Refreshing a Guiderail Splinterguard and Dimple Marking Technique

A bit of a quickie video. I'm working on Angle Madness again and needing to cut the panels for the tapered octagonal drawer boxes. For that, I really need the splinterguard on the MFT to be dead accurate. It always has been, for years, until I needed to quickly cut something on the MFT during the Tim Burton Table build while I had the Panther blade in the TS-75. Unlike the TS-55 blades that all have the same kerf width, TS-75 blades sometimes differ.  Now, my splinterguard is about 0.5mm off.

The first part of the video, though, covers something I often do anyway with the saw: dimple marking (my own silly term :)  With the saw on the rail, it's easy to use the ATB blade to mark exactly where the cut will be. Great for verifying and occasional adjustments. For 12 panels, I want the splinterguard accurate...

Second half of the video shows how to bump the splinterguard over so you can recut it accurately. Seems easy enough, but it comes up on forums all the time. Usually people are trying to peel it off and reuse the aged adhesive. I'll show you a better way that works quickly and has no peel-off problems.

After posting this, some people asked about the turners' tape mentioned in the video. It is essentially a double-stick tape. A good one is this one from Lee Valley.  The one I used in the video is from InterTapePolymer.com, but I can't find the woodworking store that sells it now.

I used a different brand that I have handy. Many woodworking catalogs will call this type of double stick tape "turners' tape" since, I guess, turners use it (I don't turn yet!)

Festool Cordless Carvex PSC-420 Review and Demo

I've been playing with a Festool cordless Carvex PSC-420 jigsaw for over a month now; a very nice saw made nicer with the accessory kit.

The corded model will be released September 1^st, 2013.  The cordless model I use here does not yet have a release date in North America.

In this review, we'll start with a high-speed demo of a number of cuts in wood and other materials.  We'll then go over the saw in more detail pointing out any special features of the saw as well as each of the accessories in the accessory kit.

If you are familiar with the Festool PS-300 Trion, some of this saw's anatomy will be familiar, but there are a number of improvements and differences.  We'll also discuss any appreciable difference between the Carvex and the Trion so you can decide between the two if you are looking at Festool jigsaws.  Note that this means the Trion is not being discontinued.  The Carvex is an addition to the jigsaw line.

There's also a video discussion of the pendulum action of the Carvex and Trion.  I captured some good slo-mo video to better demonstrate the differences in pendulum settings and discuss why certain settings are better than others for different materials.

So the question is: why get a cordless jigsaw?  In my case, I have a corded Trion and was curious about a cordless version.  If I need to use a corded jigsaw, the Trion will work well.  If I want to breakdown stock in the driveway, I'd prefer the cordless Carvex.  Of course a cordless saw can be more convenient in the shop, although it is diminished by the lack of a "hose-less" dust extractor.  In fact, I found that I'm so trained to see the extractor hose on the tool and think the extractor will start when I start the tool that I often started a demo with the extractor off.  Fortunately, you can't read my lips in high-speed video :)  So, please, someone invent a hoseless dust-extractor!

28 minutes for a jigsaw review?!? By now you know I'm detailed; if you just want to see the saw in action, that's the first 5 minutes.

Popcorn-ex ready?  Okay!





I left a joke unfinished in the video... feel free to finish it in the comments :)


Festool-USA provided the Cordless Carvex PSC-420 and accessory kit for pre-release feedback and review.  And that said, I wrote the product manager with a number of questions and got excellent detailed replies, some directly from the engineers in Germany!

Domino DF-500 or Domizilla XL DF-700?

It's a common topic since the Domizilla came out: which to get if you could only get one?  It's also a very valid question since they aren't inexpensive.

With the recent offerings from Seneca Woodworking along with their new prototypes I reviewed recently, the choice becomes more muddied.  So let's go over the differences, what they mean in real use, and comment on how each machine stacks up to different common projects so you can better identify with a certain machine's capabilities.

The first thing to point out is that nothing suggests the 700 is a replacement for the 500; they are distinctly different machines; both will be around a long time.

