Homemade domino tenons with plywood?

[secutanudu]

Hey all,

I am thinking about making my own domino tenon stock out of baltic birch plywood. 1/2" plywood seems to be a perfect fit for 12mm domino mortises.

Does anyone see an issue with using plywood for this...before I waste a lot of time and wood making them?

Seems to me it'd be strong in all directions and would offer a solid joint.

Thanks.

 

[erock]

You never know unless you try it.    [tongue]

Right?  Why wouldn't it work for you?  Plywood does not move as much as solid lumber.    As long as the tenon you're making doesn't have any voids in it, like you could get from plywood from the big box stores.    I think, and this is my opinion, that you should be good to go.

Test it.  See how it works for you.    If you're happy with them that's all that matters.    Be a trend setter !!!! 

It would be like a dado or rabbet in plywood.  Right?

Eric

 

[Holmz]

Tenso or Clampex would likely be better if you are doing many of them.

 

[secutanudu]

Tenso or Clampex would likely be better if you are doing many of them.

What are they?

 

[Glenn in Shailer]

Tenso or Clampex would likely be better if you are doing many of them.

What are they?

...sounds like women's sanitary products

 

[Holmz]

Tenso or Clampex would likely be better if you are doing many of them.

What are they?

...sounds like women's sanitary products

I suppose I can see now that there could be a perceived similarity in the joinery.

 

[ajones]

If you are thinking of using half inch ply I'm guessing your work pieces must be around thirty mm plus, so domino's made of ply sound less than ideal. especially  if you are using the 500, if you were using the 700 and creating custom width mortices then maybe worth trying it. But I would favour dominos of the same species as the work piece. I would be interested in the results using ply.

 

[ear3]

Make sure to post pics if you go through with it.

 

[Cheese]

[member=30149]secutanudu[/member]
I'm trying to understand what you expect to gain by making your own 12mm Domino's out of ply? You must have some specific product improvement in mind to be willing to go through the extra effort?

 

[live4ever]

I do this all the time.  I haven't done any formal strength testing but joints done in this manner seem to hold up just fine.  It's true that many 1/2" plywoods are a perfect (and I mean perfect!) fit in 12mm mortises.  My favorite is Arauco, which tends to be quite void-free for a big box ply.

Plywood as a loose tenon material is nothing new.  There was an interesting interior door construction article in Fine Homebuilding a few years back where the author used floating plywood tenons.  Plywood Dominos would be similar.

Yet another use for all them scraps, lol. 

 

[secutanudu]

[member=30149]secutanudu[/member]
I'm trying to understand what you expect to gain by making your own 12mm Domino's out of ply? You must have some specific product improvement in mind to be willing to go through the extra effort?

Two things - cost savings, and making tenons that fit in the wider domino settings.

 

[tjbnwi]

You will have to round over the corners. I use an 1/8" round over for the 6mm tenons.

Tom

 

[Birdhunter]

I was under the impression that the "real" tenons were supposed to swell somewhat with the glue application. I question if Baltic birch plywood will do that.

Certainly, the experiment is worth doing.

 

[#Tee]

you also have to add the grooves on it, it looks more sporty and holds glue. perfect time for the guys with the cnc to take on this task.

 

[Nigel]

I asked about this a while back in this thread http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/plywood-dominoes/msg93504/#msg93504  I did make some and it worked well enough but in the end it just seemed as easy to make them from solid stock and you get stronger dominos and maximum strength as there is no cross grain, so I never used them....seemed a good idea at the time.

 

[Birdhunter]

I bought a box of Sipo stock when i was building benches. I still have lots of the box left. When I need some tenons, I just whack off some pieces, grind a champher on the ends and glue them in.

 

[sancho57]

I dunno, I don't see much cost savings in making your own when ya add in the time to make them and fit them. As far as making them to fit wider mortises, I don't see much more of a advantage then placing dominos side by side.

I have made dominos out of the base wood to hide Ill placed mortises. It did take a little time to cut sand and fit.

 

[Holmz]

I dunno, I don't see much cost savings in making your own when ya add in the time to make them and fit them. As far as making them to fit wider mortises, I don't see much more of a advantage then placing dominos side by side.

I have made dominos out of the base wood to hide I'll placed mortises. It did take a little time to cut sand and fit.

Secondly...
Plywood is stronger is two directions, but for a tenon I would think straight grain is better.
I can see making your own if you wanted a traditional look. Hence I would be inclined to take a chisel and make the mortise square, and then there is no docking around making the tenon rounded over.

 

[Sparktrician]

I dunno, I don't see much cost savings in making your own when ya add in the time to make them and fit them. As far as making them to fit wider mortises, I don't see much more of a advantage then placing dominos side by side.

I have made dominos out of the base wood to hide I'll placed mortises. It did take a little time to cut sand and fit.

Secondly...
Plywood is stronger is two directions, but for a tenon I would think straight grain is better.
I can see making your own if you wanted a traditional look. Hence I would be inclined to take a chisel and make the mortise square, and then there is no docking around making the tenon rounded over.

I'm with Holmz on this.  Unidirectional grain dominoes are stronger in shear than plywood could be given the same dimensions.

 

[Holmz]

I am not 100% sure... Butcher blocks and composite panels use end grain for shear.
In tension it is better.

There is little glue area, so it probably can fail there first in tension.

What is being made again?
I lost the bubble on the end goal of what is being stuck together.