Price of dominoes

[Jim Dwight]

For me the key tool for making lose tenons is my little lunchbox planer. I get the thickness dialed in and I have good sticks of tenon material. I check after the first piece so I don't waste all the pieces by making them too thin. I table saw width then round edges on the router table. Takes less time than driving to the store to buy some. If I had to hand plane them or depend on cutting to exact thickness on the table saw I'd probably buy them.

[Jeff Heil]

You all are making me feel guilty for just buying dominos instead of making them myself. I bought the assortment kit with my domino and just try to keep them in stock. In my mind, the dominos are a consumable like biscuits used to be when I used the biscuit jointer more frequently, and like glue brushes, rubber gloves and other shop supplies. I appreciate the insight into the different methods that have been described to make them easily.

[Jim Becker]

That's how I am, Jeff. I bought the assortments to get started and as I noted in my original reply to this thread, I now buy the 750mm long stock for the sizes I use the most because it gets me what I need at a better unit cost for these consumables and also delivers some length flexibility that has come in very handy for certain projects. Biscuits, dowels and other types of fasteners all cost money, too. And I'd rather be working on my projects than mass producing tenon stock. Some of the reasons I chose Domino was because of speed and accuracy. Making my own stock kills the speed factor. I would do that, however, if there was a project specific reason, for example, such as wanting a visible exposure of the end of the tenon to be of a particular species.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Always make me scratch my head when guys shell out $1000-$1500 on a tool that saves time/labor and then worry about the cost of consumables.

But, you say, 40-50 cents for a little piece of wood is a bit excessive?

May be, but isn’t a grand plus for a glorified drill / router also excessive?

I work for a non-profit that teaches woodworking to at-risk youth. This one was donated to the shop. I love it because of the safety factor. It is not impossible, but doggone hard to injure yourself with it. It is simple to use, and the students learn about tenoned joinery with it.

After getting to use it, I plan to buy one for my personal shop. Time is money. Yes, I think it is over-priced, but since they have the patent, this is the only option. I build a lot
of doors and it pays for itself really quick.

[John TenEyck]

Since most domino joints involve one side which is cross grain, the best choice of material is one with the lowest available expansion/contraction, not the project wood. Thus the choice of beech for dominos.

And the other side is long grain to long grain, where mis-matched expansion/contraction will occur with any species other than the wood used for the project. Traditional M&T joints have always had cross grain wood, yet somehow they survive. Using a more stable wood for loose tenons may improve the cross grain side situation to the detriment of the long grain side. I think if you stay within the generally accepted size limits for M&T joints it matters little which wood is used.

John

[mreza Salav]

I am surprised I am in the minority (buying them instead of making) even though I'm not a pro. I mostly use the 5 and 6mm ones and I buy them in large quantities (still have a lot left from the 1800 package I bought a few years ago for my cabinet project). The rest of the sizes I rarely use (rare enough that the amount came in the package of assorted domino sizes is still there).

[Jim Becker]

mreza, I don't believe you are actually in the minority on this one...other than, perhaps, responders to a particular thread.

[Alan Lightstone]

I would do that, however, if there was a project specific reason, for example, such as wanting a visible exposure of the end of the tenon to be of a particular species.

LOL. Every time I've had a visible exposure of one was because of a mistake.

I just buy them. No way I would take the time to cut them.

That being said, I bought the original assortment and still haven't needed to buy any additional ones, so my use certainly isn't massive.

[Dan Cameron]

And the other side is long grain to long grain, where mis-matched expansion/contraction will occur with any species other than the wood used for the project. Traditional M&T joints have always had cross grain wood, yet somehow they survive. Using a more stable wood for loose tenons may improve the cross grain side situation to the detriment of the long grain side. I think if you stay within the generally accepted size limits for M&T joints it matters little which wood is used.

John

But the two sides of the joint are,in a sense, in series. So to strengthen the weaker side at the expense of the stronger is in the right direction to satisfy the "weakest link" consideration. Orienting the grain of a loose (floating) tenon at 45 degrees to its length would be optimum from an expansion/contraction standpoint.

[Prashun Patel]

I can't help but think this is an academic discussion. I've never had a domino joint fail. Always figured they're so small in the end - even on the DF700 that it just doesn't matter. When doing large, traditional M&T, some recommend splitting the tenon and doing 2 both to strengthen the mortise and to split the expansion of the tenon.

I've used softer wood tenons on harder wood projects and vise versa. Never had an issue.

[Brian Holcombe]

Personally I despise dominos but if things are sized properly I can’t see where there would be much issue, the cross grain side will likely fail before the long grain side and if that is going to be an issue then set aside some if the job material to make floating tenons.

[Jim Dwight]

If you use dominos the size produced by one plunge of the tool they are quite small - around an inch on the big ones and less on the little ones. Expansion/contraction over this sort of distance will be Very small. I see no reason to worry about grain orientation or mismatch of wood species. Even for typical bigger tenons of 3-4 inches, I do not worry about it. We do for breadboard ends but those are measured in feet.

[johnny means]

I'm usually using dozens of Dominoes for a project. To me, cutting them myself is just that many more unnecessary risks cutting small pieces. The price is negligible, and my time does have a value, so I just don't think making nor cutting my own has much of an upside.

[Frank Martin]

I was into floating tenon joinery before Domino came out. I was making my own tenons back then. I purchased a Domino when it first came out. One of the upsides of this was not having to make my own tenons. Compared to overall project costs, domino tenons are negligible. I also do this as a hobby. So, for tasks I don’t enjoy (which includes making tenons) I prefer to spend the money rather than my time.

[Albert Lee]

I feel very guilty now looking at you guys making your own domino.

my Domino supplier(also the biggest in New Zealand) told me I bought so much Domino that the amount I've bought is more than the next 5 guys combined. having said that, if I use so much Domino, do I really have the time to make them?

I wont make my domino for the 6mm or the 8mm Domino, but seriously considering making the 14mm domino.