Woodpeckers storey stick

[murphy]

Hi, has anyone got a better way of laying out for Festool dominoes, other than measuring or the Woodpeckers storey stick, which is expensive with all the attachments
Woodpeckers Story Stick Pro - 600mm (Metric)

 

[Jacob]

Hi, has anyone got a better way of laying out for Festool dominoes, other than measuring or the Woodpeckers storey stick, which is expensive with all the attachments
Woodpeckers Story Stick Pro - 600mm (Metric)

The trad way would be to mark up a "rod" and take all the marks from that. No gadgets needed except pencil and set square.

 

[murphy]

Thank you, Jacob,
Yes that is definitely the cheapest option and probably just as good

 

[Spectric]

Aligning marks is not without error and is very user dependant as to the accuracy achieved. I find using physical locations are always spot on and do not always need to be purchased tools like the story stick which is very good at layout task although not the cheapest option. If you go the story stick route then another useful attachment to buy are the alloy stops made by FC tools which are more substantial and give more reference area when using a tool like a domino or dowel jig.

As to the domino issue there are several aftermarket options that all address the issues you have, rather than the story stick look at either

https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/woodpeckers-offset-base-system-for-festool-domino/
https://fctools.co.uk/product/domino-alignment-jig-system-daj-dlux/

 

[Jacob]

Aligning marks is not without error and is very user dependant as to the accuracy achieved. I find using physical locations are always spot on and do not always need to be purchased tools like the story stick which is very good at layout task although not the cheapest option. If you go the story stick route then another useful attachment to buy are the alloy stops made by FC tools which are more substantial and give more reference area when using a tool like a domino or dowel jig.

As to the domino issue there are several aftermarket options that all address the issues you have, rather than the story stick look at either

https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/woodpeckers-offset-base-system-for-festool-domino/
https://fctools.co.uk/product/domino-alignment-jig-system-daj-dlux/

Some ludicrously expensive gadgets here!
It'd be better value to pay someone to show you how to use the rod system - no gadgets involved at all, though a length of white MFC shelving would be handy, but not essential.
Festool Dominos are just loose tenons and the techniques for marking up mortices and tenons are well known and have been used successfully for millennia, with no gadgets!

 

[Adam W.]

Resistance is useless !

 

[HOJ]

I make simple plywood rod's with an end stop and pencil marks for the centers, cost pennies not ££££, have a selection pre made for different setups, you really don't need any of these offerings to make a Domino work effectively.

 

[Spectric]

Festool Dominos are just loose tenons and the techniques for marking up mortices and tenons are well known and have been used successfully for millennia, with no gadgets!

The part you have missed out is the skill, yes they have been used for millenia without gadgets but the people were experienced woodworkers who could use hand tools in their sleep. Festool have tried to deliver a system where the same results can be achieved without that level of skill but not fully succeeded and hence the gadgets. I agree the best way is to take time and learn the skills but with age against you and everyone wants tomorrow today it is not the easy option, plus we are losing the places that deliver the training. I find dowel jigs to be the solution, put a few in close and they are almost a loose tennon !

 

[Jacob]

The part you have missed out is the skill, yes they have been used for millenia without gadgets but the people were experienced woodworkers who could use hand tools in their sleep. Festool have tried to deliver a system where the same results can be achieved without that level of skill but not fully succeeded and hence the gadgets. I agree the best way is to take time and learn the skills but with age against you and everyone wants tomorrow today it is not the easy option, plus we are losing the places that deliver the training. I find dowel jigs to be the solution, put a few in close and they are almost a loose tennon !

Festool (et al) have persuaded you that trad skills are difficult, so that they can sell you all sorts of gadgets/garbage supposed to make it easier, but it doesn't, it just makes it more expensive.

 

[TRITON]

This is better and far more accurate. Plus its not rip you off pricing.
https://www.axminstertools.com/tren...utm_content=1792&tagrid=58435303&glCountry=GB

 

[Jacob]

This is better and far more accurate. Plus its not rip you off pricing.
https://www.axminstertools.com/tren...utm_content=1792&tagrid=58435303&glCountry=GB

No it's another daft expensive gadget. In fact a very good example. Just the sort of thing you could sell to somebody who knows absolutely F.A. about trad practices. You've hit the bulls eye!
The measuring tool for dividing lines into equal divisions is one of the very oldest and simplest, known as a divider, or pair of dividers. There is a clue in the name.
Cheap, simple, make your own if you want to.
PS Just googled "dividers" and got https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact/article.php?ArticleID=6
but they don't seem to know what dividers are for and why they are so called. Not surprising that so many other people don't know either.

 

[TRITON]

Just the sort of thing you could sell to somebody who knows absolutely F.A. about trad practices

I get easily bored of such opinions.

I take it something like the CNC shaper origin is the devils work to you

"Traditional Practice" the battle cry of the amateur hobbyist.

 

[Adam W.]

That'll be me then. ^

 

[TRITON]

That'll be me then. ^

Present company excepted


Sure ok in rare cases, some cabinetmakers use traditional methods, but they are few and far between and only economically viable when the customer is paying high prices and doesnt mind waiting 6 months for a piece.

 

[Jacob]

I get easily bored of such opinions.

I take it something like the CNC shaper origin is the devils work to you

"Traditional Practice" the battle cry of the amateur hobbyist.

Amateur hobbyists buy gadgets.
I just think it's interesting that nobody seems to know what "dividers" are for, in spite of the clue in the name.
Now waiting for someone to ask how do you divide, precisely, with dividers.
The answer is that you divide the error by the divisor.

 

[TRITON]

Dividers Jacob. Pretty much the same thing isnt it ?. A mechanical device for aiding layout

 

[HamsterJam]

surely the exact position of a domino doesn’t matter (provided the holes in mating surfaces match) and doesn’t the Domino have a sloppy setting to reduce the precision required for this anyway or did I miss something?

 

[murphy]

Yes, HamsterJam,
The Festool Domino does have a sloppy setting, and Triton, I think the dividers might come in handy for all sorts of jobs, I really don't think I want to spend a lot of money on gadgets I will only use occasionally, I am thinking what HOJ said about making plywood rods will do me for now, after all, it is only transferring pencil marks on to the work surface, and make sure the mating surfaces match

 

[Bristol_Rob]

Festool Cross Stops

 

[RogerS]

This is a rare moment for I agree 100% with Jacob. There is absolutely no need for all these gadgets. All you need for a story stick is a sharp pencil and a set square.

It also depends on what you're using the Domino's for. If I'm using them to join two long pieces of timber together to make wider piece then I won't even bother with a story stick. Just line the two pieces side-by-side and mark where you want the Domino's to go. As HamsterJam says...I use a reference Domino at one of the ends that is the non-sloppy cut. Then in one piece I will carry on using the non-sloppy setting. The other piece use the sloppy setting for the remaining Domino holes.

Also I make a lot of use of the little flipstops built into the Domino machine.