Domino, Domino, everywhere a Domino

[Edward Weber]

Hello Edward,
I don't know if this is a good example but here goes - A friend of mine is an excellent craftsman designer. Most of his work involves exposed joinery.
He has a chair line where the back post is joined to the crest rail with a through tenon that is flushed and exposed on the side of the back post. The way he fabricates this joint is to cut the pieces to size and precise angle, then clamp them together (imagine the crest rail clamped between the back posts a/k/a back legs) then he cuts the mortise through both pieces with the Domino to form the joint. The result is a nicely centered mortise which will receive a through tenon that he mills from solid stock.
I thought it was a creative solution and the finished chair is beautiful. He's a guy that's in business so he needs to find ways to do things efficiently and get first rate product out the door.

The alternative would be to cut the tenons on the end of the curved crest rail and precisely mortise the back posts to receive them, which I think is much more time consuming and complicated.

I hate to use the word "better". This is just one example of where the Domino offered a creative solution.

In my shop I have cut mortises and tenons by hand, used a plunge router with a jig, and recently began using the PantoRouter. This particular joint example would have been much more difficult with these methods. In fact, it might be why I rarely see chairs made with through tenons for that particular crest rail joint.

Thank you very much

[Edward Weber]

A creative use of a gizmo is Joe. Hes used a Hoffman dovetail machine in mitred mouldings on doors. There are approaches to make mitres a bit better. Joes use of the Hoffman is excellent as now pulling the mitre together tight under pre load for its life. Hes not finding a time saving way in that case hes adding time using a gizmo to make a certain joint even better. Ill call that creative and better.

Dont have a domino and not cause of cost if I make a beaded face frame I make it mortise and tennon, not domino and more so not pocket hole. I don't care if it takes longer its how it was done and I care more about that. I have to learn to be faster and more efficient and do it how I want.

Thank you as well Warren

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have a Powermatic hollow chisel mortiser, a Domino 500 and a Domino 700. The mortiser is very lonely. Loose tenons are exceptionally strong. I worked in a shop making doors, and we had a stationary loose tenon cutter. It was huge. It had air powered hold-downs. I now have my own shop and am in the middle of making 26 doors for a hotel. We are using the Domino 700 and it’s much easier than when I was using the stationary machine.

Im not a Festool fan, but they have the patent, so here I am.

[Warren Lake]

shops ran large tennon heads and cope and stick and tennon in one pass. They wouldnt waste time on a domino and loose tennons.

[Warren Lake]

I think the last door only shop I was in ran a CNC that did all the machining and likely have a photo in another computer. Know I saw one company at one of the shows and talking to the owner he told me he had a 500k tennon machine. I think there were cross grain grooves cut in the tennons to hold glue even better. .

[Jon Grider]

I like mine and use it frequently. I don't take offence if anyone else doesn't like them though. My HCM and TS tenoning jig don't get used nearly as much as they used to. For me it's about time. If it's about hand sawing and chisel work for others go for it, and you can have a bit of deserved smugness that your work takes more skill. That's OK. For me I just can't use 10 to 15 minutes on a hand cut rail and stile joint.

[Kevin Jenness]

As someone who has made a living building custom cabinets, millwork and furniture I just don't see why Domino joiners should be controversial. I have a 500 and have used the 700 in employment, and have a Steton slot mortiser and a small hollow chisel machine. There are many ways to skin cats. I believe in using the simplest and most efficient joinery to get the job done well with the equipment at hand. There's no question in my mind that it's easier to make a clean butt joint with a spline tenon than an integral m&t joint with 4 shoulders all lining up perfectly - not that isn't the right joint to use in some situations - and I don't believe there is a significant difference in strength in most situatioins.

I have built architectural doors for nearly 40 years using spline tenons and have not yet seen a joint fail. Spline tenons work well in combination with cope and stick cutters on smaller shapers. If you are specializing in door work you will probably want to invest in heavier tenoning equipment and an oscillating mortiser or a heavy hollow chisel mortiser. I'll never get rid of my stationary mortiser as it is so versatile for frame work, allowing for boring and mortising with larger bits, but for a small shop doing a variety of work a Domino 700 and a medium duty shaper can manage pretty much any door work at a reasonable cost.