Here are the specifications we'll look at:

Specification	500	700	with Seneca
Weight	3.2kg	5.2kg
Routing Depth	12-28mm	15-70mm
Cutter Diameters	4, 5, 6, 8, 10mm	8, 10, 12, 14mm	4, 5, 6mm
Mortise Widths	exact, +6mm, +10mm	exact, +3mm
Fence Height	5-30mm	10-52mm	down to 1mm

Let's look at the specifications individually...

Weight

For some, the weight of the machine can be a big deal. The 700 is 62% heavier than the 500. Generally, I care less about the weight than other specs on a tool, but I could see a reluctance to want to lug a tool 62% heavier than another that can do the same job. This is especially the case with a Domino where you are mortising many holes on different project pieces. Contrast this to a heavy router where you put it down and do a lot of work without lifting it again.


Routing Depth

This is a big difference between the machines that often goes overlooked. Well, partially overlooked...

The 500 can plunge to 12, 15, 20, 25, and 28mm depths.

The 700 can plunge from 15 to 70mm in 5mm increments. While this can seem the same, remember that you don't have a 12mm equivalent. Sometimes you need a shallow plunge in one piece and deeper plunge in the mate to keep from piercing a side. Not a big deal, but something to consider.

Now the 700 ships with a plunge lock; it is a piece of plastic pushed over a plunge rod for shipping. Keep it; slice off a 2mm wide piece and keep it as a stop as explained in the 700's supplemental manual. With it, you can set your plunge to, say, 30mm and slip on the 2mm spacer to get an effective plunge of 28mm. If you created a 3mm wide spacer, you could set the plunge depth to 15mm with the spacer for an effective depth of 12mm. You've now used these jigs to duplicate the two mortise depths the 500 has that the 700 doesn't directly have.

With the depths provided with the stock 700, you could use any of the 500's tenon lengths since they are all multiples of 5mm in length (30mm, 40mm and 50mm).


Cutter Diameters

Prior to the Seneca accessories, this specification was usually the deciding factor for people to choose one over the other. Now it is fuzzy. Gee, thanks, guys...

Prior to Seneca's bit adapter, the minimum 8mm diameter bit could be too large for some projects. Certainly for 1/2" (12mm) ply, that's gluing the tenon to basically the outside skins. Even for 3/4" (18mm) ply, 6mm is a better size though 8mm will work. Length-wise, you'd have a minimum length of 40mm for the pre-cut Dominos. Naturally cut-to-length stock (or home-made) could be made to match the 30mm minimum tenon length (using the 15mm minimum depth on both sides without any spacer).

With Seneca's bit adapter, all the 500's bits are available for the 700. Excellent news for dealing with thinner stock or when you just want a smaller tenon like the 5mm tenons for alignment of panel parts. Granted, the adapter does not extend the plunge depth of those bits: they are still limited to 28mm plunges, which with the 700's "multiples of 5mm" plunge depths means 25mm (using 30mm, my bit bumped the outside of the mortise and didn't achieve full depth). I don't see this plunge-depth limit as a problem since I don't see a case (for joinery) where you'd need a longer tenon of those smaller thicknesses. Now for non-joinery uses, of course you could use it!


Mortise Widths

The 500 has three widths vs the 700s two widths. The extra widths allow for slop during assembly and is usually used for panel alignment so one 'anchor' pair of Dominos are exact-fit mortises with the rest allowing for some drift during mortising.

I rarely use the wider mortise widths; I did when I first got the 500, but not so much anymore. A single wider setting is about all I'd require in a machine and both have it.


Fence Height

The height refers to the fence distance to the center of the mortise. Nominally, the 500 should be able to get to 5mm from the center although some fences require a bit of filing to do that (mine for example, but mine is an original first-gen fence). If you have a problem lowering your 500 fence to 5mm, give this article a read.

A limitation of the 700 is that you can't get that close to the center. With a 10mm minimum distance, you can only center the mortise on 20mm or thicker stock. Personally, I've never had a problem putting a mortise slightly off-center and actually encourage that for easier assemblies. However, the 10mm distance means 3/4" ply is about the minimum you can use even with an off-center mortise.

