First project with my new Domino 500

looks great!  Too late now but for future reference, your best bet was to paint it before you made your first cut.  Especially if you're using rails to cut it and not a table saw where you'd risk abrasions.  So easy to roll on paint to one large sheet of mdf or plywood. 

Plus one on using Kilz oil based primer and by all means use an oil based paint for your top coat.  Using latex on shelving is a big no no.  It never fully cures and anything you display on it will stick to the surface.
 
I don't know about before the first cut, but I did consider finishing all the pieces before the glue up.  I decided against it because:

  • I really wanted to be assembling that day rather than painting (bad excuse)
  • I wanted to be able to sand the outside corners totally smooth after gluing so they'd look like one piece (this is the biggest reason)
  • I thought that if I painted the surfaces then the only glue would be between the dominos and the MDF and not between the end of the MDF and the other face.  I know that end grain to face
    grain joints are weak, but thought that even a little is better than nothing and does MDF really have end grain/face grain anyway?
 
sprior,  I get the idea that possibly you are new to WW'ing, but that is a nice job on the MDF/Dominoed shelves. I like the design and hope you don't mind that I may copy for a display cabinet for my GS.

Since you are located in Danbury, are you aware of a supplier of hardwood in Bethel.

If you get your lumber anywhere from rough to S4S and almost any thickness, Kellogg Hardwood at 11 Diamond Avenue in Bethel has a great assortment and are very helpful.  I go crazy when I get in there.
Tinker

Note:I have no connection with Kellogg other than having been a satisfied customer for many years for many projects. 
 
sprior said:
I don't know about before the first cut, but I did consider finishing all the pieces before the glue up.  I decided against it because:

  • I really wanted to be assembling that day rather than painting (bad excuse)
  • I wanted to be able to sand the outside corners totally smooth after gluing so they'd look like one piece (this is the biggest reason)
  • I thought that if I painted the surfaces then the only glue would be between the dominos and the MDF and not between the end of the MDF and the other face.  I know that end grain to face
    grain joints are weak, but thought that even a little is better than nothing and does MDF really have end grain/face grain anyway?
Click to expand...

You could leave the outside unpainted, that's the easiest to paint.  You're using MDF, there's no grain direction to consider.  Many kitchen cabinets are built by professionals using screws into butt joints, no glue.  And not pocket screws either.
Lay the whole sheet out on sawhorses and roll on the paint.  The dominoes will keep it intact.
golf-locker-project


 
sprior said:
While I was cutting the domino holes I also did a dry fit.  Before I took apart the dry fit I put pieces of painters tape on the top edge of each piece and drew arrows all facing the same direction.  I'm keeping all the pieces standing in their dry fit positions while they're waiting to be glued.  I'm hoping all of this will keep me from swapping any pieces or flipping them around.  There are slight variations in the widths of the pieces so I'm keeping the bottom side of the joints all flush which will be the front of the shelf when it's all put together and it'll be nice and perfect from the front.
Click to expand...

Steve
Great idea with the painter's tape.  I have used for the same purpose but always put the tape on BEFORE the dry fit.  Of course, I would always find one or two of the strips needed a bit of trimming with razor knife. So glad I thought of it  ::)

About the slight variations in widths of pieces, I have made great use of MFS 400 and 700 for lining up parallel cuts.  The Festool parallel guides work great if you have enough space, but i have problems with them (others swear by them>>> not at them)because i am short of space as well as being short of arm.  I have set of RMW's Rip Guides that work great for me. I can use set up across the cuts and on top of pieces to be cut. The Parallel Guides need to all the way out to the ends of the pieces being cut.  All of above have worked for me to make those troublesome parallel cuts. 

Will you be putting some sort of a back to your shelves?  or will the wall be your back?
Tinker
 
About the MFS template...  Just great, when I finally see an expensive Festool I think I can actually skip, someone comes along and says "oh no, you want that one too...."  Thanks    [tongue]

I have the Festool parallel guides and used them for cutting the strips of MDF, but since the MDF overhangs my work table just a little the parallel guides are a pain to use because they swing down.  I've really got to mod them with a plexiglass tab screwed to the movable guides.  When I say I had variation in the pieces I'm talking about maybe 1/8" tops, which was enough to bug me, but I made sure that one side of the project came out flat for all the joints so I can just make the slightly uneven side the back so nobody will notice.  And no I'm not putting a back on the unit.

Originally the unit was going to be dead on 12" deep, but something happened - I was using 2 1400 guide rails joined together to rip the plywood with the parallel guides and when cutting the last two pieces that joint slipped a little so the edges of those pieces bowed slightly.  I didn't notice until I stacked the pieces together and they didn't line up perfectly.  So I fixed the guide rail joint and recut all the pieces to 11 7/8" wide.  Since I was a little annoyed at this point I might not have been as precise with the guide rails so maybe that's what caused the final slight differences.
 
sprior said:
About the MFS template...  Just great, when I finally see an expensive Festool I think I can actually skip, someone comes along and says "oh no, you want that one too...."  Thanks    [tongue]

I have the Festool parallel guides and used them for cutting the strips of MDF, but since the MDF overhangs my work table just a little the parallel guides are a pain to use because they swing down.  I've really got to mod them with a plexiglass tab screwed to the movable guides.  When I say I had variation in the pieces I'm talking about maybe 1/8" tops, which was enough to bug me, but I made sure that one side of the project came out flat for all the joints so I can just make the slightly uneven side the back so nobody will notice.  And no I'm not putting a back on the unit.

