tight fitting dominos

[woodshopdemos]

Albert,
  Take the amount you willl need and place in a plastic tub and pop in microwave. How Long is by trial and error. One minute worked for me.

 

[morris]

Rather than using the 2nd or 3rd setting to make the slot wider  (which makes them really wide ) I sometimes slide the machine side to side as its cutting 0.5 mm or so to each side of the centre line ,alternatively trim the domino with a stanley knife on its narrow face

 

[Tinker]

It seems that ever since I have been reading about the domino, I have noted that there was a problem with the tight fit at times.  I do not have the domino (yet), as finances require i wait til price goes back up, or a later "sale" occurs.  I have, however, used dowels for many projects. I am located in Connecticut, not too far from LI sound where the humidity can get quite out of hand at times during summer months.  I often run into a problem with swollen dowels.  I just cut the number I need to length and stick them into the microwave for a few seconds. I have thought this should work with dominos.  I see John L. already does this, so i am sure it will work everywhere else, as he is even closer to the ocean, with the accomanying humidity problems than i am.

i have not enclosed the dowels in plast bags, but I think it might make sense to do so with the dominos.  It should keep them from drying out too quickly. 
Tinker

 

[bill-e]

My recently acquired Domino set came with oak dominos.  Each of the six plastic bags within the Systainer is so labeled.  My first project involved joining hard maple edging to some melamine coated particle board shelving.  Some of the dominos were a tight dry fit.  To remove those, I used a pair of water pump pliers and a simple light squeeze and tug.  No need for vise grips.  No damage to the tenons.

Dave R.

Dave,

I just checked my bags and there is an OAK1234 (don't remember the exact numbers) designation on mine as well....I just sent an email off to Festool

 

[bill-e]

Albert, Thanks for the info, I could have sworn that I heard that Bill who posts here soaked some dominos for two weeks in water and none of them swelled. I could have heard wrong. Yes they are beechwood native to Germany...

Ted, I soaked them for 15 HOURS which was just what I did...nothing scientific.  Maybe the small amount of growth is enough to make them tight.

"In an effort to find out how stable the Domino tenon is I submerged this tenon in a glass of water for about 15 hours.  I measured its thickness before placing it in the water and it averaged 8.05mm.  After 15 hours I removed it and measured it again, it measured 8.20mm on average.  That is a growth of .15mm or .006".  I'm not sure what this test proves or how I could equate 15 hours in water to the humidity in my shop but it does look to me that the tenon is dimensionally stable."

 

[ejantny]

Just remembered I looked at a bag the other day and it had a OBKxxx number on it.

 

[bill-e]

Just remembered I looked at a bag the other day and it had a OBKxxx number on it.

Yea, mine say OAKxxxx but I figured it had nothing to do with the type of wood...sent the email off just to confirm.

 

[bill-e]

Just remembered I looked at a bag the other day and it had a OBKxxx number on it.

Yea, mine say OAKxxxx but I figured it had nothing to do with the type of wood...sent the email off just to confirm.

Folks, Just to clear this up, the tenons are Beech not Oak.  I already received a reply to my email to Festool.  The markings on the bag are some kind of code having nothing to do with wood species.