# Workshop Essentials Festool Domino Jig



## Steve Maskery (8 Oct 2015)

I've had a jig in my head for quite a while, so today I started to make it.

First I routed a groove down the length of a piece of MDF. It's wide and deep enough to take a flange nut.












I then drilled a couple of holes






and routed a groove between them






followed by a larger hole for hanging and access to the groove.






I measured the distance from the front of my bench to the back face of my bench dogs






Back on the router table I routed a rebate across one end, as wide as that measurement











and glued in a notched piece of wood






It's good, isn't it?


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## Monkey Mark (8 Oct 2015)

That is, without a doubt, the best looking thingmibob I've ever almost seen!


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## Zeddedhed (8 Oct 2015)

Thats not a Thingmibob.

It's a DooHickey. Everyone should have one.


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## flying haggis (8 Oct 2015)

Its not the same as the DooHickey I've got.....


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## Steve Maskery (8 Oct 2015)

You guys are not even trying.
S


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## Monkey Mark (8 Oct 2015)

Is it...... a bench dog assisted dado jig with adjustable stops?


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## Steve Maskery (8 Oct 2015)

No, but the bench dog bit is on the right lines.


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## Steve Maskery (8 Oct 2015)

Hint: I should have made it a couple of weeks ago.


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## Monkey Mark (8 Oct 2015)

Something to do with your new shutters?


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## Steve Maskery (8 Oct 2015)

It might be...


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## Sporky McGuffin (8 Oct 2015)

Is it for getting boy scouts out of horses' hooves?


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## Zeddedhed (8 Oct 2015)

Steve Maskery":31uh0hh3 said:


> You guys are not even trying.
> S



My missus says I'm extremely trying.

But then she also says that absent minded nose-picking whilst watching TV is a disgusting habit, proving she doesn't know what she's talking about.


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## Droogs (8 Oct 2015)

You're doing it, aren't you! You've managed to think it through, the sparkly flash of inspiration has struck (probably around 04:27 this morning) and you couldn't go back to sleep at all could you? You just had to make it and test it out. 'Cause this is definately the answer, you're sure of it. It's gonna make you a fortune, everyone on UKW will want it and at £300 a pop it'll be seen as a snip a bargain that we can't live without. It's the Steve Maskery Doohicky Thingymajig Whatcha ma Flip Mental Japanese 3 way Joint Making Jig


](*,) (hammer) :tongue9: :tongue9: :tongue9: :tongue9:


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## Steve Maskery (8 Oct 2015)

I so wish you were right!


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## Droogs (8 Oct 2015)

PS:
When will it be available to buy or rent?


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## blackrodd (8 Oct 2015)

It's a cement sheet reducing attachment!
Rodders


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## sploo (9 Oct 2015)

Something to allow squaring/routing/trimming the ends off a panel (whilst ensuring it's square)?


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## Steve Maskery (9 Oct 2015)

It's nothing to do with panels, but it is to do with ends.
Another hint: Most people will have no use for it whatsoever and will not be the slightest bit interested in it at all.


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## sploo (9 Oct 2015)

Steve Maskery":9m8nhmul said:


> Another hint: Most people will have no use for it whatsoever and will not be the slightest bit interested in it at all.



It's the entire output of BBC and ITV on a Saturday evening?


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## Droogs (9 Oct 2015)

Are your shutters louvred by any chance?
Does if fit a router without any fine adjustment?


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## Steve Maskery (9 Oct 2015)

No, no and no.


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## lurker (9 Oct 2015)

sploo":349i0waf said:


> Steve Maskery":349i0waf said:
> 
> 
> > Another hint: Most people will have no use for it whatsoever and will not be the slightest bit interested in it at all.
> ...




=D> =D> =D>


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## lurker (9 Oct 2015)

Its a bench extension clamping thingy


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## Steve Maskery (9 Oct 2015)

With the cleat glued in place I can check that the jig will sit right on the bench. It overhangs by just a couple of mm, which is what I want. It can be flush, but definitely not shy. OTOH I don't want it to overhang any more than is necessary.







