Using the Domino to attach a stool top to 90° legs

[dance]

Hi

I have a stool top that I want to attach to the uprights which are at a 90° to the top.

I'm wondering how to site the Domino to ensure I have a "reveal" of maybe 2.5cm on the underside of the stool top and that it's bang in the middle of the uprights (18mm).

Am I right that there are two ways of doing this:

one, draw a line on the underside of the top and then reference from the BOTTOM of the Domino and the middle of the mortice will be 10mm above that
two, use the fence to set my distance from the edge?

or is there a smarter, quicker, third way?

THANKS!

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Drawing the line is a must. But, you can reference like I describe in this post.

See photo. That's the center line of the mortise.

 

[mouppe]

Without some sort of fence, you may find that the domino will wriggle under the oscillating pressure of the cutter and you will end up with a messy mortise. If you cannot use the Domino fence- for example if the edge of the stool is round- I would clamp a fence across the underside of the stool where you were intending to draw your line i.e. 10mm below the mortise centre, and push the Domino against that.

Hope I explained myself well
Richard.

 

[fritter63]

Hi

I have a stool top that I want to attach to the uprights which are at a 90° to the top.

I'm wondering how to site the Domino to ensure I have a "reveal" of maybe 2.5cm on the underside of the stool top and that it's bang in the middle of the uprights (18mm).

Am I right that there are two ways of doing this:

one, draw a line on the underside of the top and then reference from the BOTTOM of the Domino and the middle of the mortice will be 10mm above that
two, use the fence to set my distance from the edge?

or is there a smarter, quicker, third way?

THANKS!

I just don't think the domino is the right way to do this. I recently built 5 bar stools and had to deal with the same issue.

Are your stools all PERFECTLY SQUARE and perfectly dimensioned and is the stool top the same? Ie, not even off by a mm? If yes, go head and try this approach.

if not (REALITY) then do what I did:

- Pre-drill the horizontal stretchers on the bases for pocket screws

- put the stool top upside down on your workbench

- put the base to the top (upside down again) and use a starret square (or whatever) set to 2.5 mm to get one side parallel to the base stretcher, clamp on at least two sides

- secure with pocket screws

You'll never see the screw holes, but you can plug them if needed.

Don't forget to account for expansion/contraction of the top. Alternately, you could use the woodcraft metal table top fasteners which allow for movement. You could use the domino to cut the slots for them in the horizontal stretchers.

Now you can remove the top later if it becomes damaged by drunk party women dancing on it on high heels.

 

[Alan m]

i wouldnt directly attach the top like that as it doesnt allow enough room for expansion. what i do is cut a domino into the side of the lower part and make a button that has a little bit sticking out to sit in the hole . then screw that up into the top

 

[RONWEN]

Without some sort of fence, you may find that the domino will wriggle under the oscillating pressure of the cutter and you will end up with a messy mortise. If you cannot use the Domino fence- for example if the edge of the stool is round- I would clamp a fence across the underside of the stool where you were intending to draw your line i.e. 10mm below the mortise centre, and push the Domino against that.

Hope I explained myself well
Richard.

A couple of small strips of self adhere sandpaper (~120 grit) on the face of the Domino will "lock" it in place fairly well.

 

[fritter63]

Table Top Fasteners

[attachimg=#]

 

[dance]

Guys, I'm sorry, it is now clear I should have provided a link to the kind of step stool I'm making:
http://www.buildeazy.com/newserve/step-stool-1.html

it's the above. a very basic, square, design made from pine that I'm going to paint.

I think I should be fine to use the fence to align my mortise.

 

[dance]

In the end I used pocket holes and plugged the holes.  8)

Thanks, all.

 

[fritter63]

In the end I used pocket holes and plugged the holes.  8)

Thanks, all.

[thumbs up]
Now if only my kids would listen to me like hat....

 

[TomGadwa1]

This may be a day late and a dollar short but here is a way to attach a top piece to a side with accuracy that you WERE looking for. Always remember that from the bottom of the domino plate the distance is constant. Thus if you reference off of the BOTTOM of the domino it will produce accurate results. The trick is to draw reference line on the top. Now one can reference the domino from the outside edge of the side with the bottom of the domino. It helps to put vertical marks as well for side to side centering.  The line that was drawn on the top becomes the mark for a fence to be clamped to. Now the domino bottom can reference off of the fence and center off of the vertical mark. I did this with a table top and it worked flawlessly.

Side view of Tabletop

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Looking up the side

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Close up. Do you see any fasteners?

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Looking across the top.

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Another side view.

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Doing it this way there is no evidence of joinery being used. I used six dominos total to hold the top on the table and it seems to be very stable. Also remember to hold the domino very firmly so it will not walk away from the mark while plunging the mortise. Yet another way to creatively use the fantastic domino machine.

 

[dance]

Hi Tom, given that I'm now making the stool again, I'm interested in avoiding pocket holes this time and using the Domino. I'm struggling to comprehend the instructions you've given, though. Any chance of a rudimentary sketch? No worries if you don't have time, I'll live. 

Thanks!