Physical Dimensions of Dominos

JimAndi5000

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Joined
Jan 26, 2024
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Hello everyone,

This is my first post so please forgive me if I am doing it wrong.

My friend gifted me a "Festool 574432 Domino Joiner DF 500 Q Set" (Yes, I really have good friends)

The kit came with a 5 mm bit and he tells me he sent me the other bits (4mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm) but they haven't arrived yet.
I'm never used a domino before so I'm curious to get in the shop and try my hand at it. I was going to purchase the big kit of the tendons but I was just hoping to make a few to see if I could justify the purchase. I'm looking for the physical dimensions of the tenants. And all I find is thickness and length but I'm looking for with of cut.

Does anybody have a chart for the 4 mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm, and 10mm dominoes that includes thickness length and width?

Thanks for your help and I hope each of you have a fantastic day.
 
JimAndi5000 said:
Hello everyone,

This is my first post so please forgive me if I am doing it wrong.

My friend gifted me a "Festool 574432 Domino Joiner DF 500 Q Set" (Yes, I really have good friends)

The kit came with a 5 mm bit and he tells me he sent me the other bits (4mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm) but they haven't arrived yet.
I'm never used a domino before so I'm curious to get in the shop and try my hand at it. I was going to purchase the big kit of the tendons but I was just hoping to make a few to see if I could justify the purchase. I'm looking for the physical dimensions of the tenants. And all I find is thickness and length but I'm looking for with of cut.

Does anybody have a chart for the 4 mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm, and 10mm dominoes that includes thickness length and width?

Thanks for your help and I hope each of you have a fantastic day.

The width is easy. The machine swings 14mm back and forth, so just add 14 to the bit diameter you are using.
The selector switch on the machine has 3 settings. The smallest one is exact fit to the Domino itself. The second is 3mm wider, and the 3rd position is 6mm wider.
The main thing to acknowledge, is that you shouldn't turn that switch unless the machine is running. The gears can bind, unless they are spinning.

The length kind of depends on the size. Most of them have only one length per given diameter.
4mm are 10mm long
5mm are 30mm long
6mm are 40mm long
8mm have 2 variations 40mm or 50mm
10mm are 50mm

From 8mm and above, you can also buy longer sticks (750mm) and custom cut them to the size you want.
 
I'm guessing that "tendons" and "tenants" and "with of cut" were speech-to-text transcription goofs.

That said, if you've never used a Domino before, I would get on Youtube and search "Festool Domino starter" or "Festool domino overview" or other such terms, and look for videos from Festool USA, Sedgetools, HalfInchShy, Peter Parfitt...

Certainly if you have some experience with biscuit joiners or similar plunging cutting tools, you may be able to just pick it up and have a go at it, but otherwise it may be wise to spend at least a few minutes understanding what it's about, if you haven't already.

 
Here is a chart I made of the measured widths of the slots on all sizes for DF500 and DF700.

One thing to note is the nominal size of each domino isn't exactly as named, for example on my stock:

8 x 50 are 48.5mm long
8 x 80 are 77.5mm long
8 x 100 are 77mm long
10 x 100 are 77mm long

In general I've found the longer ones in each size have just a little less length.
 

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luvmytoolz said:
Here is a chart I made of the measured widths of the slots on all sizes for DF500 and DF700.

One thing to note is the nominal size of each domino isn't exactly as named, for example on my stock:

8 x 50 are 48.5mm long
8 x 80 are 77.5mm long
8 x 100 are 77mm long
10 x 100 are 77mm long

In general I've found the longer ones in each size have just a little less length.

Sedge has commented in a few of his videos that the nominal length of the tenons is overstated by 2-ish mm to help alleviate glue hydrolock/blowouts, so these measurements don't surprise me.
 
squall_line said:
I'm guessing that "tendons" and "tenants" and "with of cut" were speech-to-text transcription goofs.

That said, if you've never used a Domino before, I would get on Youtube and search "Festool Domino starter" or "Festool domino overview" or other such terms, and look for videos from Festool USA, Sedgetools, HalfInchShy, Peter Parfitt...

Certainly if you have some experience with biscuit joiners or similar plunging cutting tools, you may be able to just pick it up and have a go at it, but otherwise it may be wise to spend at least a few minutes understanding what it's about, if you haven't already.

Thanks and sorry about the spelling issue... Ever since the stroke I have had a hard time enunciating correctly.
 
JimAndi5000 said:
squall_line said:
I'm guessing that "tendons" and "tenants" and "with of cut" were speech-to-text transcription goofs.

That said, if you've never used a Domino before, I would get on Youtube and search "Festool Domino starter" or "Festool domino overview" or other such terms, and look for videos from Festool USA, Sedgetools, HalfInchShy, Peter Parfitt...

Certainly if you have some experience with biscuit joiners or similar plunging cutting tools, you may be able to just pick it up and have a go at it, but otherwise it may be wise to spend at least a few minutes understanding what it's about, if you haven't already.

Thanks and sorry about the spelling issue... Ever since the stroke I have had a hard time enunciating correctly.

Typing on the small cellphone screen has never been easy for me.
 
ChuckS said:
JimAndi5000 said:
squall_line said:
I'm guessing that "tendons" and "tenants" and "with of cut" were speech-to-text transcription goofs.

That said, if you've never used a Domino before, I would get on Youtube and search "Festool Domino starter" or "Festool domino overview" or other such terms, and look for videos from Festool USA, Sedgetools, HalfInchShy, Peter Parfitt...

Certainly if you have some experience with biscuit joiners or similar plunging cutting tools, you may be able to just pick it up and have a go at it, but otherwise it may be wise to spend at least a few minutes understanding what it's about, if you haven't already.

Thanks and sorry about the spelling issue... Ever since the stroke I have had a hard time enunciating correctly.

Typing on the small cellphone screen has never been easy for me.

If I don't catch it in time before hitting send, the dyslexic auto-correct on my phone makes really bizarre changes sometimes!
 
Yes [member=75217]squall_line[/member] that couple of millimeters of "glue clearance" is a design compensation by Festool and shouldn't be part of the calculations. It fits/works in a "nominal" mortise.
 
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