Domino vs slot mortiser

[Jimhart]

I'm sure this has been discussed, but a search for 'domino mortise' brings up about half the archive.

I'm looking at building an XY table for an overarm router to make a slot mortiser. It takes up about 5 to 6 sq ft of floor in my shop (garage). Realizing I'll probably need to set up a plunge router and jig for a small handful of really large applications, are there any other situations a domino can't handle where I'd be wishing I had stuck with the slot mortiser?

Thanks,

Jim

 

[greg mann]

I feel it is only the larger mortice joints that fall outside of the Domino's range. Even there, multple dominoes can mitigate the issue. If there is room for a large mortice there is probably room for multiple dominoes. You probably need to evaluate where most of your morticing will fall by size. I did not do much M&T joinery before getting the Domino. Now I use them often.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Don't overlook the fact that with a Domino machine, you can easily overlap mortises if you need / want to fit a tenon that is wider/thicker than the standard bits (5,6,8 and 10mm) that are available for the Domino machine.  It is extremely easy to accurately widen a mortise - I have done that several times after I messed up and my original set of mortises on one of the pieces to be joined did not line up with the complementary mortises on the other piece.  Also, many designers believe that use of a row of multiple narrower mortises is better than a single wider mortise and tenon because the spaced smaller M&T joints are believed to better accomodate wood expansion/contraction due to moisture changes.

Dave R.

 

[Jimhart]

This is great. I asked if there are other limitaitions than the one I perceived, large mortises, and both responses so far don't really see that as a limitation.

Looks like this is something I need to do.

Jim

 

[Dave Rudy]

The width (vs length) of the mortise is a domino limitation.  You are limited to the diameter of whatever cutter you use.  Since Domino does not take infinitely large cutters (not as large as a mortising machine) that would be a physical limitation.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no reason to get a mortising machine instead of domino.  You will limit the applications, speed, convenience and ease of use.  If you need large width mortises (that is to take thicker tenons) just use a router.  There are lots of jigs out there (FWW.com has some) which allow use of a router to make many sizes of mortise with precision.
Otherwise, the Domino takes the cake.  (Actually, you can "stack" Domino mortises by simply cutting one on top of the other.  But you may find it hard to get precise ends on the mortise that way.)

You won't be disappointed in the Domino (and if for some whacky reason you were, there's a 30-day money back guarantee on all Festools. as you probably know).

 

[bonesbr549]

I have both. I have a grizzly horiz boring machine that I was using as a slot mortiser which it does very well. Current project is a country cherry hutch that has a ton of M&T.  I bought the Domino & CT33e for the project and could not be happier that I did it.  Yea the limitation is size and diameter of the tenons, but double up or make alowances.  The ease of use and being able to take the tool to the work and not worrying about having all the cuts perfect prior to assemble is great.  I'm about halfway through the project and its a blast.  I use the narrow setting on one side and the wider setting on the mating side and you have easy alignment, and boom your done.  Right now the slot mortiser is in the corner with dust on it.  Unless I have an extreamly large one to cut, I can't think of a reason to keep it (the slot mortiser), maybee a through tenon, but that's about it.  Anyway, that's m2cw.  Now I want the Kapex. Help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I have a problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Terp]

  I once saw a shop made moritser, made with a router motor.  It requires a two piece table which slides in & out & right / left.  The tables slide around via dovetailed slots & blocks.  A long handle allowed the table to be moved past the cutter in operation.  The router motor could be adjusted vertically in it 's base, which was mounted horizontally off the back side of the fence. 
  Also, a friend has an SCMI Mini Max.  This has a slot mortise attachment, which is nothing more than the above mentioned table design mounted to the side of a combo. planer/ joiner.  The slot mortise is cut with an end mill bit, mounted in a chuck attached to the end of the spindle for the planer/joiner cutterhead.  As well, you had to reset that to cut a wider slot by lowering or raising the side table.  In most cases the only cutters used for that are 1/4", 3/8", & 1/2" diameter.  By moving the table up or down you could enlarege the first cut by 64th's of inch or more, if you needed.

