FASTenon's

[Spectric]

What are peoples thoughts on these, they can be used instead of the beech domino in the 38 x 6 mm size and available from Woodworkers workshop?

My first thought is they are no cheaper than beech domino's and being plastic, wood glue is not much use so you would be relying on the barbed design for holding strength .

 

[petermillard]

I think they’ve missed a trick by not making them 6x30 - they’d be much more useful for carcass construction where a 15/15 plunge saves a few headaches. Not a huge fan of hammer-in fixings personally, but there’s nothing else like it for the Domino. I wouldn’t be too sure about the gluing aspect either Roy - Lamello claim a significant increase in strength by glueing the Tenso connector together. I’ve bought some to try, anyway - keep you posted.

 

[Spectric]

Yes for 18mm sheet you would be using offset depths, with std 40mm by 6mm domino's in 18mm sheet I use 15mm and 25mm which runs the risk of blowing out the thin wall remaining but that is with the XL700 so not sure what pre set depths are available on the 500.

 

[eddycarroll]

They look interesting, and the no-clamping aspect would be very handy in some applications. Agreed 30x5mm would be a more convenient option; the design might make that impractical though as 15mm on each side may not be enough depth for adequate gripping. I noticed neither of the demo videos on the Fastcap produce website shows a right-angle joint with 15mm / 25mm offset; maybe that's why.

The videos also show the tightest Domino setting being used for both sides of the joint, which I assume means more alignment precision is needed on longer runs. I doubt the FASTenons would hold well if one of the "sloppy" Domino settings was in use. That said, the flexible wings should provide a little more alignment wiggle room than when using solid wood dominos.

Anyway, it's always nice to see a bit of innovation in this area!