The Seneca DomiShims (or even your own shims) can apply a certain offset to the fence making that 10mm setting be, well, 0mm if you had a 10mm thick plate. The DomiShim for 1/2" stock is 9mm thick so you can technically set the fence to 1mm from the center, but then you'd ram your bit into it. But the point is it effectively gets you a lot of range on the fence height. Granted, installing the DomiShim isn't the fastest thing and, currently, the final version of the shim and fence height gauge are in some flux. Ultimately, you'll be able to use it or some shop-made shim to center your mortises on thinner project stock.


Ergonomics

I find the 500 a comfortable size and easily maneuvered. Some people find the top-mounted button awkward, but I've never had an issue with it; use your index finger :)

The 700, while ergonomic in use, is heavy. It begs two-handed use whereas I do a lot of work with the 500 one-handed freeing up the other hand to better hold the stock.


Miscellaneous Comparisons

On large projects, people will often go for the thickest tenon that fits the work. Sometimes, though, two smaller tenons are ultimately stronger and much more twist resistant than one larger thicker tenon. Consider that a pair of 8mm Dominos have nearly double the long-grain glue surface as an equivalent length 14mm Domino. Further, two 8mm tenons stacked (with some stock between them) is enormously more twist resistant than a single 14mm tenon; you may not have room for multiple 14mm tenons.


So, which one?

Prior to the Seneca accessories, there wasn't as big of a fuzzy grey region as there is now.

The 500 can do the vast majority of my projects; it does medium to large tables, small boxes, panels, face-frame joinery and attachment. The 700 is now capable, with the bit adapter, to do all those same projects plus those that need the larger tenons; for example, the thick and long tenons mortised through the table top into the legs of the No Comment #2 (Tim Burton Table) build. I often hear that outdoor gates or doors are a prime candidate for the 700 although I'll go back to the discussion that two stacked tenons can be better than one thicker one.

The 500 is still cheaper than the 700 plus some people moving to a 700 are selling off their 500 so you can get a great deal. If 99% of your projects could be handled with the 500, it might be a better investment; odds are that 1% project can still be done with the 500, but maybe with a bit more thought to achieve what can be more easily done with a 700 in that project. If you occasionally do larger projects, the 700 with the bit adapter (or reground 6mm bit) might be a more versatile tool, but at a higher cost for the machine plus the Seneca accessories mentioned.

Seneca Woodworking Domino Accessory Review and Preview

Ron and Ryan of Seneca Woodworking have been making some great accessories for the Domino; they're the ones who made the DomiPlate that production cabinet shops using the Domino really love.

The DomiPlate was for the DF-500, so they've since come out with DomiShims for the DF-700 XL Domizilla as well as a bit adapter that allows the Domizilla to use the smaller DF-500 bits.

...but they are also up to some other things, and that'll be the preview portion of this review.  The preview products will be useful to a lot of users besides changing the way DomiShims are sold.  Good stuff.  Ryan will be keeping us updated on the prototype releases on Seneca's blog, so read that one (after mine! :)

These accessories blur the already blurry line between a "500 project" and a "700 project" as the 700 can now make mostly the same holes the 500 can.  But there are still significant differences you'll need to consider before picking one or the other, the biggest factor being your current projects.  I'll be posting an article early next week reviewing those differences.



For my email subscribers, here's the video link.

Here are some handy links to the other relevant reviews mentioned in this video (uh, the video work wasn't as good back then :)

The original DomiPlate review.  The Domizilla XL DF-700 review.  The Domino DF-500 review.

No Comment #2 - Tapered Octagon

The tapered octagon piercing through the shaped demi-lune top of the Tim Burton table (formerly known as No Comment #2) involves the nemesis of most woodworkers: compound angles (the stair builders are laughing right now...)

True, compound angles are more complicated than square cuts with a square blade by a square woodworker :) ("triple square cuts"), but some techniques can make them really easy to work with and get great results.

In this episode, a large part deals with cutting and Domino-ing the triangles that make up the tapered octagon along with some tips on eye-balling the cut with an angled fence and how to recover from Dominoing with a less than perfect bevel angle setting.  The Domino trick actually comes in really useful in the triple-square arena as well.

There was a lot of interest in the new-to-me technique of using the Domizilla to mortise through multiple parts simultaneously; the process is really easy (though I over-explain, I know), but saves on a lot of awkward calculation of other compound angles.

