festool domino sizes

[frank shic]

i've just ordered one of these babies and i'm wondering what size dominos most people are using. i plan to be using it mostly for furniture so i was thinking about going with the 8mm x 50mm dominos so that i could use the 10mm wide setting to allow for some slop when assembling the joint.

[Gary Keedwell]

There's more information then you can shake a stick at over at the Festool owners site. They probably have about 15,000 posts on the domino.;)
Gary

[Jesse Cloud]

Hey Frank,
You can get into a heated argument on this one, but IMHO, dominoes are just like other tenons. You want the thickness of the tenon to be 1/3 to 1/2 of the thickness of the workpiece. Longer is better. As dominoes aren't very wide, plan on using multiple dominoes to fill out the width of say an apron.

If your stock is 3/4 inches thick, or about 19mm, then a 6mm or 8mm domino should work fine.

Gary's advice is right on - check out festoolownersgroup.com, especially the posts by Jerry Work.

Happy dominoing!!

[frank shic]

thanks, it looks like the 8 x 40 is the most commonly used one. can't wait for it to show up next week. if it arrives while my wife is out of the house, i'll be even happier!

[James Phillips]

Get the assortment -- $200 well spent

[Tom Cowie]

Nice Frank

I'm waiting till spring to get the Domino and I'll be eager to here which size you like for most of your projects.

Tom

[Dan Forman]

If you are careful, you won't need to set a wider slot for slop factor. Even using a pencil line and aligning the machine by eye, I haven't had a problem with fit. If on a rare occasion you do, you can always trim the tenon a little where needed, rather than making all of the mortices too large. This happened to me only one time, and that was using the outrigger to space the mortices.

If you work with plywood, you will want some to the smallest size, as the strenth of the ply is much weaker than solid wood. You will want as much material in the mortise wall as possible. Since there is relatively good strength in the "edge" glue bond in ply, the domino is more for alignment than anthing else.

Dan

[Brice Burrell]

I find the 6mm domino tenons to be the most usefull to me. I use then in 3/4" ply and solid stock. I just did a write up on my site about using the Domino to make cabinet carcasses, do a search for BurrellCustomCarpentry, amd go to my how to page, good luck.

[frank shic]

brice, i had a simply LOVELY time on your site just now. thanks for all the advice!

http://www.burrellcustomcarpentry.com/

[Brad Olson]

$240 for the domino assortment is a good deal because you get the cutters with it

As for sizes, I use the smallest a lot (5 mm) and the 8 mm. I have been surprised that I have not even used the 10 mm at all.

Just don't forget your tenon rules when using the machine, the tight fit of the dominoes can trick you.

[frank shic]

brad, what tenon rules are you talking about? 1/2 vs 1/3? double vs single?

[Brad Olson]

~1/3 thickness tennons, and you also need the equivalent total tenon width which means that you will be using 2-3 dominoes in place of a regular tenon.

A lot of people get allured into thinking they can use fewer dominoes because they fit so tight, but this is wrong.

[Greg Cole]

Congrats on the stealth gloat Frank.
I'm still peering over the festool ledge, not quite ready to leap....... but Christmas will come & go before I know it & I should have another 1/4'ly commission check after the 1st of the year with "nothing" planned for it....LOLOL
Did you buy from Uncle Bob?
Of course we do expect some feedback after you sneak it in the house off the big brown truck. Just tell your LOYL that Santa didn't have room on his sleigh so he shipped your systainer & domi early....:D

Greg

[frank shic]

brad, thanks for the advice. i'll keep it in mind.

greg, i did purchase from uncle bob. immediately that same day i got a message from him asking me if i needed any tenons to go along with it! nice to know that he's paying attention. BTW i've promised myself not to purchase ANY tools for the next month either online, at home depot's or craigslist to keep the damage to a minimum! :D

[Greg Cole]

Frank,
What the hell, if you think you're in trouble with LOYL... might as well make sure it's big trouble & keep shopping? :eek:
I have a diabolical propensity to make sure I really deserve it if I'm going to get hell for something(s). :D I've tried pretty hard a few times and managed to escape unscathed every time, although at work I've managed to incite the guy in the corner office a few times.....
I am blessed with the lack of friction in regards to hobby spending (not paying daycare at $750 a month was a big "raise" in the hobby fund too!).
Uncle Bob rocks from all accounts, and I've yet to send him a dime. Good customer service is something that makes or breaks. When I do leap off the festool cliff, I'll be in Bob's direction.

