Author Topic: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately  (Read 7674 times)

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Offline T. Ernsberger

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Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« on: April 27, 2021, 09:17 PM »
I had knives made from Moulding Knifes Direct to make dominos on the William Hussey moulder. The results are just as good as Festool’s.  Now I can run my scrap to make dominos.  I made $300-400 in dominos in about hour and half.  Just use my name when ordering from Moulding Knifes and they can retrieve my file.  I believe it’s $68 for a set of knives delivered to my door.  I tried uploading the video and the size it to big to post.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COC_z9ujwvm/?igshid=92msekp5ojdw

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Offline DynaGlide

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2021, 09:47 PM »
I saw this when you posted on IG. Very cool.
Instagram @matts.garage

Offline T. Ernsberger

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2021, 09:55 PM »
I saw this when you posted on IG. Very cool.

Thanks Matt,

Offline vkumar

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2021, 10:21 PM »
Very cool Matt.  Does the lip in the middle interfere with anything? Or does it help in assembly?

Vijay
Vijay Kumar

Offline MikkelF

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #4 on: April 28, 2021, 05:47 AM »
Brilliant idea! 

Offline Steve1

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #5 on: April 28, 2021, 07:54 AM »
Cool.

I suppose one could also make them on a router table with a round-over bit.   Anybody try that ?

Offline jeffinsgf

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #6 on: April 28, 2021, 08:11 AM »
I've done it. I wanted through-mortises in the same species as the project. I made Paduak Dominoes with careful planing and a router table.

 

Offline Cheese

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2021, 08:52 AM »
FWIW...just to expand the consciousness of this forum, Domino's can be fabricated from various materials. They don't need to be fabricated from wood exclusively.

In this instance, I needed conventional SAE threaded holes in some Domino's and fabricated them from aluminum.

Keep experimenting, it works.












Offline T. Ernsberger

  • Posts: 895
Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #8 on: April 28, 2021, 08:55 AM »
Cool.

I suppose one could also make them on a router table with a round-over bit.   Anybody try that ?

I tried that.  It will work if you keep the dominos loose.  If you make them tight the glue being a liquid will not compress and will not allow the joint to come together.  I had the knifes made with glue relieves to allow the glue to move

Online Packard

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2021, 09:50 AM »
These could be made from extruded aluminum or extruded polycarbonate resin.  In either case ribs could be designed in to allow glue to flow, but the glue will not be of much use as most wood glues do not adhere well to aluminum or plastic.

Those boards will join nicely if you can depend on the surface glue to hold things together.  The dominoes would then be working as an alignment aid.

In that case, I think I would prefer to use a biscuit cutter and biscuits. 

The wood dominoes add to the glue area and on butt joints and in sheet goods it is a much stronger joint.  But for joining face grain to face grain, the added strength is probably not needed.

Personally I am not convinced that the aluminum dominoes are an advantage over the wood versions.  The wood versions will expand in the slots to add a mechanical aspect to the glue up. 

Offline squall_line

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2021, 09:57 AM »
These could be made from extruded aluminum or extruded polycarbonate resin.  In either case ribs could be designed in to allow glue to flow, but the glue will not be of much use as most wood glues do not adhere well to aluminum or plastic.

Those boards will join nicely if you can depend on the surface glue to hold things together.  The dominoes would then be working as an alignment aid.

In that case, I think I would prefer to use a biscuit cutter and biscuits. 

The wood dominoes add to the glue area and on butt joints and in sheet goods it is a much stronger joint.  But for joining face grain to face grain, the added strength is probably not needed.

Personally I am not convinced that the aluminum dominoes are an advantage over the wood versions.  The wood versions will expand in the slots to add a mechanical aspect to the glue up.

The aluminum dominoes look like a good compromise between a knock-down connector and a fixed domino; the images above appear that they're being used to mount some sort of sacrificial or replaceable end cap.  Theoretically you could also thread the under-side if you needed to hold the dominos tighter and/or make them replaceable.

In the shower or at some other point this morning I thought about using the domino cutter as a way to create space for safety locks on window sashes or frames (the kind that flip out and allow the window to open 2-3 inches but no wider), and wondered to myself if there was already a lock/latch that would fit.

Offline CeeJay

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2021, 10:00 AM »
Cool.