Next up will be a short video on how to measure a compound angle off a project; this is really useful when you are making an n-sided object... make n-1 sides according to your formula and tool settings then calculate the last perfect-fitting piece directly off the rest.  The savings in caulk alone make this worthwhile to learn!

The video refers you to the Angle Madness Jigs video if you want to know more about cutting miters with triangles.

Sorry it's longer than I expected... jeez, it's just a tapered octagon!



As an aside, apparently all my friends had very very bored parents in August because we just had a string of 12 birthdays to celebrate.  Nice full social calendar; completely bumped video editing :)  Hey, at least it was for very pretty, I mean, very good reasons!

No Comment #2 - Table Top

Normally a panel for a table is pretty trivial to put together: surface, joint, glue, done!  While that's not always the case, it would be the Cliff Notes version.

The table top for the Tim Burton table is another story with all the shaping on the underside, scalloped edges, and that it is a demi-lune pattern fanning out from a center.  In this build video, I'll talk about why Dominos were used (not actually needed on a Cliff Note panel), how the ramp for the router works, and some of the aspects of laying out where the wedges come from.

This episode doesn't cover the finishing as that will be covered in another episode.

As always, thanks for watching...

No Comment #2 - The Full Build

Finally!  There, thought I'd say it for you since I've been saying it all week :)

I had a lot of fun with No Comment #1.  Enough that I'd thought to continue the series with a small but fun build aptly named No Comment #2 (clever, no?).  Like No Comment #1, I won't tell you what I'm building.  This video is a full project build from start to finish in high-speed sections and multi-cams to keep you busy watching instead of snoozing!  Guess as you watch it what I'm making.  Some clues have appeared on this blog to, you know, build intrigue.  My version of foreshadowing!

Unlike No Comment #1, I'll be following up this initial build video with videos detailing different aspects of the build.  There were some interesting techniques used in this build that can be applied to many of your projects.

If you write a comment on this video here or on YouTube (which I'd appreciate!), please don't put a spoiler in there as to what the project was.  Latest comments appear on the homepage so someone not trying to see the comments may see "hey, nice grain elevator!" and it'll just ruin the effect :)

The video is an hour long although my test victims who previewed many early versions never thought it too long; hopefully it'll be as interesting for you.  Maybe go pee before you hit play!


There are two versions of the video!  It wasn't enough to drive myself batty with all this video editing that I mixed two soundtracks.  One uses the songs you've heard many times on previous podcasts.  The second uses new music!  It's all progressive guitar and rock instrumentals.  It is very much what you'd hear in my shop, especially the newly-found favorite Daniel Bautista.

Since the video is all music between a short introduction and final conclusion, you could always hit mute and play your favorite hair bands if you prefer.

I shook the dust off the walls listening to the guitar edition after rendering it tonight; the middle three songs might be a bit much if you're not into the guitar as much but fear not as the songs after those three are very melodic; modulate with the volume control!

Here's the version with the sounds you've often heard on this podcast:



Here's the guitar version: version 11.0!




While sometimes the scene is messy in the video, what's behind the camera is usually piles of whatever I wanted out of the scene.  Here's a panorama of the shop during some of the shooting (the project was in the house so no spoiler here):

A secondary goal of this video was to get better at video editing, lighting, etc.  The biggest thing I learned is that for the total time of this project, easily 9/10th (or more!) of it was video work, whether it was setting up cameras, correcting clips, editing clips, or figuring out some silly thing I wanted in the video for no other reason than I didn't know how (at the time!) to do it!  This really wasn't that long of a build if you don't have red record lights pointing at you :)

For the curious, here's the info for my dedicated video drives:

Crazy that two 4Tb drives are full of the raw and optimized footage for this thing.  As I render the build videos to follow this one, I'll get to delete some footage.  At one point, I found myself drooling over an 18Tb raid stack.  Someday... (no, Friday! :)

Angle Madness, my other project in process, will continue, too, while I put out detail videos for No Comment #2, as I've recorded a lot of the content for those videos already.  The slow pace of Angle Madness needed an intervention for myself and for you.  Now you know why I was in the dark for so long :)

Review of the Festool Ti-15 Hybrid Impact Driver

I've had a Festool Ti-15 hybrid impact driver for about a month now; Festool USA kindly sent me one before the October 1st public launch for review purposes.  Thanks!