Then it was time to make a stop-block.











The slot in the bed of the jig is 9.1mm and I want this to be a tad less than that, for clearance






I cut a key to fit. This helps it to slide smoothly. Unfortunately, when I first did it the key was full length and it slid beautifully, but the stop would not go far enough to each end, so I pulled it out and shortened it. It doesn't slide quite so freely now, but it is OK.


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## Monkey Mark (9 Oct 2015)

Steve Maskery":cqjwcykw said:


> Another hint: Most people will have no use for it whatsoever ......




Must be something to do with my (lack of) social life then. :mrgreen:


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## Steve Maskery (9 Oct 2015)

The stop-block is held in place with a Bristol lever











Then I drilled an array of 12 blind holes. I don't really know if I've got this bit right, I'm guessing, so we'll see how well they work.











They are for some brass screw cups






I then drilled right through











Nearly finished now.


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## Steve Maskery (9 Oct 2015)

I need a secondary support piece for some jobs, and I want to store it on the jig so that it doesn't get lost. A couple of dominoes do the trick.





















And job done, it's ready to use.






Ah yes, but does it actually work? We'll see.


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## doctor Bob (9 Oct 2015)

Nice haircut........... very military.


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## Chrispy (9 Oct 2015)

Steve sorry to say I've had one of those for years, tucked under the bench still no idea what it does though!


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## monkeybiter (9 Oct 2015)

Is that the haircut or the jig?


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## Steve Maskery (9 Oct 2015)

This is the Workshop Essentials Festool Domino Dual-Purpose Workpiece Support Jig.

Here's the thing. The Domino has transformed small-scale M&T joinery, but like every tool it has its limitations. Problems start to arise when the workpiece gets very narrow or very short. If it is narrow then there is not much surface area on which to register the machine. You can have it tilted over






or tilted back






and the narrower the workpiece gets, the greater the problem.

Also if the workpiece is very short, the clamp gets in the way.






What to do?

Well the first thing is to plan ahead. When I thickness my stock ready for dominoing, I need to make sure that I have another couple of bits machined on the same setting, and I screw them to the jig.






The distance apart is the width of the workpiece plus a bit of clearance, in this case the thickness of my steel rule.






So the workpiece sits in the jig, supported entirely on the bench and restrained by the blocks and the stop-block.






There is no clamping required, just drop them all in one after the other and domino away. The extra blocks give me a nice big area on which to register the machine. It's virtually impossible to tilt over, even with the narrowest of workpieces.






When it comes to cutting the mortice in the stile, the blocks are reset to keep the front edge flush with the front of the jig. The other end is supported by that auxilliary piece. Again, there is lots of support now.











I've yet to use it in anger, of course, but from this little test it appears to do everything I hoped it would.

For workpieces that are longer than the jig, I will have to remove the stop-block and clamp in the more trad way, but I might try experimenting with a pair of featherboards which will allow me to insert the workpiece from behind, but grip it when I push. We'll see.

Sincere apologies if you have been following this with interest only to to find that you need a Domino...


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## Eric The Viking (9 Oct 2015)

I still don't get where the cement panels come into it though. :-k


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## blackrodd (9 Oct 2015)

Eric The Viking":9jk8n0or said:


> I still don't get where the cement panels come into it though. :-k



That was me Eric, after SM mentioned he thought about it the previous week,
I mistakenly guessed it was when he was cutting the cement sheet for the rear fire resistant wall cladding.
Regards Rodders


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## Eric The Viking (9 Oct 2015)

Yes, but you can't domino the things... or can you???


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## Wizard9999 (10 Oct 2015)

Very clever Steve.

A quick of question. With the clearance you allowed using the steel rule, on the test pieces did you find any movement in the workpiece which may cause inaccuracy? I was wondering whether a snugger fit would be better, though I presume the reason for the clearance was to make things move faster when doing a batch of pieces.

