Tight fitting dominoes? Try this.

[Benjamin Miner]

Apologies if this has appeared elsewhere, but -  if you have trouble removing dominoes (after a dry-fit, say), you can laboriously sand each one (I don't hear any cheers), or take a bunch of them and put them in the microwave for 15-45 seconds. This is an unscientific method - longer for more dominoes, shorter for fewer. Mind you, they can get hot, so be careful. Since most shops have a dusty old microwave in the corner, I figure this may be fairly practical for a lot of woodworkers. It really works, shrinks them just enough to make a big difference. Voila! No more dominoes crunched by a pair of vise-grips!

 

[dirtydeeds]

i appreciate that dominos and cats arnt the same

but is it true that an american court found in favour of a buyer who wasnt informed that you shouldnt put a cat in the microwave

its ok, uk courts sometimes hand down weird judgements as well

 

[woodshopdemos]

Tom,
  That rulling had to do with imperial cats, not metric. It stands as a valuable reason for US types to convert to metric fast, unless you dont like cats, then half-fast can continue.

 

[bonesbr549]

I don't have the patence to sand.  I used my utility knife to shave the stamped sides a bit and the edge flutes.  I used a sharpie to mark them and keep them handy to use to make sure everything is ok with the joints then use the real ones with glue.  I have them in all sizes

 

[Neill]

I wonder if you kept a drying agent (such as silica) with your bag of dominoes if it wouldn't eliminate the problem altogether.

I also wonder how drying the dominoes out would affect their ability to swell once the glue is applied.

Neill

 

[ROb McGilp]

Tom,
   That rulling had to do with imperial cats, not metric. It stands as a valuable reason for US types to convert to metric fast, unless you dont like cats, then half-fast can continue.

I took two metric cats to Boston from New Zealand and while the cats functioned well, the local wildlife do not fare so good. The metric cats were able to easily collar the local imperial white footed mice, garter snakes, squirrels, gerbils and bats. The Raccoons just didn't know what to make of them.

 

[LLesniak]

if you have trouble removing dominoes (after a dry-fit, say), you can laboriously sand each one (I don't hear any cheers), or take a bunch of them and put them in the microwave for 15-45 seconds.

I had exactly this problem and tried the microwave solution Benjamin suggested.  Results = Perfect!  And the glued-up joints seem plenty strong.  The only downside is that the next time I went to use the same size Domino they had swelled again and required another trip to the microwave.

Thanks for posting this... it really helped me out!  ;D

 

[Tezzer]

Save all those delicate microwaves, just give them a few whacks with a hammer on your bench. So simple. 

 

[James Watriss]

I imagine that keeping a heated box like the ones used to keep welding rods dry would work, too.

Microwave is probly easier though.