Domino size

[Dnorris1369]

Fixing to start a kitchen table and was wondering if 10mm domino was big enough for 1 1/2 stock. I have never used domino on anything other than 3/4 and I have the domino 500. Thanks in advance


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[Berta]

I have a DF 500. 10mm isn’t a choice in my pack. My smallest is a 5x30mm. I would try the 8x40 first. A kitchen table gets a lot of abuse.

 

[redknife]

Hey Dustin, can you clarify which joinery Application you are talking about? I.e. are you talking about supplementing edge-jointed boards for the top? Apron?

 

[Berta]

I was assuming leg to apron.

 

[Tarhead]

10mm Dominos came with mine. I try to use Dominos for 1/3 the thickness of the stock. 1.5" ='s 38mm 38/3=12.7. I would use 2, 6mm Dominos centered 10mm below the upper and lower edge. It will be stronger than 1, 10mm Domino.

 

[cyclopentadiene]

The largest you can fit in the space you are joining. In addition, use double or quadruple dominos if possible. Dominos are easy to set up, relatively inexpensive... If you were building something using classical mortise and tennon joinery, it would use a tennon a minimum of half the depth and as large as possible to still remain hidden. If there is a lot of weight on these, they could fail as they are not as strong as a conventional mortise and tennon joint. I just had. A fail on a desk for my daughter with a dual 10 mm desk was fine until she purchased a 36" monitor and the added weight over the back legs caused the joinery to fail. My design was partly to blame as all of,the weight is on these two legs and 4 dominant tennons. I am making a repair and will strengthen the design this time.

 

[Dnorris1369]

yes I am going to use them for the top also. but figured the strength issues would come from the apron and legs

 

[JimD]

I remember a test by one of the magazines where they found tenons 1/2 the material thickness to be strongest. 1/3 is more traditional. Either way 10mm is not thick enough. They probably aren't tall enough either and the depth limit of the 500 is 25mm if I remember right which is probably on the small side too. Doesn't mean it won't work but I would work on ways to get more glue surface into the joint. You could cut slots for a custom wider domino, for instance. Won't solve depth but would add glued surface.

 

[Tarhead]

One problem with putting the largest Domino or tenon you can in the joint is not leaving enough meat between the surface and the mortise. Too little and the joint will only be as strong as the thickness of that meat. You can also get "Ghosting" where the area on the surface directly over the mortise becomes indented. This is because it swells when damp from the glue and is sanded before it dries and shrinks back to its original level. This causes a depression when everything dries.

 

[KenOfCary]

I tend to follow the 1/3 rule when making mortise/tenon joints as well as domino type tenon joints. 1/3 the thickness of the wood containing the mortise.

 

[redknife]

If you have apron thickness of 1 1/2 but not much apron height, I would stack dominos, probably 6 mm. If you have apron height, I would line up dominos, 8 or 10 mm. I am assuming an apron thickness of 1 1/2”. Accommodate ninety degree dominos running in to each other in the leg by either trimming the domino or offsetting your mortises toward the apron.
Another option would be to use the df500 to create a single wide mortise and then make your own slip tenon. Sounds tedious but it is pretty fast to make assuming you sneak up on the tenon thickness.

 

[Jeff]

Never used Festool dominos and clearly you're limited by the domino size choices for your 500 and wanting to use 1.5" thick stock for your dining table. Good advice from those who've used dominos but geez, by the time you do all of the setup and double up the mortise thicknesses
you could make tenons on the table saw and mortises with a plunge router to your specifications.

While the Festool 500 is probably good for many applications it seems out of place for this project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p31-W0b9PJc

 

[Dnorris1369]

Thanks for all the great info guys. Much appreciated. Maybe this is an excuse to upgrade?!!!! I have a tool problem lol


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[cyclopentadiene]

Setup and time is the advantage of the domino. If the legs are ready and apron is cut to length, the time to cut 8 domino's or if doubling up, 16 is less than 20 minutes and you are ready for glue up. It takes a couple of hours to cut the same number of mortise and tennon joints.
I will point out that the place where I had a fail had several problems. 1)'the design had all of the weight on the back two legs of the desk 2) it was designed for aesthetics and mild use. My daughter used it for a year while completing college but now works from home and uses it daily. She purchased a 36" computer monitor in which all of the weight is distributed onto the angled back legs and 3) I completed the table in the winter. The glue after the fail seems gummy in some areas suggesting that it froze and did not cure correctly. I may have glued late at night and it got below freezing before drying. This may have just been a combination of all of these factors.