Terry.


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## Steve Maskery (10 Oct 2015)

Well the clearance could be less than a ruler I suppose, but I don't see how it leads to inaccuracies, the mortice is produced by where I put the machine.
Just as long as the workpieces go in and come out easily, that's all that matters.


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## Doug B (10 Oct 2015)

I know it's missing out on all the fun of making a jig, but you could have bought one of these Steve :-k 

http://www.toolequip.ie/?product=1317897559302


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## Steve Maskery (10 Oct 2015)

Doug B":3l2sqp12 said:


> I know it's missing out on all the fun of making a jig,



Quite!


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## Doug B (10 Oct 2015)

Steve Maskery":2lw4xbae said:


> Doug B":2lw4xbae said:
> 
> 
> > I know it's missing out on all the fun of making a jig,
> ...




:lol: :lol:


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## Random Orbital Bob (10 Oct 2015)

Is it for holding a piece of rail or stile in the right place while you domino the end? The moveable stop accommodating different lengths and the bench overhang to avoid accidentally registering the base of the domino instead of the fence?

No idea what the brass bits might be to do unless they're to hold adjustable side stops to accommodate a reference for how far in from the edge the domino gets placed.


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## Steve Maskery (10 Oct 2015)

You got it Bob, how did you guess? 

The brass screw cups mean that the screw holes won't get chewed up as I attach and remove the support blocks for each job.


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## Random Orbital Bob (10 Oct 2015)

Very ingenious Steve. I forsee an advert on the FOG in the near future


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## Random Orbital Bob (10 Oct 2015)

I'm assuming you do know that Festool make a jig that screws to the underside of the fence with adjustable wings that you match to the stock width for batch runs of end grain cuts. I have it in fact and frankly it's a little fiddly although once in place it works OK. Yours looks easier to use and their's doesn't solve the problem of accidentally referencing the cut off the base of the domino instead of the fence (which has cost me several ruined mortises)


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## monkeybiter (10 Oct 2015)

Doug B":2psqepjq said:


> I know it's missing out on all the fun of making a jig, but you could have bought one of these Steve :-k
> 
> http://www.toolequip.ie/?product=1317897559302


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## Steve Maskery (10 Oct 2015)

I am aware of the Festool add-on, but it deals only with the end-grain challenge and not with the stile challenge, which actually I think is more of a risk.

Besides, I'm a cheapskate.


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## Wizard9999 (11 Oct 2015)

Steve Maskery":b2xne4mn said:


> Well the clearance could be less than a ruler I suppose, but I don't see how it leads to inaccuracies, the mortice is produced by where I put the machine.
> Just as long as the workpieces go in and come out easily, that's all that matters.



OK get it, the side pieces are only for support of the domino, not to hold the work piece in place.


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## Steve Maskery (11 Oct 2015)

For the end-grain cut they do both.


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## Eric The Viking (16 May 2018)

As you know, Steve, I've just joined the ranks of the Green and Black army with a big-size Domino. Nice bit of kit; now only need to learn how to use it properly!

Re-read this with great interest, and have started looking for my box of screw cups already - it's simple but highly effective, as the best ideas usually are. 

And it would also help, possibly modified slightly, with biscuit jointing, too: As an experiment, recently I made a trolley for my P/T, biscuiting together three layers of 18mm MRMDF, but in 25mm wide L-shaped pieces (it makes a tall rim around the platform that carries the castors). I wanted to plant #10 biscuits carefully, so the two joins didn't bump into each other:





I like biscuiting with the base of the jointer on the benchtop, as it helps me avoid skidding issues (I can already see that the Domino is loads better in this regard, because the front handle is on the fence, rather than the moving body of the machine - what were Lamello thinking originally???). I ended up with a rather awkward ad-hoc support arrangement to hold the workpiece still while I cut the slots. This idea (or similar) would have been loads better.


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