I suppose one could also make them on a router table with a round-over bit.   Anybody try that ?

I tried that.  It will work if you keep the dominos loose.  If you make them tight the glue being a liquid will not compress and will not allow the joint to come together.  I had the knifes made with glue relieves to allow the glue to move
I’ve made 8mm dominoes on the router table when I ran out previously.

I made a board a shade under 8mm thick first (about 7.9mm) then scored some very light grooves across it at 45 degrees with the table saw, the grooves were only about 0.5mm deep. These were for glue relief as per above.

Then ripped board to width, then rounded the edges on the router, then cut to length on crosscut box.

Took about 90 minutes to make about 200 dominoes.

Next time I might try a bullnose bit on the router if the dominoes are wide enough, would halve the time of the router operation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Offline ChuckS

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2021, 10:12 AM »
Cool.

I suppose one could also make them on a router table with a round-over bit.   Anybody try that ?

After rounding the tenons, I used a hand saw to make the grooves. I used beech for that batch of dominoes. A v-bit can also be used on the router table, if so desired.

The chair project I'm now working on also happens to need dominoes that are 70 to 80mm long. I have some left-over uncut shop-made dominoes to use.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2021, 10:36 AM by ChuckM »

Offline ChuckS

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2021, 10:17 AM »
Cool.

I suppose one could also make them on a router table with a round-over bit.   Anybody try that ?

I tried that.  It will work if you keep the dominos loose.  If you make them tight the glue being a liquid will not compress and will not allow the joint to come together.  I had the knifes made with glue relieves to allow the glue to move

Another option is to cut grooves on the shop-made tenons with a V-bit...it does require extra work on the router table though.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2021, 10:24 AM by ChuckM »

Offline Michael Kellough

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2021, 10:20 AM »
If you want the same tight fit you get with the authentic Dominos you need something like what the op made, or you need to find metric bullnose router bits.

I’ve made very close 8mm Dominos with a 5/16” bullnose bit but wasn’t able to find bits for the other sizes.

Offline jeffinsgf

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #15 on: April 28, 2021, 10:21 AM »
I guess my glue relief effort was pretty low-tech. I used a carving vee tool to carve in some grooves.

Offline ChuckS

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #16 on: April 28, 2021, 10:23 AM »
FWIW...just to expand the consciousness of this forum, Domino's can be fabricated from various materials. They don't need to be fabricated from wood exclusively.

Snip.

The Domino machine can even be used to cut non-wood materials such as granite (?) countertops.

Offline jeffinsgf

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #17 on: April 28, 2021, 10:25 AM »
If you want the same tight fit you get with the authentic Dominos you need something like what the op made, or you need to find metric bullnose router bits.

I’ve made very close 8mm Dominos with a 5/16” bullnose bit but wasn’t able to find bits for the other sizes.

Mine were 6mm using an 1/8" radius round-over. Perfect fit on the ends.

Offline ChuckS

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #18 on: April 28, 2021, 10:44 AM »
Snip.

 But for joining face grain to face grain, the added strength is probably not needed.



Agreed.

Before I acquired the DF500, all my boards were edge-joined with nothing but glue. None of them including some close to 20 years old have failed. As long as the edges to be joined are properly trued (or spring-joined) and clamped, no dominoes or dowels or biscuits are needed other than for alignment purposes or for ease of handling/clamping.

Glue is stronger than wood.
« Last Edit: April 28, 2021, 11:04 AM by ChuckM »

Offline Cheese

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #19 on: April 28, 2021, 11:03 AM »

The aluminum dominoes look like a good compromise between a knock-down connector and a fixed domino; the images above appear that they're being used to mount some sort of sacrificial or replaceable end cap.  Theoretically you could also thread the under-side if you needed to hold the dominos tighter and/or make them replaceable.


I would call these particular Dominos semi-knock-down because they're permanently epoxied into the walnut. That's the reason for the 3 "keys" that are machined into each side. The epoxy flows into the recesses and it's done.

Place the board on it's edge with the Dominos pointing up. Use a syringe to fill each mortise and move on to the next. When finished, the epoxy will have self-leveled and filled in the "keys" so just top off each mortise with a little more epoxy.