The Ti-15 is labeled a hybrid impact driver because it can also operate like a regular drill; for the tradesman, this can simplify life by giving you only one thing to carry for both functions and one set of batteries to keep track of.  And like most of today's hybrids, it's green :)

After editing this review, I realized it's a half hour.  Some parts talking about how an impact driver works might bore those of you who already know; have a sudoku ready.  But I've talked to people who don't know the benefits of 'impact' mode so it seemed relevant.  Besides, you guys should be used to my long reviews :)

I'll admit that when I first received the Ti-15, I didn't think it was the best fit considering I think of myself as more of a furniture maker than a reno/construction guy; the former use more wood-to-wood joints while the latter use more screws for good reason.  But having it around made me realize how many screws and nuts I drive for many non-furniture projects.  Having a hybrid tool with more power than my ultra-handy CXS is very handy around the shop and I've regrettably not been in my shop as much as usual.  Nice surprise.

The review ends with some demos mostly of the impact mode; we're all pretty familiar with a drill :)

Popcorn ready? (Sudoku, too?!) cue it up...



While you watch, I'm going to have a burrito with "hybrid" salsa... (green salsa) okay that was silly...

Using the MFK-700 on the Guide Rail

The MFK-700 is nice for light routing jobs, like rounding over or chamfering the edges of a project, or flush trimming edging/nosing/banding.  The dust collection on it is pretty stellar so I like it for these reasons.

Thing is, it never had accessories to put it on a guide rail.  I needed to do this to rout the platen for the vacuum press before gluing up the veneered panels for Angle Madness as I needed to create a grid of V-grooves for air evacuation.  The panels are ready for glue and vacuum now, long video soon :)

Here was my quick experiment and ultimate solution.

If you use the guide stop with the OF-1400 (the blocks that let you attach the router to the guide rail), you can either use the guide rods of the OF-1400 or the MFK-700 (they are optional and come with the edge guide accessory).  Either way, you can use the rods to attach the MFK-700 to the guide stop.  The caveat is that the hole spacing on the guide stop is a bit narrower than that of the MFK-700's edge guide.  However, if you put the rods in with all the screws loose (on guide stop and router), you can then tighten them up.  No need to crank on the screws, just snug enough to keep things from moving.

Another thing that worked was to use just one rod; once tightened up, it was pretty solid.  I used two rods on the platen.

You'll want to put the MFK-700 half on the guide rail just like you would with the OF-1400.  So what's the "foot" replacement to better balance the router on the other side?

The thickness of the guide rail is nominally 5mm.  So I used some double-stick tape to pop a pair of 5mm Dominos on the bottom.  Worked great if a little hokey.  Note that I oriented the Dominos so the rounded edges would prevent them from catching.

I wanted a more 'elegant' solution so I put a Domino on the bandsaw to set the blade distance and ran a piece of scrap through.

I then drilled a hole through the 'skate' and mortised a recess for the head of a T-bolt.  I used a 5/16" T-bolt as that's what my jig hardware kit is.  I'm sure this would work with normal 1/4" T-bolts.  The recess doesn't have to be really exact: you just want to prevent the T from spinning.

Also remember to round the edges of this skate since you don't want it to catch.

There's a hole there in the vertical MFK-700 base... I didn't drill a new one :)  Just push the T-bolt through and put a nut on the other end.  To make it easier to attach and remove, I just used a T-nut from the jig kit since there isn't much clearance, but it's now very quick to pop the skate on and off.

A benefit of making the skate longer than the base is wide is that when I pushed the router off the end of the stock, the skate and guide stop balanced the router.

I'll be using it more on the rail now!

A Place for my Files

I have a decent collection of files going.  Most are Iwasaki plane files: fast, aggressive files that leave a planed surface.  Nothing short of fantastic (oh, nicely priced, too).  Okay, I'm on a tangent...

Problem is storing them.  I put them in a drawer in their shipping bags so they don't bang together, but then I have to riffle through them to get those I'll need.  Had to be a better plan.

