Mortising and tenoning doors and windows

[Leon]

How much is your time worth? ;~) How much would you charge me to make

6,000 5mm x 30mm tennons with impressions on both sides?

True but there will be trials to get the "just right fit" each time you decide to make more tenons.

And for specific cases, making custom sized tenons is a worthwhile process. But for routine mortises the standard sized Domino tenons will suffice a majority of the time. I was not meaning to say that making "custom sized" tenons is not worthwhile so much as making the exact same sized as what you can easily buy is not so much of a time or money saver.

;~)

I'm breaking down your sentence....

is there any reason you can't cut a wider mortise with the domiono.....

No, there is no reason you can't cut a wider mortise with the domino. ;~)

Yes, you can cut a complete dado or groove all the way across or down the edge of a board if you want so making a wider mortise than the machine is normally set to cut is no issue.

The procedure is simply to move the domino the amount you want and make an additional plunge. The add on accessory kit which adds indexing wings on both sides of the Domino will aid in placement. I would say that cutting a "PRECISE" wider width mortise might be a bit problematic in some cases. IMHO it would be prudent to count on making the mortise slightly wider than the actual width of the tenon. Something I do on every one of my mating joints.

Well you are welcome to play with my Domino and get the feel and perhaps I could better explain how you might go after some of your custom sized mortises.

When I got my Domino it happened to not be "PERFECTLY" calibrated for width of the mortise in relation to being centered between the indexing pins. I talked to Feestool and they agreed to re-calibrate it within weeks of buying it.

BUT they advised me how I can get around this situation should it become a problem in the future. This is only an issue if the calibration is off and you are using exact fit mortises on both pieces of material. Because your use opposite sided indexing pins for mating pieces of material any error is doubled. This is much easier illustrated than explained.

At any rate thousands of mortises later I seldom if ever use the indexing pins and am totally happy with the results.

Accuracy of the location of the mortise up and down is a non issue as you reference the same faces of the material to cut the mortise.

I'll bring my Domino over tonight and splain'it.

[Swingman]

Jeeeezusss, finally, you icehole ... thanks!! LOL

[Swingman]

I don't do impressions ... unless you count Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes. ;)

Any gotcha's, tearout/splintering that won't be hidden?

[krw]

Sounds like a huge waste of time. Dominoes aren't expensive.

[Swingman]

Yep, it certainly is, if off-the-shelf dominoes will work on a project, it makes no sense.

And, the lack of mm sized router bits, to match the radius of the domino cut mortise's curved edges, as an excuse for not doing so, is a non-issue when faced with making a handful of custom widths for a project.

Even more so when it has been stated here a number of times that it is desirable to cut the domino mortise a bit wider than the domino width to gain some wiggle room... meaning a precise fit in the radiused corners is not an absolute necessity.

When needing just a few, I routinely put the proper radius, using a Nicholson 49, on all four edges of loose tenons, usually in well under a minute each.

I'm a big fan of the Domino machine ... but I'm also constantly running across projects where the ability to cut non standard sized joinery is the key to the project's success, particularly those projects that can't be designed/fabricated around the capabilities of the tool, i.e., reproductions ... therefore my interest in this thread.

That said, Leon convinced me last night that doing custom sized, _wider_ mortises is easily doable with the Domino, with little fuss or muss ... and my experience is that making those custom width tenons should not an issue for even a novice woodworker.

[J. Clarke]

Well, I was all set to drop the hammer on the XL 700 and Woodcraft doesn't have any. Always something.

[krw]

Free shipping?

[J. Clarke]

True, and no tax. Was hoping to support the brick and mortar store. I'll call Coastal on Monday and if they don't have it Amazon it is (Coastal is local to me).

[krw]

That's why I usually buy from Highland. It's "local" (but free shipping for Festool, I think) and they stock everything green (and a whole lot more)[*]. They make Woodcraft look sick, though I did go to a really nice Woodcraft in Columbus, OH.

[*] They've had a lot of trouble keeping Lie Nielson in inventory, though. Been getting sold out within a week after they receive it.

[Leon]

Bummer! Well while Festool is expensive you can know that you will not find it less expensive elsewhere. Sooo you normally get to buy it from whom ever you want, normally.

Fortunately most all sellers of Festool ship for free. If Woodcraft could get it with in a week or so, would that be too late? Just in case the Domino did not suite you it would probably be easier on you to return to the local Woodcraft vs. shipping back some where else. Just a thought.

[J. Clarke]

Well, got no more excuses. Dropped the hammer on the XL tonight and the

8-10mm tenon package. Also an impulse buy--confronted with $160 for the magic vacuum hose that actually fits the thing and connects it to a regular shop vac, or $495 for a Festool vac, I went for the vac. Yeah, the green guys saw _me_ coming.

So hope to have the first of the storm windows together this weekend. Once all the storms are done then I can start on the primary windows. Looks like I won't need screens for a while.

[krw]

;-)

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I should have bought the vac with a tool, too, but at least it was on sale.

Let us know how you progress.

[J. Clarke]

Well, the other Woodcraft had it. Just a point of information but the first one I went to had just sold their last 700 to some guy who returned a 500 for credit towards it.

[Swingman]

Congratulations!

A Festool dust extractor has made me just as much in cleanup, and thus saved time, as the tools that will attach to it.

Not unusual, when I leave it on a remodel where the house remains occupied, for a client to ask if they can use it overnight. It was a tossup at first, but now glad I bought all its vacuum cleaner type attachments.

[Leon]

;~) It is a great vac. and "quiet".

The sanders are damn good too and when hooked up to the vac little escapes. I often do not do any prep, wiping down or blowing, between sanding and varnishing.

[J. Clarke]

I'm finding already that a man with Festools has many friends .

[J. Clarke]

Well, tried it out. Nothing fancy, just a stop to clamp to the fence on the radial saw--a piece of stud with another piece of stud stuck on the end at a 90 degree angle. Could have just made a butt-joint and it would have been fine, but stuck a couple of dominos in it.

Having done that little bit, I'm sold. If you need mortises within its capability, this _is_ the way to do it. It's accurate, quick, tidy, and just no fuss.

Anybody worried about control, don't be. It doesn't fight you at all. It just sits there spinning away until you push the handle, then when you push it makes the mortise, and that's all that happens.

One of the pieces was a cut off length of 2x3 stud about 4 inches long. As an experiement I stuck it on the radial saw table, on edge, and trapped it between the fence and the Domino. The Domino held it quite securely and the mortise went in with no fuss at all (that's with the

8mm bit). I never felt the slightest lack of control. With two tenons dry fitted my little stop was stuck together well enought that I could have used it even without glue, but I went ahead and glued it and tomorrow I should be able to use it to cut sash to length.

So, it was a pile of money but I think it was very much worthwhile.

[Puckdropper]

"J. Clarke" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Thanks for the review. Another half a degree tilt until the Domino falls and I find a reason to buy one. :-)

Puckdropper

[Leon]

Stupid simple huh? LOL

Now think back to the motriser you were considering. :-) If you have ever used a traditional motriser I'm betting the Domino really looks good now.

Keep us posted on your door and Windows. Pictures would be cool !

Think of how worthwhile after hundreds or thousands of mortises. :-)

[Leon]

It is a tool that makes you wonder how you got anything done with out it. The sooner you get it the sooner you will be happy that you got it. LOL