Joining 1/2" Baltic Birch with Domino or other

[chesterdad]

I am building a small toy oven for my daughter from 1/2" Baltic birch.  The top overhangs the sides and I would like to join the sides to the top.  What would you recommend?  Should I build in glue strips in the inside corner to provide a joining surface or can I somehow use domino's in such thin material?

Any ideas?

Thanks,

jim
San Carlos, CA 

 

[Eli]

Either. I like the corner blocking idea. Check out this one before you start. Maybe we all just didn't have enough toy oven when we were kids.http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1643.0

 

[Lou Miller]

You could use the Domino, but it's a little bit of a PITA to use on material that thin. 1/2" Baltic is 12mm thick. So 5mm tenons perfectly centered will only leave you with 3.5mm on each side of the tenon. That's not a lot of room for error and it could end up weakening the plywood too much. One problem will be getting the tenons centered. The Domino doesn't center itself in material that thin. You'd have to use some type of shim to get it centered.

Personally, I'd just use glue blocks on the inside and either clamps, brads or pin nails to hold it all while the glue dries. This is assuming the top is plywood. If its wood, you'll have to make sure to allow for movement of the top.

You could probably also use the smallest pocket screws. I think they'll work for this, but I never tried it so I can't say for sure.

 

[Brice Burrell]

The Kreg pocket hole jig works with 1/2" stock.

 

[chesterdad]

Boy, that other oven will put mine to shame!  I am afraid I don't have enough time to put in that kind of effort.  Looks great though.  I just couldn't bear to give my daughter one of those plastic ones I see in the stores.  I am hoping I can convert it to a shelving unit for her when she is done with it as an oven.

 

[Woodenfish]

I would use a three-wing slot cutter in a router table. Either a 1/8" or 5/32" ought to be just fine.

 

[chesterdad]

Not sure what you have in mind with the slot cutter.  Are you suggesting I use a spline between the top and sides?

 

[Zaphod]

Biscuits (#0 if I remember correctly) work fine with 1/2" BB ply.

 

[Woodenfish]

Not sure what you have in mind with the slot cutter.  Are you suggesting I use a spline between the top and sides?

Yes, a spline joint would be easy. It could be done with a saw blade, a straight bit or a slot cutter or whatever else you may already have on hand that you could get to work to form the joint.

 

[Wyatt]

Jim you can center the Domino on 12 mm ply using the 5mm bit. You need to sand the fence with a dremmel tool where it hits the housing. Just remember when using bigger bits that you could plunge into the fence if the fence is not adjusted properly. I made kitchen cabinets with 12mm ply and they came out perfectly. Good luck!

 

[Brice Burrell]

Jim you can center the Domino on 12 mm ply using the 5mm bit. You need to sand the fence with a dremmel tool where it hits the housing. Just remember when using bigger bits that you could plunge into the fence if the fence is not adjusted properly. I made kitchen cabinets with 12mm ply and they came out perfectly. Good luck!

I would bet that kind of modification will void the warranty.

 

[Dave Rudy]

Jim you can center the Domino on 12 mm ply using the 5mm bit. You need to sand the fence

If I understand the problem correctly, why not just use double sided tape to add an auxiliary fence of the exact width needed (in this case 4mm?)?

 

[Wyatt]

I'm sure it may void warranty if they looked for it. It's difficult to see any difference and now my cutter is not idiot proof. Also you could add to the fence with 2X tape. It's an added step that I took out.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Would an auxiliary fence pad made from one or two layers of a scrap of plastic laminate provide the requisite thickness to get the 5 mm bit near the center of the thickness of the 1/2 inch plywood?  You could attach the laminate with double stick tape, or simply wrap some masking tape around both the auxiliary layer(s) and the Domino fence.

Dave R.

 

[tvgordon]

When I was joining 1/2" material with the Domino, I just planed a piece of scrap wood down and used it as a spacer.  I was making a rail and stile frame and I set the wood on the shim, clamped it down and then used the Domino.  It doesn't have to be perfectly centered as long as you reference each piece the same (top and bottom).  Worked fine.

Tom.