Optimal Placement of Dominos

[tomktest]

Does anyone have some best practices for placing dominos? I've been afraid of cutting into a domino and sure enough it happened to me the other day due to a design change. I thought I had enough room but I was a few mm off. This problem applies to other methods such as biscuits and dowels.

For pieces that I know I won't be trimming such as a cabinet carcass I'll use the 37 mm stops but for other things such as boxes or panels that may be trimmed to final dimension - what is the best approach? Even just knowing where they are exactly would be helpful. Marking the locations on the piece is fine until I start to sand. For a larger glue up. I'm thinking that I'd stay 150-200mm. away from each end to allow for trimming and just use f clamps to keep the ends aligned.

Often times I will glue up a long panel to be cut up into smaller pieces for the project. Perhaps it is worth skipping dominos in that type of a situation so I don't feel like I am playing minesweeper every time I make a cut.

 

[luvmytoolz]

If I have to be careful of placement of dominos because sanding will remove the marks, or I need to make further cuts, I keep a notebook with the size of material and the centre measurement of the dominos. No guesswork required then.

It's also a good habit to get into just in general, as quite often I'll temporarily shelve a project, and by the time I come back to it I've completely forgotten aspects of it. Nothing like trying to remember how far apart the dominos were on that table top you joined!

 

[Adamsse]

Does anyone have some best practices for placing dominos? I've been afraid of cutting into a domino and sure enough it happened to me the other day due to a design change. I thought I had enough room but I was a few mm off. This problem applies to other methods such as biscuits and dowels.  SNIP

I found this PDF Domino reference on the Festool USA web site quite helpful.  First link below is the document.  The second link takes you to the web page where you can find it.  There are other good references there as well.  Sandy
https://www.festoolusa.com/-/media/tts/fcp/festool-usa/downloads/finalbook.pdf
https://www.festoolusa.com/knowledge/downloads#Ownersmanuals

 

[JeromeM]

Does anyone have some best practices for placing dominos?

Perhaps it is worth skipping dominos in that type of a situation so I don't feel like I am playing minesweeper every time I make a cut.

The best practice is to know where you are going to make cuts and ensure that you don’t put dominoes on the cut lines.

From your wording it doesn’t look as if you do much in the way of planning. For myself in the last 15 years and thousands of dominos I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of dominos I have accidentally cut and they were all in the first year of use.

Incidentally I don’t meticulously plan the cuts but I don’t really bother to plan to need to join pieces that will need much cutting later

 

[Birdhunter]

I mark where I will place the tenons using blue tape, then take a camera picture, and write a note that i tape to the panel.

It's possible to correct the error by gluing a strip onto the exposed edge and trimming an equal amount plus kerf out of the middle of the panel then joining the pieces.

Please do not ask how I learned this correction method!

 

[ChuckM]

Does anyone have some best practices for placing dominos? I've been afraid of cutting into a domino and sure enough it happened to me the other day due to a design change. I thought I had enough room but I was a few mm off. This problem applies to other methods such as biscuits and dowels. Snip.

Are you referring to edge-to-edge panel jointing, like for a tabletop? It happened to me once, but luckily a slight change to the final shape got rid of the blunder.

Now, the simplest solution for me is not to use any loose tenons at all if I'm not quite sure about the cutting needs. But that rarely happens because the boards to be joined with Dominoes are usually already cut to or close to their final sizes. Glue alone is strong enough for any edge joint. I prepare stock and usually use it within the next couple of days, avoiding alignment issues caused by board cupping, etc.

 

[tomktest]

The best practice is to know where you are going to make cuts and ensure that you don’t put dominoes on the cut lines.

From your wording it doesn’t look as if you do much in the way of planning. For myself in the last 15 years and thousands of dominos I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of dominos I have accidentally cut and they were all in the first year of use.

Incidentally I don’t meticulously plan the cuts but I don’t really bother to plan to need to join pieces that will need much cutting later

I actually do quite a bit of planning. Each project is modeled in CAD before I purchase the wood. I do not generally model fasteners such as screws, dowels, biscuits, nails, or dominos. I am used to oversizing my panels and trimming them after glue up to final size. During that process I would usually make the trim based on appearance. I need to change this process when using dominos so that I'm within 1-2cm of final size before glue up. Also if I use dominos for a panel that will be diced into multiple pieces I will try not using the cross stops and instead mark out my cuts then just use a mark across the panels to signify where to place the dominos like I would have done for dowels or biscuits.

 

[tomktest]

I mark where I will place the tenons using blue tape, then take a camera picture, and write a note that i tape to the panel.

It's possible to correct the error by gluing a strip onto the exposed edge and trimming an equal amount plus kerf out of the middle of the panel then joining the pieces.

Please do not ask how I learned this correction method!

That is a great idea as long as the grain and color can be matched well enough. For my latest mistake I ended up chiseling out a few mm of the domino and plugging the hole with a piece of the same wood. It was on the inside of an opening so it wasn't a big deal.

 

[sancho57]

depends on what yer doing. for glueing up timber to make say a desk top I figure the finish dimensions and make sure I dont place the dominoes near where the finish dimensions are mark the piece accordingly.

Dont try to over think this yer not building the space shuttle