For those of you who make dominoes

[blanning]

I'm thinking of making my own.  It's really humid here and they're really tight.  So I'd like the ability to dial in the thickness.

When you make them, what's the technique?  Do you just use a tablesaw to get the desired thickness?  Or do you run them through the planer or drum sander?  Do you bother to round over the edges or put them in square?

brian

 

[jacko9]

I use my thickness planer and I round them over on my router table.

 

[shed9]

I use my thickness planer and I round them over on my router table.

+1

 

[gippy]

I don't make Dominos coz I don't have one  [sad], but I do make loose tenons. Planer and then router table. Don't forget to account for any snipe when testing the fit of the end of the board when planing it. I make tenons slightly shorter than the depth of the mortise to give the glue somewhere to go, never seen the need to mill grooves in them.

 

[Stone Message]

When I first started to make them I did thicknesser then router table but I have now settled on the slightly rougher finish (with the CMS-TS it is only very slightly rougher) by using the saw then the router table.

You do have to make a compromise with thickness in order to leave room for glue as there is no quick way that I have found to make channels for the glue.

My biggest error was my first go at home made dominos when I made a pedestrian gate. The dominos were about 140 mm long, I think 14 mm thick and about 60 mm wide. I did not leave enough room for the glue and by the time that I realised the error had the thing half clamped up. I used every ounce of my strength and multiple Besseys to get the job done.

Peter

 

[wow]

When I first started to make them I did thicknesser then router table but I have now settled on the slightly rougher finish (with the CMS-TS it is only very slightly rougher) by using the saw then the router table.

You do have to make a compromise with thickness in order to leave room for glue as there is no quick way that I have found to make channels for the glue.

My biggest error was my first go at home made dominos when I made a pedestrian gate. The dominos were about 140 mm long, I think 14 mm thick and about 60 mm wide. I did not leave enough room for the glue and by the time that I realised the error had the thing half clamped up. I used every ounce of my strength and multiple Besseys to get the job done.

Peter

What do you find acceptable for allowances? I'm still new to the Domino...

 

[Stone Message]

Once I discovered my error I started to make them about 0.5 mm smaller. Setting up the CMS-TS for a cut to that accuracy is not difficult but I still did a test cut first in order to get it just right.

Give that a try as a practice go and see if you are happy.

By the way - I still buy dominos and in quite large quantities. They are much better for important work. My home made dominos are only for simple carcase work, MDF to MDF, ply to ply and when I need non standard sizes.

Peter

 

[blanning]

I use my thickness planer and I round them over on my router table.

Thanks to everyone who replied.

What's the advantage to rounding them over?  Why not leave them square?  That would allow room for the glue to escape while making them a lot faster to make.

brian

 

[Stone Message]

I use my thickness planer and I round them over on my router table.

Thanks to everyone who replied.

What's the advantage to rounding them over?  Why not leave them square?  That would allow room for the glue to escape while making them a lot faster to make.

brian

You start to lose lateral accuracy and joint strength.

Peter

 

[TCancelleri]

It would be pretty easy to just rip a length of hardwood say 4' after you have it thicknessed, then run the entire length across a roundover bit on a router table, and then it'd be real easy to cut repeated sized dominoes with a cross cut sled on a table saw with a good crosscut blade. If you really want to get crazy you could get a half round bit and use a diamond grit blade to make small notches in the carbide of the router bit to give you those grooves like on the factory dominoes.

 

[R.W_Carpentry]

I don't make dominoes often however I recently acquired a model makers table saw, and have been using it, set low, to run the grooves like factory mades in to my dominoes.

 

[Louis84]

Always make my own dominoes. I like to use the same material as what I'm using for everything else. Plus its cheaper of course, make them in batches when needed.

I make lengths to the exact height and width, and then use an ovolo bit to round over the edges. When rounding the edges, I purposely cut into the domino just a little further (essentially creating an ovolo on each corner). In my opinion this works a treat, it gives space for glue to move around whilst also allowing the domino to fit snuggly as it can be squeezed a little easier. Had no problems / call backs so far. And I've used them for large hardwood external doors! (using PU glue also ;o))

 

[Birdhunter]

When I build a bunch of outdoor Ipe benches, I bought the package of Sipo 750mm tenon stock and cut them to length on my bandsaw. Pretty inexpensive tenons.

I can't imaging how many tenons I'd have to make to come out cheaper than buying the tenon stock.