I asked for ideas over on FOG and an Aussie posted this link to a nice shop tour where a pretty good solution was waiting.

I grabbed a scrap board and laid out an array of Dominos up each side.  The flat files need 8mm of space.  Marching up the board using the previous Dominos as a reference off the base spaced them with a 7.5mm gap; good enough.

What you see attached to the fence is a narrow stock spacer; only works on pin-style Domino fences (nah nah ne-nah nah).  You could use the paddles to get a similar quick spacing.

The half-rounds needed more spacing so I stacked a few plastic shims (very handy) as I marched up those Dominos.

The result is a nicely organized board.  The gap in the middle is where I may someday put a handle to lift the whole thing out of the drawer; for now, fingers work well.

The resulting board even fits nicely in the drawer where they were.  Take the same space as before.

I forgot I took these pictures until I went to grab a file to soften some corners of a vacuum press platen I put together tonight!

Angle Madness! - Dominoing the Drawer Tiers

Finally got a chance to get back at editing this video; apologies, work got crazy.

In this episode, we'll Domino the curly Maple shell of the diamond-shaped cabinet tiers for a dry fit.  We can only do a dry fit for now since there's a whole drawer webbing to make on the inside as well as the top and bottom veneered panels (next episode!)

Using the Domino on a bevel angle has a few challenges mostly with being precise so you get a perfect dry-fit joint that doesn't require a clamp to fight the mis-aligned Domino.  There are ways to correct for that, and I go over it a bit in this episode.

Since Dominos on a beveled edge can get close to the outside show surface, there are also considerations beyond the obvious: don't pop through!  Careful placement and glue-up will avoid finishing problems later.

Midway through, I made a comment that inside the mortises, it's all end-grain.  On a bevel like these, that's the case and that presents glue-up issues.  I went over this a bit in a separate Domino Crib Sheet video.

Grab a latté and cue it up!




...and thanks for watching :)

Angle Madness! - Stock Prep from Hell

With Domizilla off probably invading Tokyo, I got a chance to get back to the Angle Madness entertainment center.  I should call it "the diamond cabinet formerly known as the entertainment center" as 'entertainment center' draws up so many uninspired chain furniture store images in my head...

This episode.  hmm.  It is stock selection and preparation, BUT due to all the inclinations, miters, and bevels, almost every aspect of "stock preparation" is affected.  There's nothing normal about the prep work needed on the stock for this cabinet!

While you may not plan on making a diamond-shaped cabinet, I think this episode will help you see some of the additional work needed up front during stock preparation of a project with inclined sides or "coopered" sides of sorts.  There should be some useful take-away (I hope!)

This one was a challenge to record with dual cameras; some of the lighting issues for the overhead cam will be resolved in future episodes, though they aren't too bad now.

If you like how this is going, lemme know in the comments or press the little thumbs-up button... I already have a troll taking care of the thumbs-down for ya :)

Domino Crib Sheet - 3 Topics - Mid-Panel Joinery, Cut-to-Length Stock, Pinning Joints

A final installment in what was apparently a crazy long Saturday.  I think I will hear my computer burp when I delete all this footage!

In this Domino crib sheet, I demonstrate two techniques for placing a joint accurately mid-panel.  You'd typically do this to Domino a shelf into the side of a cabinet, but I've also used this many times to place smaller 'rail/stile' pieces mid-panel as well.  One technique lets you set the top of the shelf or joining member while the other lets you center it on a line.

The second topic is more a continuation of the Domizilla review I did recently since I now have the cut-to-length tenon stock that is being released with the Domino XL DF-700.  Even if you don't have an XL, the 8mm and 10mm cut-to-length stock will be useful for times when you need a different custom tenon length.  Personally, I've made my own  longer DF-500 tenons on a couple home projects (stair refacing, suspended shelving, and installation French cleat for a built-in cabinet).

Third topic, pinning joints with a 23ga pin nailer.  I did a demonstration of this in a previous DF-500 demo, but it's useful enough for a re-run.  This can significantly reduce your need for clamps with certain builds, but regardless that benefit, it adds strength.

Now to get back to editing video for the 'angle madness entertainment center'...