Greg

[John Stevens]

Ditto on what others have said about keeping the tenon about 1/3 the thickness of the stock into which it'll be inserted, with one modification. Rick Christopherson's manual on the Domino recommends going with less than 1/3 thickness for softer materials like ply. So, for example, nominal 3/4" ply is 18mm thick, and you'd use a 5mm tenon instead of 6mm. This reduces the risk of the tenon breaking through the sides of the mortises. BTW, the 5mm dominos are surprisingly strong, and I've been going through them like candy. I would never have guessed that they would be the ones I use most often, but they are, hands down.

Also ditto on Brad Olson's recommendation to get the packages of assorted tenons and cutters--it's a good value. FWIW, I've used almost all of the 10mm tenons for utility shelves in my basement, which were built from 2x4 lumber.

Regards,

John

[Justin Bukoski]

Frank, buy the assortment. In the few short months I've had mine I've used every size. The great thing about the Domino is that start finding uses for it that you didn't think about before.

[Brice Burrell]

brice, i had a simply LOVELY time on your site just now. thanks for all the advice!

http://www.burrellcustomcarpentry.com/

Farank, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think you are going to love the Domino.

[Rob Wright]

Frank - does this mean you will be getting rid of that sweet porter cable pocket hole cutter? I mentioned it first if you are!:D - R

[frank shic]

Frank - does this mean you will be getting rid of that sweet porter cable pocket hole cutter? I mentioned it first if you are!:D - R

haha, good memory rob! i'm still using the pocket cutter for face and easy face frame applications but you'll be the first in line if i ever do sell it. check your local craigslist - i got mine for $450!

[Greg Cole]

Frank,
I look at my local CL a few times daily... everyone else must live in areas with better WW related deals, cause most of what I see is black n decker level "woodworking tools". Never anything worth looking into seems like....
I've stumbled upon some lumber at great prices though..... and just got a #6 from Sarge Thompson today from SMC Classifieds.:D No need to post another pic of it on the Creek though (one in classifieds is 'nuff).
Speaking of #6... of to fettle said #6.

Greg

[Jeff Booth]

I also bought the assortment with the cutters, it is a deal. I figured once I am in for 7 on the machine, I would get every possible option for it because I might as well get the most out of it. So far that has been a good strategy, but I also have found that I am making the most joints using the 6mm tenons. I guess that is because I am using a lot of ~19mm thick wood.

I love the fence that holds narrow boards for end grain mortises (that was the prime motivator to buy it because I have a project that could not be accomplished with something as wide as a #0 biscuit). Actually I love the Domino, the fit and finish as compared to my DW682 is like night and day. The ability to repeatably position it on workpieces is great.

Plus the machine is all metric, added bonus. This has been my first Festool purchase, but I could well imagine a Festool router finding its way into my lineup. So far I have been pretty heavy on Bosch tools (because I work for Bosch and get a discount, and because the are usually pretty good). But Festool has outgermaned Bosch :eek: in a big big way ........

[Jeffrey Schronce]

i plan to be using it mostly for furniture so i was thinking about going with the 8mm x 50mm dominos so that i could use the 10mm wide setting to allow for some slop when assembling the joint.

The Domino comes with the 5mm bit so might as well pick up one of the smaller packs of 5mm to have on hand. I do use them from time to time, but the large box quantity of 5mm is like 1800 or so.

I agree that the 8mm x 50 mm is the way to go but I don't understand your "slop" comment. I think you are confused. The widest cutter setting is the width of the tennon of choice PLUS either +6 or +10 mm. Example : you put 8mm bit in and set width to 10mm then the slot will be 18mm. A 10mm bit wit 10mm sitting will have 20 mm opening.

I use my Domino daily. Mostly 5mm, 8mm and random 10mm

Edit: Oh ya, forgot . . .. best Domino Manual Ever . . . http://www.bobmarinosbesttools.com/docs/Unreleased-Domino.pdf

[frank shic]

i stopped into rockler earlier this evening on my way home from work and was a little disappointed to find that they did not sell either the 8mm domino bit OR the domino packages individually so after a couple seconds of hand-wringing, i bought the tenon and cutter assortment. i hope you're all happy now... because i know i will when i start using this little puppy! :D