Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately

[ChuckM]

One furniture maker featured in a Fine Woodworking article uses a combination of materials to make tenons for miters (after they're milled with the Domino Joiner).

 

[JFelchlin]

Re -
Making Dominoes - Glad that it “works” for you.
$68 for the molder knives sounds pretty reasonable.
But... I’m guessing that most of us woodworkers -
Don’t have a $2,795 William Hussey Molder.

Early on - More than once - I bought some 2” Beech wood -
And “sliced” it - And “diced” it into Dominoes -
With my: Table saw, router, and band saw -
With very acceptable resulting Dominoes.

But...
Given the COST per Domino - And the TIME involved - I quickly realized that -
I’d rather just buy ‘em - And spend my time actually WOODWORKING.
To each their own.

 

[Cheese]

One furniture maker featured in a Fine Woodworking article uses a combination of materials to make tenons for miters (after they're milled with the Domino Joiner).

Interesting Chuck...I've used this method before for both aesthetics and to prevent the miters from opening.

[attachimg=1]

 

[ChuckM]

[
Interesting Chuck...I've used this method before for both aesthetics and to prevent the miters from opening.

What was used to cut the slots on the frame?

 

[live4ever]

I've got a Shopfox 1812 and I often thought about this but didn't NEED the project enough to put the research into getting it done.  Really appreciate the legwork here! 

 

[Cheese]

What was used to cut the slots on the frame?

I believe I used a table saw, the most difficult thing was to find a blade kerf that matches the thickness of the legs on the aluminum angle.

The kerf was cut too deep on the RH piece so I’ve just kept it around as a reminder and a sort of no-go gauge.  [smile]

 

[Sparktrician]

Interesting Chuck...I've used this method before for both aesthetics and to prevent the miters from opening.

[member=44099]Cheese[/member], have you ever used a lock domino setup to prevent miters from opening up?  It has worked very well for me in cabinet doors as well as in screen doors. 

 

[Lincoln]

FWIW...just to expand the consciousness of this forum, Domino's can be fabricated from various materials. They don't need to be fabricated from wood exclusively.

Snip.

The Domino machine can even be used to cut non-wood materials such as granite (?) countertops.

That would be 'solid surface' bench top material (Corian etc), not granite. There's no way it would cut granite.

 

[ChuckM]

Yes. likely Corian or the like.

 

[Cheese]

Cheese[/member], have you ever used a lock domino setup to prevent miters from opening up?  It has worked very well for me in cabinet doors as well as in screen doors.

No Sparky [member=7493]Sparktrician[/member] ...I haven't, but that's a great idea. Any photos for the visually challenged? [smile]

I only edged one floor with the aluminum angle/wood thing and then just changed to countersunk GRK screws with contrasting or same color plugs, it was so much easier and faster, although it doesn't have the same WOW factor. It also seems that people either LOVE or HATE the aluminum angle/wood interface, there's no in-between.

[attachimg=1]

 

[Tyler Ernsberger]

Re -
Making Dominoes - Glad that it “works” for you.
$68 for the molder knives sounds pretty reasonable.
But... I’m guessing that most of us woodworkers -
Don’t have a $2,795 William Hussey Molder.

Early on - More than once - I bought some 2” Beech wood -
And “sliced” it - And “diced” it into Dominoes -
With my: Table saw, router, and band saw -
With very acceptable resulting Dominoes.

But...
Given the COST per Domino - And the TIME involved - I quickly realized that -
I’d rather just buy ‘em - And spend my time actually WOODWORKING.
To each their own.

William Husseys can be bought used for a $400-600. The parts are still available for older machines.  The cost for me to run them isn’t that high considering how much Festool is charging for them.  The Dominos 4mm-6mm are not worth makin, bigger dominos in my option are.  Literally in an hour and half I made $400 in dominos that I would have had to buy for my projects.  That’s money in my pocket not Festool’s.

 

[squall_line]

William Husseys can be bought used for a $400-600. The parts are still available for older machines.

I'm not being snarky when I ask this, but I'm always trying to figure out where people find the deals that they talk about on here.

The MFT/3s for $150, the CXSs at a thrift store for $12, the pneumatic pocket-holer for $500, the $5,000 jointer/planer for $250 at an estate sale...

I see people mention Craigslist, occasionally eBay, and often times "I happened to find".

When I get on Craigslist, I get nothing for Festool.  Facebook Marketplace occasionally has what looks to be a bunch of stolen tools at an insane price or tools that are completely beat up for almost full retail.  Or there are Systainer bundles that disappear within 5 minutes of being posted (not that I'm bitter about those, at all... not me...).  eBay is the land where DF500s and DF700s are listed Buy it Now for $200 over retail and other tools auction out within 90% of retail...

Is it because I'm only in a smallish blue-collar metro area?  Do these deals come up in larger metros all the time?

 

[Mini Me]

Drill a hole through the Domino for glue to escape. I think a lot of people use way too much glue, I saw someone hit a Domino in when hydraulic lock had occurred due to using too much glue and the result was not pretty. Another way to replicate the toothed appearance of the Festool item might be to use a toothed hand plane on the stock after it is sized for thickness.

 

[Tyler Ernsberger]

William Husseys can be bought used for a $400-600. The parts are still available for older machines.

I'm not being snarky when I ask this, but I'm always trying to figure out where people find the deals that they talk about on here.