Originally the unit was going to be dead on 12" deep, but something happened - I was using 2 1400 guide rails joined together to rip the plywood with the parallel guides and when cutting the last two pieces that joint slipped a little so the edges of those pieces bowed slightly.  I didn't notice until I stacked the pieces together and they didn't line up perfectly.  So I fixed the guide rail joint and recut all the pieces to 11 7/8" wide.  Since I was a little annoyed at this point I might not have been as precise with the guide rails so maybe that's what caused the final slight differences.
Click to expand...

Just what I liked about the mason trade.  When i got annoyed, i just picked up a heavier hammer.  ::)
 
The first coat of Zinser BIN shellac based primer is done, brushed on a little more than half a quart of the stuff - feeling groovy.  The wisdom of painting the sheet before cutting it up (and certainly before assembly) is VERY apparent - this first coat took me almost 2 hours.  I'm hoping the second coat of primer won't require as much since the MDF is now sealed.  The stuff feels almost like glue when painting it on, gets thick real fast.  I bought a quart of Sherwin Williams' "All Surface Enamel" in satin black for the paint.
 
You should try a six inch mini roller next time. Cut in everything and then roll away. Whatever you do dont get the foam rollers, Eric
 
I am looking at your paint job and started thinking about doing the same project for my GS to show his trophys in.  It suddenly dawned on me that even tho you used Domino, there needs to be an order of drilling and assembly.  Did you drill all of the mortices before dry fitting anything.  I think i had read back at the beginning that is what you did; but I can see assembly problems if the wrong order is followed.

I have not tried any design like this so far.  I've been strictly straights with 4 90º corners so far. 
Tinker
 
I actually started drilling the domino holes for the pieces which intersected at the end first because I wasn't sure how to do the others at the time, and then moving on to the others.  So I ended up dry fitting and then taking apart pieces again to drill more domino holes - no big deal.  I just had to make sure that I knew how not to get trapped during the actual glue up and that turned out to be a matter of starting in the center and working my way out.
 
Starting in the center for assembling was my guess.
Thanks
Tinker
 
sprior said:
A day and a half ago I bought a Domino 500, this is my first project with it and as you can see I spent some serious quality time with the Domino today.  The MDF on the bottom is just an assembly surface, the display shelf itself has no back.  My wife had seen this shelf in a catalog so I figured I'd make one.  I planned out every dimension, cut all the pieces to spec, cut the Domino holes, and will glue it up next.  Even after such a short time with the tool everything came out dead on aligned, only had to replace one piece because I cut the holes on the wrong surface (oops).  I used the TS55 with the parallel guides on the guide rail to rip 4 equal strips of MDF, then cross cut everything to length on the MFT/3 with Qwas dogs and Qwas rail dogs for precision, then the Domino 500 for the joinery.  Have the ETS125 for sanding.

Unlike most of you I'm not a professional woodworker (I'm a computer programmer by day), so I chose this project as a skill/confidence builder, plus an exercise in being able to sketch out and execute a project without spending way too much time overthinking it.  In the past I've done projects I've been very proud of, but spent way too much time stressing during the planning stage.
Click to expand...

Sprior,
Great project. I am about to pull the trigger on the MFT/3 to compliment my TS55 and something in your post got my attention. I see you mention using QWAS Dogs and Rails. I have seen these mentioned often in the forums, but I can't wrap my head around how you used them here? Can you (or anyone) explain how the affect your workflow? They seem to be limited because the holes in the MFT top are the limiting factor. How can you change dimensions...
 
HalfInchSky has a great set of 3 videos about the MFT and what you can do with Qwas and rail dogs:

 
Have the second (maybe third) coats of paint gone on the shelves any easier that the first coat?
Tinker
 
The coat of primer was hard because I did it by brush all in one shot.  For the first coat of paint I've been rotating the unit and painting a set of horizontal surfaces at a time with a smaller brush for the corners and a small roller.  This has come out MUCH better with almost no drips.  The thing I did wrong was to also paint the outside surface so I had to wait for it to dry before rotating onto it.  For the second coat I'll do the rotating trick again, but not paint the outside surfaces so I can do all the interior surfaces in one shot then put it on edge and paint all the exteriors at once.
 
The display shelf is finally done! Took just a couple of days to build, but way longer than that to paint. I also made everything that's on the shelves.
 
That's a great display!

In the first photo there is a little bit of an optical illusion as it appears as if one divider (next to the flowers) is only half-length. I had to take a really good look to see it wasn't!

I would consider putting in a small rail at the back (top and bottom) to help prevent racking. If you ever try to move it, it could be quite weak, and it won't affect the design too much.  The rails will also help in securing it to the wall which I would highly recommend (don't ask how I know that bookcases need to be affixed to the wall!).

 
Thanks.  In terms of building it every piece was the same width, so after cutting the MDF into equal strips it was just a matter of cutting everything to length, then 22 domino joints.  I didn't glue anything until all the joinery was cut so I didn't have to worry about order.  Since it was my first project with the domino I did the joints where two ends met first because I thought those would be easier and I wasn't sure how I was going to do the end to middle of face joints.  But then once I figured out the technique (referencing off the bottom of the domino) those turned out to be even easier.
 
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