Worth making my own dominos?

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MrYorke

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Does anyone make their own dominos and is it cost effective? I'm going through 6mm dominos like nobodies business!
 
I made some oak ones to match an outdoor project in oak
It wasn't too bad I made about 10 metres of 8 mm size and cut them to 50 mm
Big big saving on buying the sipo ones

Ian
 
Only you can make that judgement call. Everything we do has a cost in terms of time, money and emotion. If you have time on your hands then make them ! Personally I'd prefer to buy them in and use my time more constructively !
 
Thanks for the responses. Perhaps I should just buy them unless I need some for a specific project such as the one Ian mentioned above.

I have seen another post somewhere where a guy made wider ones to fit the different setting. Neat idea for the right job

Where do you all buy your dominos? Anywhere better value than anywhere else?
 
I've made up some of the big dominos for the 700 domino machine. Partly to save money but partly to get the fit I want. It's a little known characteristic of dominos but, odd as this sounds, they don't cut the same size mortice in end grain as in long grain. Cutting into end grain tends to push some of the fibres to one side, which spring back after the tool is removed so the mortice is a fraction smaller than the companion mortice cut into long grain where the fibres are severed cleanly. You'll probably have noticed that dominos tend to be gripped harder in end grain rails than in long grain stiles. It can be a nuisance with 6mm x 40mm dominos, but it's a potentially bigger problem with 14mm x 140mm dominos.
 
I am still using the dominos that came with my machine, but when they are depleted I was thinking of getting some offcuts of ply in suitable thicknesses and making my own from the ply. The thickness is taken care of straight away and after that it's just a rip and round-over. But it still seems like a 'bit of trouble Betty'! :)
 
I have only just got my domino, so plenty of the ones that came with it left.

I do plan to make some myself but not to replace the standard ones. I dont think that I will ever get through enough to make any form of saving if I factor in my time. What time I have, I would rather spend making something for the house!

I will make some if I need them for external purposes, and if they are going to be on show- for example, I do fancy using them for dom drawers...

domino drawer.jpg

From
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-h ... struction/

Whilst they are not going to compete with half blind dovetails, and traditionalists may hate them, in my opinion they do look smart enough to be used on furniture projects.
 

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