Festool Dominos ?

[tim walker]

So I am putting together a panel that will have dominos. The panels are all 12.95 mm thick give or take a few hundredths of a mm. When I assemble the boards are not lining up properly, laterally they are, but when dry fitted the faces are not coplanar. What am I doing wrong?

[Jim Becker]

Are you indexing from the same faces? (In most cases I always use the top, 'show' face for this)

Is the material thick enough that the Domino machine isn't inadvertently touching the workbench that the material is sitting on?

Are you holding the Domino machine in a way that keeps the flat face of the fence flat on the material during the plunge?

[tim walker]

I think so but will RE-evaluate. Stock is 12.9 mm or slightly over 1/2”. I assume maybe I shouldn’t have it on a flat surface unless overhanging.

[Michael Burnside]

I would recommend you watch YouTube videos from Festool USA, in particular those done by Sedge. He is a great instructor and after about 60 minutes you'll be an expert. My guess is that the reference faces got mixed up when you were using the tool or you actually had the domino sitting on your work bench and the plate wasn't actually referencing the surface because it was just slightly above. Ask me how I know about the bench one :P

Could be just user error or maybe the plate moved because it wasn't tightened down, but after watching those videos beginning-to-end, you'll basically be an expert in figuring out what went wrong.

[Jim Dwight]

Good suggestions. It also matters how much difference you are seeing and how much warp you are asking the dominos to remove. They are wood and won't remove a lot of warp without distorting themselves but if the boards are reasonably flat then it is likely you were not referencing the face when you plunged. Easy to do, especially on thin stock.

[Jim Morgan]

For perfect joints, the mortises have to be cut perpendicular to the edge (or parallel to the face). Most of the mass of the Domino is hanging out in space, and it is easy to tilt it slightly up or down, which will cause the joint to be offset. Particularly with the DX700, this can be overcome by holding and pushing from the bottom of the rear of the tool, rather than using the handle.

[Jim Becker]

^^ This is true. It's also why some of the third party auxiliary fences, like TSO, are popular because they provide a positive hand-hold to help keep that machine flat on the board while using the "ever popular hip thrust" motion to do the plunge. This leads to a lot more accuracy. All of this is honestly "human factor", rather than the machine. Honestly, this same challenge exists with biscuit joinery, too, but there is often a little more slop there so we might not notice it quite as much unless using the higher end machines and modern non-wood fasteners.

[John Kananis]

Honestly, this same challenge exists with biscuit joinery, too, but there is often a little more slop there so we might not notice it quite as much unless using the higher end machines and modern non-wood fasteners.

This exactly. Anyone coming from using a biscuit joiner "should" be able to take the same principles and apply them to a Domino machine. And I don't remember a much material out there on how to use one back in the day. Watch sedge - as annoying as he can be, he actually knows his stuff.

[George Yetka]

Put weight on only the front knob in a downward and inward direction keeping the fence perfectly on the wood(top and side). Then use very little force to slowly let the tool make the cut. Early on with mine I forced the tool and it would cause the tool to walk a little and caused bad joints. With this method ive put together tables that required a very light sanding if anything.

[tim walker]

Duh on me. I thought I had the plate referenced on the face but it really wasnt along the length of the board. Made sure fr remaining slots that the plate was flat against reference side and it worked perfectly Thanks all.

[Michael Burnside]

Yea that mistake I don't make all to often anymore, but from time-to-time, I get one that is slightly misaligned. This is because I'm "man handling" the tool and/or going too fast. For me, and I think Sedge goes over this, the key is to push the Domino from the end where the plug is connected. This prevents me from tilting the tool at the last minute before I plunge. I also use a Domiplate 90% of the time, which I find a bit more stable

[andrew whicker]

Festool domino and sawstop tablesaw. Two patented tools that need to get into the "free market " asap

: )