= $ 66.50. The kit saves you the price of 2 extra cutters.

Vijay
 
Having said that, the kit still isn't a great deal for everyone.  It totally depends on what you will use.  I go through 8X50 like sh** through a goose, but the 4's, 5's and 6's are almost untouched.  If you are working mainly on trim and sheet goods, the smaller sizes might go faster.  If you are working on furniture or large projects, the larger sizes are the place to invest...

On the other hand, its always nice to have the whole shebang 'just in case.'
 
Thanks for this thread...I am also in the process of getting a used Domino from a fellow FOG member too and I am in the same boat...I really will use the 4mm as I do a lot of small frames.  I do not mean to hijak the thread, but I was curious what the other most used sizes of Dominos were too.  I make furniture mostly and so it sounds like the 8mm might be the most common size for that...what do people use the 6mm for?  5mm seem like it would be ideal for 3/4 sheet goods.  How about the 10mm?

Thanks!

Scot
 
Hijack away!

Now that we've figured out that I wasn't paying attention...

I'm curious of the answer to your question.
 
I mostly use the smaller dominoes. Typically, my material is around 3/4" (about 19mm) so on the basis the tenon should be 1/3 of the material thickness, that means using the 5mm or 6mm domino.

For 1/2" material (or 13mm), I use the 4mm or 5mm domino depending on whether I want a long or short tenon. I have not used the 8mm or 10mm cutters in ages. Be aware that the 4mm tenon is half the length of the 6mm tenon. It is good for drawers.

For large picture frames, I use the 5mm domino.

I used the 10mm domino when building my workbench to fit the top to the legs. This is a very heavy-duty application.

I am currently making a pair of sideboards, and to join the 1 1/2" legs to the aprons I will probably go with the 8mm or 10mm dominoes.

The domino ships with a 5mm cutter, which suggests this is the most commonly used size.

Hope this gives you some idea of the potential uses for each cutter. One key thing to bear in mind is that the material around the domino will probably fail before the domino if too much stress is applied to the joint, so merely choosing a larger domino may not solve a design problem.

 
For each of the Domino machines in my shop we have a Domino Systainer assortment kit. When I bought my first 2 Domino machines the 4mm Dominoes were not available. I had to buy extra 4mm cutters for those. Our shop is in Burbank, CA, USA, so I have not found any problems of the Dominoes swelling due to moisture absorption. The 8mm Dominoes are available as both 40mm and 50mm long. To make room for the 4mm Dominoes, I removed the shorter 8mm Dominoes from the Systainer.

The idea is that in the Systainer there should be more than enough Dominoes of any given size to last 8 hours. In our shop at the end of shifts I re-fill the Dominoes that were used. Generally only one or possibly two sizes are actually used on a particular machine on a given shift. In my supplies/expendables store room I keep large factory containers of all the different Dominoes. I refill the Systainers from those big containers.

For sure because we specialize in making cabinets from 19mm material, we use far more 5mm Dominoes than any other size. For this reason In the supply room I also keep two plastic containers with just 5mm Dominoes. Those hold about 900 of them. Trust me, we have yet to use that many in a single shift, even if two of us are using Domino machines in the same area.

All 4 of my Domino machines were purchased new as DF 500 Q sets. Separately I bought the Handrail fence for each of the machines. We hardly use those daily, but when one is needed it is needed ASAP.

Normally in the shop frequently used tools are not stored in their own Systainer. I bought an extra Systainer 2 to hold a set of accessories, so one of the actual Domino Systainers is kept pristine should we need to take a machine on location. In that situation, we would bring the accessories in their Systainer and the Dominoes with cutters in their Systainer,

It turns out we hardly ever use the shorter 8mm x 40mm Dominoes. For us the 4mm Dominoes are the second most popular. We use about the same number of 6mm x 40mm; 8mm x 50mm; and 10mm x 50mm Dominoes over the course of a year.

 
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