Question for Domino users

Re: I've not had that issue

Henry (Raleigh NC)

So far I have not had this issue, with any of the sizes I have used; I have not used the smallest ones, but have used a variety of sizes from I think 5mm through the largest one (10 mm?) usable on the 500.

None of this may relate to the issue you describe.

I understand the Dominos themselves are 'quite' dry (MC) as delivered - and I have stored any open packages in in Ziploc freezer bags. I only have owned these about 8 months, but that includes the humidity experienced in Raleigh NC (waaaay too high in my book!). I understand that others may also use dessicant in their storage containers.

Henry

Re: Question for Domino users

Barry Irby

I use mostly home made ones. As you know I acquired about a thousand 16" long 7/8" wide by 3/8" thick sticks with round edges. Sadly, Festool/Domino does not provide a 3/8" cutter. I mill them down to 8mm in batches large enough to cut 200 or 300 40mm or 50mm dominos and bag them.

For other sizes I use factory Dominos. Apparently the slots will vary a thousandths or 2 depending on .... the species, the orientation, the speed of the plunge, or the weather. I don't like the really tight fit and having to drive them in with a mallet so I brush them on my 6 x 48 belt sander with it not running. Just a handy piece of sand paper. I like a friction fit that lets me push them in by hand and pull them out with my fingers. My understanding is the factory ones are beech and are somewhat compressed. It may be the the compression is just the embossing. Some claim is made the embossing gives a place for excess glue. ??? I have not seen any evidence of them swelling from the water in the glue, but I often use epoxy. I have been concerned about swelling if you have to drive them in with a hammer or use clamps to force them. I also have a biscuit/plate joiner and I have seen problems with them swelling and they are also compressed beech.

Being a tightwad, I like my homemade ones. Never had a problem with them. Does not take long to make a batch.

Did you use the sticks? Need more?

Re: Question for Domino users

Mark Mandell - Gone Round in New Jersey

I make my own as needed. Never used the factory stuff as I've always got more in the scrap pails than I know what to use.

Re: Question for Domino users

GolfSteve in Calgary

My all fit loose, I've always thought it was due to the dry climate where I live.

Re: Question for Domino users

Larry Clinton At Frankfort, (Central) Indiana

Don't have a Domino, but had had the issue with biscuits, I have a large metal working vice in my shop and just "squeeze" them a little in the vice jaws - works well for me.

Re: Question for Domino users

William Duffield

Does your problem statement imply that you do not have the problem with end grain mortises?

Where do you store your domino tenons?

Beech or Sipo dominos?

How long do you let your lumber acclimate in your shop after removing it from your lumber shed?

Has your Domino end mill been resharpened? That might slightly decrease it's diameter.

I only rarely have this problem. Usually a few strokes across a sheet of 150 grit sandpaper fixes it. If not, I get a bigger hammer. I find that for shop fixtures, they fit tightly enough that I often don't need any glue.

Responding to some others' suggestions: Biscuits are compressed all over, so when they get wetted with glue, they expand in thickness all over. Dominos are "selectively" compressed, for glue escape and marking of trademark and size. Therefore, when wetted with glue, their overall thickness expands much less, and only appreciably in the previously indented areas.

Even with dominoes, I like to do a dry fit. When they are fitting really tightly, disassembly before final glue-up can be difficult. I often use a pair of flat head vise grips, designed for sheet metal bending, to pull out the tenons.

Re: Mine always seem tight.

Stephen Roth

I live in NJ and have a relatively humid basement shop. (35-40% RH) Mine are always tight and need hammer hits or clamping to come together. So I make "loose" test dominos for working on fit-ups by taking a few strokes on the flats with a 120 grit sandpaper flat on the bench. For final inserts, I sometimes sand, but most often find that the glue lubrication and clamp pressure is enough to pull them together.

For both the test and real fittings, I also take down the lateral edge with a few strokes of a block plane. (I doubt that this step does anything to the glue surface, but it makes fit-ups go easier.)

Re: Mine always seem tight.

William Duffield

That's an idea I'm going to borrow. With 7 different thicknesses and various lengths, I'm going to have to color code them to keep them separated from the "structural" tenons.

Yup, the glue relief ridges often get in the way of assembly. Whatever is close at hand reduces them: block plane, sand paper, a file, a chisel, or sometimes just a bigger hammer.