What makes the Domino design worthwhile? For one thing, it's very useful for cabinet work. It can plunge into the face of a wide panel to make tee joints as well as corner joints, and like a Lamello the standard, well-fitted splines available save considerable time over making your own, yet it is not limited to the standard sizes- you can cut overlapping mortises and make your own splines to fit the project requirements. The mortises are very accurate and consistent and symmetrical around the machine's center marks. It is easy to bring the Domino to large pieces that are too heavy or unwieldy for some medium duty stationary machines. I still use a biscuit joiner a lot, but if I had to choose only one slot cutter I could get by pretty well with a large Domino machine.

There are situations where it doesn't work so well, for instance narrow section frame work like windows or chairs where the tenons need to be full width of the rail or nearly so, or through tenon joints where the design calls for a square-ended slot. For most work though, unless you insist on handwork or traditional integral tenons the Domino machines are a good value for producing strong accurate joints for both frame and carcass work.

[Warren Lake]

sure ill get one one day if I need one or see a use for it.

I likely got the lamello over 40 years ago then a second one along the way. I worked for a crazy austrian guy and he was the first shop where I ever saw one. One man in a 12,000 foot shop that could not keep employees for more than 2 -3 weeks. I lasted 9 months putting up with his crap hoping to learn more till we had a fight over moose hunting. Him all serious about how difficult it was and me why the moose doesnt have a gun. Wrong answer. I think I lasted a few weeks more after that not sure we even spoke. What a character, real live master not self appointed title like some. Same time he was the biggest fraud work wise. Even scammed an aspect of work for an ex president. Good I got out of there he threw knives at least twice and remember finding one in the spray booth. He even knew and insulted the best cabinetmaker I ever met and when I told him he turned red and laughed and said yeah but not to my face.

Oh yeah domino. Never know always depends on the work. Worst case was buying a machine half way through a job to complete it and then not using it again so far.

[Larry Edgerton]

Interesting discussion. I guess because I have a morticing machine and the ability to make long tenons on the shaper I never really looked at the Domino as anything other than a solution for odd situations. I am going to try some of the uses I have seen in here as I am getting old and taking a lightweight machine to a heavy part is more appealing that manhandling heavy stock. I like Derick's use for larger tenons except I would probably split them in two with a bridge in the middle. That little locator jig is cool.

I bought it for narrow styles and rails but it was not as accurate as I had hoped so went back to the shaper/morticer and it has been mostly gathering dust. I will have to try to use it more.

[jack duren]

It has its positives and its negatives..

[Keith Hankins]

I had one when it first came out. Nice, but not practical in smaller areas. Sold it for what i paid for it and bought floor model M&T

[mike johnston]

It’s not necessarily about the domino. It’s about how many green boxes you have in the back ground of your YouTube videos

please hit the like button and subscribe

[Bryan Hall]

It’s not necessarily about the domino. It’s about how many green boxes you have in the back ground of your YouTube videos

please hit the like button and subscribe

Call me crazy but I hate those green boxes my tools go in drawers or on shelves, those boxes are a nightmare for me.

I find I generally use a biscuit joiner or my lamello joiner far more than the domino. I'm sure it all relates to what type of work you are doing.

[Warren Lake]

some people sing about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiDcPUOD-vY

[Justin Rapp]

Problem is the price of the Domino. If you can get payed for it, it’s okay, if now it’s kinda a waste..

Why does it always have to do with money? From a production standpoint where labor costs are involved, if it makes sense for the business owner, fine. However, from a hobbyist standpoint, if you have the means and enjoy using the tool, regardless if it's or a Festool Domino or a $550 hand plane from Lie Nielsen vs a home-made jig and 69 ryobi router or a used rusty no-name hand plane picked up at a garage sale, if you enjoy using it, go for it.