 

[Terp]

One more thing.  I do not consider the Domino a choice for larger mortise joinery.  For that I have a square chisel mortiser.  Mine's dedicated, yet you can set up a drill press to do this. 
  The Domino is the much better choice for the joinery I always did with the biscuit joiner, not all but some.  I find that it is better for alot of things than those football shaped biscuits.  An example is carcass construction, or drawer boxes.  Biscuits are used in place of dowels now routinely, but they are not always appropriate.  The Domino is doing alot of what I formerly used the biscuit joiner exclusivly for.  That's a big improvement.
 

 

[Dave Rudy]

Help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I have a problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, but you came to the wrong place.  Here we all wallow in that problem, don't try to talk each other out of it... at all... ever!  (What
s a kapex?)

 

[Hastings]

"Mine's dedicated, yet you can set up a drill press to do this."

Although I do not speak from experience, I note from the forums that the mortiser attachment to drill presses is universally disliked because it just doesn't work. I believe most end up gathering dust in the workshop. The problem stems from the forces needed to get a clean cut versus the forces that a drill press encounters in normal use. I believe the chisel veers off.

Hastings

 

[Terp]

That's common,
  The trick in cutting a line of square chisel holes to create a mortise is simple though.  If you need to cut say six square holes across a joint to create the mortise, start by cutting every other one first,  never consecutively in order.  By skipping, & cutting every other one first, & then going back & cutting out the sections that bridge those holes, you'll assure that the bit does not wander, due to uneven force applied to one side of the chisel.
  Some times I'll use a 3/8 " chisel instead of a 1/2" chisel to cut a 1" wide mortise.  That way you can cut at the edges of the mortise perimeter, & then remove the center waste last.
  I hope that helps, & BTW, I've learned that using my domino properly is no different.  It is an easy tool to make mistakes with & as always a little practice & "body english" are required.  For me the similarity to a biscuit joiner made it easy to take it for granted.  For instance, the fact that the depth setting must always be set correctly.  The trouble comes in cutting many dominoes, some in material edges & some in 3/4" cabinet sides.  A biscuit always cuts the maximum 1/2" deep or so.  One half is never deeper than the other.  Not so with Domino.  Yes I plunged  through a cabinet side the first day I had it :-\, now I know.  I always return the depth setting back to it's shallowest setting now, & force myself to always check that one setting, always.  All tools require practice & familiarity.

 

[Terp]

  I see that Woodcraft, in the current flier, has a real nice looking mortise attachment for the drill press.
It's called an Orion Mortising attachment, # 147959.  It's only 119.00 & comes with four chisels.
  I paid 275.00 for my dedicated machine, which I prefer, but this looks super.  I had to buy chisels seperately.

 

[bonesbr549]

  I see that Woodcraft, in the current flier, has a real nice looking mortise attachment for the drill press.
It's called an Orion Mortising attachment, # 147959.  It's only 119.00 & comes with four chisels.
  I paid 275.00 for my dedicated machine, which I prefer, but this looks super.  I had to buy chisels seperately.

You may want to check out reviews of those dp atachments,  they generlly het horrible reviews.  One over at FWW was offering one free some time back.  DP's generally lack the tourqe that a fixed base unit does. I was considering a fixed base unit till the domino came along. 

 

[Terp]

  That's understandable.  I prefer my dedicated mortise machine for that very reason.  It is a tougher assembly than the attachment to a drill press.  Yet, the limitation of the dominoes depth of cut simply puts it in a different class of tool.  It won't really cut deeper than 1".  That is merely a very small slot mortise.  I've done similar joints with a plunge router for years & never cut any thing as small as a domino that way.  Usually I've made my slot mortise about 2" w. x 1/2" thick, that's about the smallest.  To cut a deeper through type mortise (or blind) the domino is outclassed.  Then again it will slot mortise a cabinet face frame assembly, something even the biscuits weren't ideal for.
  The attachment I found in Woodcraft attaches to the drill press post in a fashion I've not seen before.  It looks like a more solid mount for whole thing.  I think it might be an improvementover others.  I agree that they are not as strong as a dedicated mortiser though.