To Domino or not to Domino? That IS the question....

[MacBoy]

The handle is not retained by the back screw …

Mighty cool — thank you for sharing!

Peter Millard tested one which was not secured to the body of the Domino. He had moments of fright when holding the Ergo Handle and arm-swinging the Domino downwards into a vertical position. I guess it’s a natural movement by the human body, even when the brain says “don’t do it”.

With the current design, could the Ergo Handle be secured to the Domino body

 

[gwendal]

Mighty cool — thank you for sharing!

Peter Millard tested one which was not secured to the body of the Domino. He had moments of fright when holding the Ergo Handle and arm-swinging the Domino downwards into a vertical position. I guess it’s a natural movement by the human body, even when the brain says “don’t do it”.

For reference, Peter's review video you are referencing. The orientation of that handle is not natural, the handle works well when it is at the same angle as the DF700 or DFC500. My design uses the 4 pins so there is more friction, but it is still not secure.

With the current design, could the Ergo Handle be secured to the Domino body

The handle could be modified to go over the back screw (part#88). But since this is a plastic screw, the handle must be somewhat permanently attached to the Domino. The DF500 will not fit in the systainer anymore.

Another solution I considered was to modify/recreate the rear cap (part#90) to add insert(s) to screw the handle in. That will fix the problem. Having said that with the handle upright, the center of mass is very far from the back hand; I now need both hands to lift the domino, so the risk of dropping it is more limited.

 

[ChuckS]

It seems to me that if the handle is used with the dominant hand grabbing it as shown at 13:12, the palm would be sore or the wrist would get tired soon from milling a lot of mortises. The pushing should take place as far back as possible at the end of the machine.

With friction fit, I wouldn't hold the machine and carry it around by the handle with just one hand. I'll find a pic of my handplane handle and post it here.

Once I try out gwendal's handle, I'll share my thoughts. I happen to be having about two dozen of mortises to mill shortly.

Here's the handle for my DF500 (installed only when I have lots of mortises to mill horizontally). I carry the machine with both hands, not just with the handle as the plane handle could break off at the bottom.