Woodpeckers Story Stick: Positioning Dominos

[Steven Owen]

Do you guys feel the Woodpeckers story stick would be useful for marking the locations of dominos on longer boards and sheets?  Do you think there’s other tools and methods that would work better with the same level of repeatability for jointing multiple boards/sheets?

 

[peter halle]

A couple of scraps and pencil marks work just as well and save a bunch of money.  Other than a tight domino at one end all the others could be at the middle position which allows for inconsistencies.  If glue ups are difficult or numerous dominoes are required one board could be mortised with the tight settings, the dominoes glued in there and then the other board would have one tight at an end and the rest cut with the middle setting.

Peter

 

[ChuckM]

A couple of scraps and pencil marks work just as well and save a bunch of money. 
Peter

I have built many pieces with the DF500, using exactly your approach.

Anyone who wants to spend THEIR money on whatever after-market jigs and accessories, be my guest. But I WILL not spend a dime on any Domino related after-market products out there, because I can build anything I want without any of them. 

"Less is more" when it comes to building with my DF500.

 

[nclemmons]

I have the 48" story stick and use it for numerous tasks - drawer alignment, domino placement, and as a long straightedge.  It's also useful for other measuring tasks - interior dividers on deep cabinets. placement of 32mm holes, etc. 

One reason I like it for Domino placement is that I can leave it set up and remember where I put Dominos on glue-ups so when trimming those oversize glue-ups I don't cut into the dominos.  Particularly helpful on things like tabletops.  Don't ask how I know!

 

[Cheese]

If glue ups are difficult or numerous dominoes are required one board could be mortised with the tight settings, the dominoes glued in there and then the other board would have one tight at an end and the rest cut with the middle setting.

This is exactly what I do, the only difference being that I keep the 2 tight mortises in the center of the board while the remaining mortises on the left and right side of the board are cut with the middle setting.

 

[Steven Owen]

If glue ups are difficult or numerous dominoes are required one board could be mortised with the tight settings, the dominoes glued in there and then the other board would have one tight at an end and the rest cut with the middle setting.

This is exactly what I do, the only difference being that I keep the 2 tight mortises in the center of the board while the remaining mortises on the left and right side of the board are cut with the middle setting.

Until I purchase the DF 700, I’m stuck with a Jessem Dowel Jig. You can’t be out by a mm and be forgiven with dowel.  I’m guessing the glue would fill in the extra space.

 

[Cheese]

Until I purchase the DF 700, I’m stuck with a Jessem Dowel Jig. You can’t be out by a mm and be forgiven with dowel.  I’m guessing the glue would fill in the extra space.

Actually, I'm struck by how precise the DF 500 can be in the placement of mortices. On a number of occasions I've joined boards using the narrow setting on every one of the 8 or so mortices. You just have to be very careful marking the boards and making the mortices. 

 

[Timtool]

[quote author=Steven Owen
Do you guys feel the Woodpeckers story stick would be useful for marking the locations of dominos on longer boards and sheets?  Do you think there’s other tools and methods that would work better with the same level of repeatability for jointing multiple boards/sheets?
[/quote]

I use mine that way, don't regret buying them (600 and 1200mm) I use it mostly for positioning wooden drawer slides and marking traverses. I check on my plan and set the jig accordingly, that way it's really hard to make mistakes and every marking is consistent especially when you have a batch of cabinets to mark.

 

[Steven Owen]

[quote author=Steven Owen
Do you guys feel the Woodpeckers story stick would be useful for marking the locations of dominos on longer boards and sheets?  Do you think there’s other tools and methods that would work better with the same level of repeatability for jointing multiple boards/sheets?

I use mine that way, don't regret buying them (600 and 1200mm) I use it mostly for positioning wooden drawer slides and marking traverses. I check on my plan and set the jig accordingly, that way it's really hard to make mistakes and every marking is consistent especially when you have a batch of cabinets to mark.
[/quote]

I see the value in the story stick for people doing repetive marking on mutiple pieces.  If you had 4 or more identical sized pieces the story stick alllows you to mark them all the same with absolute accuracy.  If you need to flat pack something for a client or for someone else to assemble, you can rely on them to assemble it the same way you did. 