Admit it, you're gonna miss that shirt now that the series is over...  but fear not!  A yoga hottie told me it's her favorite shirt so, oh my!, it'll be back :)


For disclosure, I received the Domino XL early as part of the Test Drive program, which requires testers to return the full kit on June 1, 2012 or allows the testers to purchase it at a small discount.

Domino Crib Sheet - Grain and Angles - 4 topics

I'll admit, I didn't know I shot that much video the day I played with Domizilla; still editing it down into bite-sized pieces :)

Today's Domino topics revolve around being aware of the types of glue joints you can make with a Domino and how they differ from those of a traditional mortise-and-tenon (M&T: meticulous & time-consuming :) kidding! hey, put down that pitchfork...)

Other topics involve miter joints (not too tricky) and mortising on a bevel (can be tricky).  My Angle Madness project has a number of crazy bevels to be joined with the Domino so getting this right is important or re-learning all that math is for naught!

By the way, I haven't forgotten that project, but this Domizilla character kinda shook up the shop for a weekend...



For disclosure, I received the Domino XL early as part of the Test Drive program, which requires testers to return the full kit on June 1, 2012 or allows the testers to purchase it at a small discount.

Domino Crib Sheet - Prefer the Quick-Height Setting and Domino Drawboring

This video crib sheet has two tips.  The first is to use the quick-height setting on the side of the fence even when that doesn't center the tenon.  Actually, even when I set the fence by hand, I never set it dead center for reasons demonstrated in the video (and that have saved a frantic glue-up or two).

The second tip discusses drawboring.  Drawboring a tenon involves using a peg through the tenon and an offset hole that causes the tenon to pull the joint tight and hold it there.  Fantastic for strength and it's clamp-free!  The tenons for the original Domino are, to me, too small to be used for drawboring, but the XL's tenons are much larger and heftier and seem to drawbore pretty well.  Now if you go back and see my video on making oversized mortises with the XL quickly and easily, you'll see a huge amount of drawbore potential.

Well, not to draw this out and bore you :) here's the video!



For disclosure, I received the Domino XL early as part of the Test Drive program, which requires testers to return the full kit on June 1, 2012 or allows the testers to purchase it at a small discount.

Domino Crib Sheet - Screw Holding

The ongoing crib sheet theme... another installment!

This is a quick demonstration of how to use a Domino to significantly improve screw holding in man-made materials like MDF (in the demo), waferboard, particle board, or MCP (commonly called 'Melamine').

The technique is pretty low-tech, but helps a lot when making things like cabinet lowers or other utility box that's later adorned with countertops.

Domino Crib Sheet - How do you glue?

When I did a review of the Domino XL DF-700 'domizilla', I mentioned a forthcoming video on Domino joints; I called it an encyclopedia, but that sounds far too authoritative for me.  Hence the high-school crib sheet :)

I have a lot of footage to edit and thought only insomniacs would enjoy watching it all in a sitting, so I'm going to break it up into small snippets like this one; some will include multiple tips, but none will require pausing for potty breaks.

If you are browsing from a desktop browser (most mobiles don't show it), there's a table of contents above this entry that will list all related crib sheet posts.  So if you save this entry and come back later, you'll find the others listed.

Back to the crib sheet...  this first video of the series does a glue-up experiment.  I often hear people say they only apply glue inside the Domino mortise for both speed and little to no squeeze-out meaning little to no cleanup.  Personally, I put it on both the Domino and in the mortise, but who's to say that isn't just overkill and a lot of cleanup.

This video shows an experiment I did applying glue to a mortise-only and to both.  Even if instinctively you think glue in only the mortise is weaker, is it too weak to use?  Might be strong enough.

Oversized Mortises with the Festool Domino XL Domizilla

The Domino XL DF-700 has thicker and longer tenons than the original Domino DF-500.  When you're building larger structures, these can be used alone or in an array of mortises to create strong joints.  While an array of Dominos can provide a lot of glue surface and twist resistance all while being easy to layout and plunge, sometimes you'd be even better served using much wider tenons.

Wider tenons are even faster to layout and plunge than an array and are easy to drawbore or peg for even more mechanical strength and simplified glue-ups.