The MFT/3s for $150, the CXSs at a thrift store for $12, the pneumatic pocket-holer for $500, the $5,000 jointer/planer for $250 at an estate sale...

I see people mention Craigslist, occasionally eBay, and often times "I happened to find".

When I get on Craigslist, I get nothing for Festool.  Facebook Marketplace occasionally has what looks to be a bunch of stolen tools at an insane price or tools that are completely beat up for almost full retail.  Or there are Systainer bundles that disappear within 5 minutes of being posted (not that I'm bitter about those, at all... not me...).  eBay is the land where DF500s and DF700s are listed Buy it Now for $200 over retail and other tools auction out within 90% of retail...

Is it because I'm only in a smallish blue-collar metro area?  Do these deals come up in larger metros all the time?

It’s takes time.  I find deals all the time.  You can set up Craigslist alerts for items you are looking for and when a item you have tagged gets post you get a email.  I have good luck on Facebook market place.  Craigslist in my area isn’t as good lately.  Festool items are pretty hard to find a good deal on.  It used to be more easy when the brand wasn’t so popular. 

 

[Svar]

Even if shaper was bought at full price, it's peanuts if you make living from carpentry and molding. It's not like OP bought it just for making dominos.
Good job turning scraps into useful product in a cost effective manner.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

I have made 6mm and 8mm Dominos with roundover and bullnose bits respectively. This was done to have them exposed and use a particular species of wood most of the time. I've also done it to make them wider than the factory made units.
I even made a few that were done so that the exposed face was facegrain rather than the usual endgrain. That was to plug a couple of slots that were done on the wrong face of a leg. It was a painted project, but I still didn't want the endgrain to show. It worked well to cover a newbie mistake in the early times with the Domino.
I have also used my Domino to cut slots for table top mounting clips and to make slots for adjustment of fences on jigs.

 

[Tyler Ernsberger]

Even if shaper was bought at full price, it's peanuts if you make living from carpentry and molding. It's not like OP bought it just for making dominos.
Good job turning scraps into useful product in a cost effective manner.

I guess that depends on the Shaper  [big grin].  I don’t want to pay full price for the one I have.  [eek]

 

[jeffinsgf]

I'm not being snarky when I ask this, but I'm always trying to figure out where people find the deals that they talk about on here.

The MFT/3s for $150, the CXSs at a thrift store for $12, the pneumatic pocket-holer for $500, the $5,000 jointer/planer for $250 at an estate sale...

I see people mention Craigslist, occasionally eBay, and often times "I happened to find".

When I get on Craigslist, I get nothing for Festool.  Facebook Marketplace occasionally has what looks to be a bunch of stolen tools at an insane price or tools that are completely beat up for almost full retail.  Or there are Systainer bundles that disappear within 5 minutes of being posted (not that I'm bitter about those, at all... not me...).  eBay is the land where DF500s and DF700s are listed Buy it Now for $200 over retail and other tools auction out within 90% of retail...

Is it because I'm only in a smallish blue-collar metro area?  Do these deals come up in larger metros all the time?

The bigger the market, the better the buying opportunities, no doubt. But, the real keys to finding bargains on used (anything) are diligence and patience. Whether you set up automatic searches or do it manually, you have to check frequently and be flexible with your search radius. If you're commercial, and you decide you need a new piece of equipment...now...then used bargain hunting is going to be hit or miss at best. If you keep your eyes open and remain flexible, things will pop up.

I have a 1950 Delta drill press that I wouldn't trade for the fanciest new one. I gave $100 for it and spent a couple weekends and another $50 getting it cleaned up and rewired. But, to me, the search and rebuilding are as pleasurable as building furniture. It's my hobby within a hobby.

Now it's time to put the computer away and get downstairs and continue working on the base for my 1962 DeWalt radial arm saw. I'm into the saw about $80, I've built the stand with mostly reclaimed lumber, and I would not trade it for a new Kapex.

But, that's just me.

 

[ChuckM]

We all prioritize our resources (time is one of them) differently. For my DF500, I buy the dominoes... I only regret that I didn't buy them in bulk packs soon enough as the unit cost is so much lower, and I use tons of them.

But I also make some of them at lengths that are not available for the DF500. In the latest project, I deepened some 8mm and 10mm mortises. I still have the shop-made 8mm domino blanks that I can cut to length. But I'll need to make about fourteen 10mm dominoes that are about 105mm long.

 

[Sparktrician]

Cheese[/member], have you ever used a lock domino setup to prevent miters from opening up?  It has worked very well for me in cabinet doors as well as in screen doors.

No Sparky [member=7493]Sparktrician[/member] ...I haven't, but that's a great idea. Any photos for the visually challenged? [smile]

 

Aye, indeed (now that I'm back in the shop), [member=44099]Cheese[/member].  In the first image. dominoes #1 and #2 are in a pretty standard location for a normal miter joint. 

View attachment 1

In the second image, domino #1 is in the same location as before, but domino #2 has been moved closer to #1. 

View attachment 2

Here the joint is glued up as normal, put in clamps and adjusted for consistent diagonals.  Once the glue has set up and clamps have been removed, domino #3 is mortised in from either top or bottom (depending on whether they're at the top or bottom of the door) to keep them out of normal sight, if varnished or stained.  If the doors are to be painted, "Que so what, so what?"

View attachment 3

The dominoes now have interfering angles that prevent the joint from being opened up. I've never had one fail from normal stresses. 

IHTH...