You pretty much have to make direction that are clear and written in stone for the cabinet to be assembled onsite. 

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Last week I needed to cut lots of grooves for sliding dovetails in some cabinets I'm making.  They needed to match from side to side dead accurately and be square.  I used the WP story stick and they came out great.

Peter's right though, Its trivial to make your own from scrap.  Another advantage of that method is that you can make notes on the stick to remind you of depth of cut, etc.

BTW, I have an older version of the stick.  Seems to be only minor differences, though.

 

[Steven Owen]

Last week I needed to cut lots of grooves for sliding dovetails in some cabinets I'm making.  They needed to match from side to side dead accurately and be square.  I used the WP story stick and they came out great.

Peter's right though, Its trivial to make your own from scrap.  Another advantage of that method is that you can make notes on the stick to remind you of depth of cut, etc.

BTW, I have an older version of the stick.  Seems to be only minor differences, though.

I can see Story stuck being useful with something like the Jessem Dowel Jig.  I find the process of using a pin in a the previous dowel as reference can be out by as much as a 16th of an inch sometimes forcing you to widen the dowel hole to align the dowel.

Dowels are far from forgiving when you widen the hole.  The joint looses some strength.

 

[sancho57]

I had a WP story stick then gave it away. I use the fence from my MFT and flag stops as a story stick I got about 10 or so flag stops now.

 

[J0hn]

Woodpecker's story stick is a great tool.  I have the 96" version and it was money well spent.

I try to minimize 'user error' as much as possible - like misreading a tape measure or marking the line wrong.  The story stick makes it a no brainer.  And, since it comes in (3) pieces, it can be used for different  things - straight edges, etc

The only thing I was disappointed in - is the endcap.  Being from Woodpecker I expected it to be machined aluminum, but it is plastic.  Of course you can use a scrap piece of wood, but if your the kind of person who buys Festool and Woodpecker stuff - why would you want to?

 

[Steven Owen]

Woodpecker's story stick is a great tool.  I have the 96" version and it was money well spent.

I try to minimize 'user error' as much as possible - like misreading a tape measure or marking the line wrong.  The story stick makes it a no brainer.  And, since it comes in (3) pieces, it can be used for different  things - straight edges, etc

The only thing I was disappointed in - is the endcap.  Being from Woodpecker I expected it to be machined aluminum, but it is plastic.  Of course you can use a scrap piece of wood, but if your the kind of person who buys Festool and Woodpecker stuff - why would you want to?

That’s a odd cost cutting measure for company that obsesses about a 1/1000 of an inch.  Their nearest competitor is Incra.  Incra doesn’t have anywhere near the number of tools in their line-up.

 

[J0hn]

I agree and it really surprised me.  Usually, if it comes from Woodpecker and it's red...

I should add that I also have their 36" story stick, which is a lot narrower and it does have an aluminum end cap and the cross pieces are metal

 

[Steven Owen]

I agree and it really surprised me.  Usually, if it comes from Woodpecker and it's red...

I should add that I also have their 36" story stick, which is a lot narrower and it does have an aluminum end cap and the cross pieces are metal

Every once and a while Woodpeckers misses something.  They could have used stainless or aluminum for the edge.  Is the end piece at least phenolic? 

 

[thudchkr]

I agree and it really surprised me.  Usually, if it comes from Woodpecker and it's red...

I should add that I also have their 36" story stick, which is a lot narrower and it does have an aluminum end cap and the cross pieces are metal

Every once and a while Woodpeckers misses something.  They could have used stainless or aluminum for the edge.  Is the end piece at least phenolic?

Just plastic. Decent plastic, but definitely a long ways from their typical machined aluminum, or stainless

Clint