Domino newbie

[Jim German]

I finally succumbed to all the praise for the Festool Domino and picked one up a few days ago. I've been looking around for a "beginner's guide to the Domino" sort of thing, but besides for the PDFs on the festool site I haven't seen much. Has anyone seen such a thing?

Also I was wondering how folks do dry fit checks with the domino, I tried doing that, but the dominos are quite difficult to remove, and using pliers frequently wrecks the domino.

[Matt Meiser]

I've never really seen a guide beyond the PDFs you mentioned.

Some people lightly sand the sides of some Dominoes and mark them for fitting. I haven't seen the need myself. I have a small pair of lock joint pliers that grips them firmly and pops them right out. Related, make sure you glue the domino slots. Don't try to cheat and only glue the Domino or you find that your joints don't hold because the glue will get scraped off.

I've found a few neat uses. One is Domino drawers which are pretty strong and have a unique look. I used them on this dresser (in fact all the joinery on it is Dominoes.) Another of my own creation is using the domino to create a slot for a covered screw to allow for wood movement. Edited to add--someone added another tip to the end of that second thread that I had forgotten about too.

[Rodger Kanis]

Google "Festool Owners Group" and head over their forum. You will find a wealth of information their regarding your Domino and all Festool tools.

-Rodger

[Jim Tobias]

Jim,
I feel your pain. When I first got my Domino a couple of years ago, I went through the same issues.http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ers&highlight= Finally figured out that if i put some Dominoes in the microwave for about 2 minutes, it takes some of the moisture out and shrinks them down to a better (not so tight that you can't get them out) fit. I now do this and seal them in a plastic bag with some of those "dehumidification gel packets". Then they are ready to use when I need them.

Jim

[David Wong]

I will either shave a few dominos with a hand plane for dry fitting, or use a hammer and pound the domino on the sides to compress it. I still try to get a tight fit with these dominos. With the compressed dominos, I usually have to use a plier to get them out, but I can reuse them for the glue-up.

[Joe Adams]

The biggest problem I had was learning to grip the tool correctly for consistent mortises. One hand grips the front knob and pushes downward and the other grips the very back of the tool where the cord connects and pushes straight in.

Be sure to use a vacuum for chip removal. It doesn't have to be a Festool but you need something. I use a Shop Vac with an adapter.

Get some glue paddles from Woodcraft. They are the best method I have found for getting down in the mortises.

I would recommend sanding a few Dominos and marking them with a Sharpie to keep around for dry fitting.

If all else fails, call Festool. They have great customer support.

[Chris Tsutsui]

A while back I made a negative comment about how the domino was very tight fitting and it wasn't adjustable. My post was deleted by Chris Padilla who said the "width" was adjustable. lol

Well, the only way the thickness could be adjustable is if you plunged, raised the height a hair, then plunged again. Otherwise it's going to be a tight fit like you said and pliers may chew up the domino to get it out.

I never thought to sand the domino to allow easier dry fitting. I thought that it's ideal to not modify the domino so that when glue is added, it expands and helps to hold the joint. Maybe a set of color coded "sanded down" dominos will be good for dryfitting. Then when you're ready to glue, you take out the sanded down dominos out and replace them with regular ones.

[eugene thomas]

not to get off the topick but was your first though after useing it. why did i wait so long to get this tool...............

[Jay Jolliffe]

I sanded down a bunch of dominos for dry fit & marked them. There is a book I got from Amazon called Festool Essentials..The Domino DF500 Joining System. It has a lot of good stuff in it.

[Joe Adams]

not to get off the topick but was your first though after useing it. why did i wait so long to get this tool...............

There is a learning curve in terms of feed rate and proper control of the tool. After my first use, I thought "why did I buy this tool?"

After I did some research and figured out What I was doing wrong, I thought "Man, I love this tool."

[Larry Fox]

There is an excellent article out there on the Domino by Jerry Work. I believe it is called "Getting the most from your Festool Domino". I have a copy of it printed out and keep it in my Domino systainer and look at it once in a while when I have a question. As to the dry fit question, I just use them as they are and pull them out with a set of Klien lineman's pliers. They seem to come out pretty easily and don't tear up the Domino. Once in a while there is one that is really tight but that is the exception.

[Kevin Stricker]

My only advice is to not dry fit 5mm dominos, it's the smaller ones that are the toughest to remove. Instead once you have made the mortice in both pieces go ahead and glue the domino into one side and wipe off the squeeze out. Wait a few minutes and now you have a standard mortice and tenon to work with/dry fit. You can always make fit corrections on the other mortice.

Domino glue ups can be a lot of work, so by doing this extra step you have cut the time it takes in half. For larger more complicated projects I think this step is necessary, once you get in the habit it becomes second nature and you will do it for most everything.

One other little trick I picked up is blind pinning dominos with a 23ga or 18ga nailer when possible. Check out half inch shy to see the tests but it makes the joint quite a bit stronger.

[Scot Ferraro]

Another option is to take a chisel or razor blade and cut the thin sliver of wood on the side edge of each Domino -- it takes a few seconds and give you some extra wiggle room. On tight fitting ones when dry fitting sometimes you have to use pliers or as others suggest, keep a set that are sanded for dry fitting purposes. It is a great machine.

Scot

[Joe Adams]

Another tip I picked up is to always use the slightly looser setting for cutting your mortises rather than the one for the tightest fit. This protects you from complete disaster during assembly if you had a previously unnoticed minor alignment error when cutting the mortises. (Don't ask me how I know this.)

[Matt Meiser]

Another option is to take a chisel or razor blade and cut the thin sliver of wood on the side edge of each Domino -- it takes a few seconds and give you some extra wiggle room.

Or even just drag them across some 80 grit. They are so thin on the ends, a couple swipes makes a big difference. And now sharp items are close to your fingers.