Yes, the Dominos retain a replaceable rear edge/cap for a countertop to make the initial fitting task easier. All fitting is done from the front and when completed, then the rear cap is attached.


Front edge:





Rear attached edge on RH side:




The bottom of the walnut countertop with the rear edge attached.



« Last Edit: April 28, 2021, 11:07 AM by Cheese »

Offline ChuckS

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #20 on: April 28, 2021, 11:15 AM »
One furniture maker featured in a Fine Woodworking article uses a combination of materials to make tenons for miters (after they're milled with the Domino Joiner).

Offline Joe Felchlin

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #21 on: April 28, 2021, 11:30 AM »
Re -
Making Dominoes - Glad that it “works” for you.👏
$68 for the molder knives sounds pretty reasonable.
But... I’m guessing that most of us woodworkers -
Don’t have a $2,795 William Hussey Molder.

Early on - More than once - I bought some 2” Beech wood -
And “sliced” it - And “diced” it into Dominoes -
With my: Table saw, router, and band saw -
With very acceptable resulting Dominoes.

But...
Given the COST per Domino - And the TIME involved - I quickly realized that -
I’d rather just buy ‘em - And spend my time actually WOODWORKING.😋
To each their own.🤷🏻
« Last Edit: April 28, 2021, 11:40 AM by Joe Felchlin »
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Offline Cheese

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #22 on: April 28, 2021, 11:40 AM »
One furniture maker featured in a Fine Woodworking article uses a combination of materials to make tenons for miters (after they're milled with the Domino Joiner).

Interesting Chuck...I've used this method before for both aesthetics and to prevent the miters from opening.


Offline ChuckS

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #23 on: April 28, 2021, 12:02 PM »
[
Interesting Chuck...I've used this method before for both aesthetics and to prevent the miters from opening.


What was used to cut the slots on the frame?

Offline live4ever

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #24 on: April 28, 2021, 12:06 PM »
I've got a Shopfox 1812 and I often thought about this but didn't NEED the project enough to put the research into getting it done.  Really appreciate the legwork here! 
Current systainer to productivity ratio:  very high

Offline Cheese

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #25 on: April 28, 2021, 01:36 PM »
What was used to cut the slots on the frame?

I believe I used a table saw, the most difficult thing was to find a blade kerf that matches the thickness of the legs on the aluminum angle.

The kerf was cut too deep on the RH piece so I’ve just kept it around as a reminder and a sort of no-go gauge.  [smile]
« Last Edit: April 28, 2021, 01:39 PM by Cheese »

Offline Sparktrician

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #26 on: April 28, 2021, 04:36 PM »
Interesting Chuck...I've used this method before for both aesthetics and to prevent the miters from opening.

@Cheese, have you ever used a lock domino setup to prevent miters from opening up?  It has worked very well for me in cabinet doors as well as in screen doors. 
- Willy -

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  The capacity for occasional blundering is inseparable from the capacity to bring things to pass."

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Online Lincoln

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #27 on: April 28, 2021, 05:20 PM »
FWIW...just to expand the consciousness of this forum, Domino's can be fabricated from various materials. They don't need to be fabricated from wood exclusively.

Snip.

The Domino machine can even be used to cut non-wood materials such as granite (?) countertops.



That would be 'solid surface' bench top material (Corian etc), not granite. There's no way it would cut granite.

Offline ChuckS

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #28 on: April 28, 2021, 05:35 PM »
Yes. likely Corian or the like.

Offline Cheese

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Re: Making Dominos, fast, easy and accurately
« Reply #29 on: April 28, 2021, 07:08 PM »
Quote from: Sparktrician link=topic=66345.msg641231#msg641231
[member=44099
Cheese[/member], have you ever used a lock domino setup to prevent miters from opening up?  It has worked very well for me in cabinet doors as well as in screen doors.

No Sparky @Sparktrician ...I haven't, but that's a great idea. Any photos for the visually challenged? [smile]

I only edged one floor with the aluminum angle/wood thing and then just changed to countersunk GRK screws with contrasting or same color plugs, it was so much easier and faster, although it doesn't have the same WOW factor. It also seems that people either LOVE or HATE the aluminum angle/wood interface, there's no in-between.

« Last Edit: April 28, 2021, 07:12 PM by Cheese »