Benchtop Domino

Since Festool introduced the Domino in 2007 woodworkers have been catching on to the fact that mortise and tenon joinery does not have to be a tricky bit of sorcery combined with years of hard-earned muscle memory. There have long been advantages to using a router to cut mortises in both sides of the joint; one setup for both sides, easy registration, flush surfaces, and clean fit with no shoulders to trim. You can make a month’s worth of loose tenon stock sized to a router bit in the time it takes to cut and fit one traditional joint.

The loose tenon has been around for a long time, used heavily by chair makers among others to speed up production of multiple parts. The parts for a set of 6 dining chairs become interchangeable when the M&T joints are not fit individually. Table aprons can be cut square and mated to legs with relative ease.

Festool took it to the next level with a machine that is as easy to use as a biscuit joiner and to the next level up with the XL. But what about the next level DOWN?

I am not a professional, but I have been making furniture and many other things for over 40 years. I get a lot of calls from friends and family asking for “help with a project”. You know what that means…

I got my Domino as a thank you gift for a bird’s eye maple sink base I built (with traditional M&T) for a friend trying to save a huge cast-iron sink found in the basement of his new house.

I never considered the Domino because of the high price for what I thought was be a one-trick toy. Tough to justify a $1300 biscuit joiner when I am fine cutting mortise and tenon joints. But there it was, shiny and new with a full set of cutters and a systainer full of domino tenons. SWEET.

I played with it for a week and was impressed. I made a table with splayed legs in a day and could not believe how easy it was. The surface registration was dead on. I found it a home in the shop and moved on to other things; then I got another one of those calls.

My Mom, (85 years young) had a set of octagonal coffee & end tables in her living room, metal frames with glass tops, and she wanted to be able to display a collection of shells under the tops. The trays I designed had an L-shaped profile with a groove to capture the bottom panel. The 1” wide base of the L would be upside down to hang on the metal frame, and the glass would rest on it. They were only ½” thick and were all cut to 22.5*. This was going to be an interesting glue-up. Testing with band clamps and bicycle tubes was a disaster, then I remembered the Domino.

Sure enough there was a tenon size that would work, but with the L profiles already cut out of solid stock and the bearing surfaces of the parts much smaller than the machine, visibility was a major issue. All clamping strategies interfered with the ability to use the fence and registration tabs on the Festool. I clamped the machine (gently!) in the bench vise and it struck me that instead of plunging the machine into the work I could plunge the workpiece into the cutter. Time to make a jig. Good times.

I measured the body of the Domino and decided on a 2 ½ inch holesaw cut through a 5/4 x 6 pine board I had in the scrap bin. The fit was good, but the tool only went in as far as the dust port. I took off the corners at the bandsaw and promptly dropped it, breaking the ring at the top. I cut it square, ran it across the table saw in a tenoning jig and glued in a cross-grain reinforcement. When the glue dried I recut the hole and the ring profile. The fit was good and I could get the required dust hose on the machine. I clamped it in the front vise and got a bonus: the machine rotated for access to all of the settings and controls. I had a benchtop Domino.

Using the accessory fences and shop-made blocks I centered the parts and registered them to the machine’s fence. I turned it on and got a good grip, the plunge action was smooth and easy and I had mortises in all 24 parts in a blink. Glue-up was a breeze too because registration was perfect and there was no possibility for creep. One rubber bike tube and a spring clamp was all it took.

I have since used the Benchtop rig for other “un-clampable” items, most recently some asymmetrical coved bracket feet for a window seat. The tops and bottoms do not line up, but using the back surfaces for registration on the domino’s fence made the job easy. I used it to build the case of the piece as well.

I use the Domino in ways that perhaps Festool did not intend and have never felt unsafe or feared for my fingers. I have clamped on auxiliary fences and stops in addition to using the full range of kit included with the tool. A solid hold on the work is key, and listen for the voice in the back of your head saying you’re not going to get away with something.

I think the reason it feels so safe is that the cutter is spinning and oscillating, making a cut that does not bind and has no tendency to drag a workpiece, kick back, or ride up. A tablesaw can kick back because it is spinning towards you and the blade is closely held in the cut. A router can ride up or grab and pull a workpiece. The Domino’s spinning bit is clearing space on either side of itself as it plunges straight into the work as the dust collection is clearing the chips. I don’t think it would bind without a real attempt to cause it.