The largest tenons you can make and directly use with the Domino are 14mm thick, 140mm long, and 68mm wide (for us 'mericans, that's a little over 5 1/2" long by a little less than 2 3/4" wide).  These things look like PopTarts more than Dominos!

In this video, I'll show you the simple procedure that uses the Domino's pin fence to create three oversized mortise widths quickly and easily.  If you've watched my procedure for oversized mortises with the original Domino DF-500, it was a little awkward and relied a lot on lining up the cursor for each plunge.  It works and I've used it many times, but the procedure is all mechanical with the Domizilla and therefore very fast!

The one caveat is that your centered pencil line is not in the center of these oversized mortises.  If you locate the first plunge of the mortise using other means (say, the cross stops or fence pins) and mirror the plunges (i.e., on one board start with the right pins, on the other use the left pins), everything will line up perfectly.  If you really want to center on a pencil line (and I do actually), you need to modify your Domino's cursor to add hairlines at 3, 4, and 6mm from the centerline.  This is really easy to do and I show you the procedure at the end of the video for those who want to stick it out.

The cursor is a replacement part so if you are concerned that you may not want to mark up your cursor or that you'll botch it up, the replacement part number is #701458 and can be directly ordered from Festool USA for $3.21.  I may start bugging people at Festool to modify their cursors to include all the lines from 2mm out as this procedure could greatly benefit people building fences, gates, doors, out-buildings, and monster conference tables.

If you do add the additional hairlines, you'll need to recalibrate the cursor to your Domino.  The procedure is really easy; that link is for a video showing it on the DF-500 though it is identical for the Domizilla (in fact, the part number of the cursor is the same for both :)

The following table shows you the widths of the mortises for each of the 4 bits sizes for all 4 mortise widths (the exact width as you'd normally use plus the three oversized mortises this procedure produces):

Bit Size	Single Plunge	Two Plunge	Three Plunge	Four Plunge
8mm ∅	21.5mm	36.5mm	53.5mm	66.5mm
10mm ∅	23.5mm	37.5mm	54.5mm	67.5mm
12mm ∅	25.5mm	38.5mm	55.5mm	68.5mm
14mm ∅	27.5mm	39.5mm	56.5mm	69.5mm

Here are the offsets for centering the mortise on the pencil line. These assume the pins used in the video; that is, left-inside, right-middle, left-outside; if you mirror the pins, flip the left/right designator in the table:

Two Plunge	Three Plunge	Four Plunge
6mm to right	3mm to left	4mm to right

"6mm to right" means put the pencil line on the 6mm line to the right of the center line.

Note that thought the bit size increases by 2mm for each row, the widths for a type of mortise only increase by 1mm.



For disclosure, I received the Domino XL early as part of the Test Drive program, which requires testers to return the full kit on June 1, 2012 or allows the testers to purchase it at a small discount.

Festool Domino XL DF700 Review (Domizilla!)

Last month, I received a Festool Domino XL DF700 joiner as part of the early Test Drive program.  This Domino will be available June 1, 2012.  It's huge!  Hence my 'Domizilla' moniker...

This video reviews the tool and tenon kits going through each part.  If you are already a Domino DF500 user, much of this is the same between the models.  That said, though, there are a few notable differences (beyond size) between the XL and DF500; I'll bring those up in the review as I go.  This is not a point-by-point comparison between the two.

Also should note that the XL does not replace the DF500: both models will be available moving forward as they are both made for different sized projects (with an overlap the video will show).

I won't be mortising in this video.  Ah, but no sad look... there are two other videos being edited now that will show:

• the Domizilla in use making some mortises; this is mostly an action film :)
• a Domino Joint Encyclopedia that shows how a number of common joints are made, how to make them wrong, and some strength tests for different glue-up methods; this is applicable and demonstrates both Domino models.

These videos will be released over the next 10 days so subscribe or "watch this space" for more.

You will want to verify and calibrate the cursor on your fence.  Here, I have a video showing the trivial procedure to do so.  It was shot awhile ago using the DF-500, but the procedure is identical with the Domizilla.  It is highly recommended for both models... do this the day you receive either (both?)

The video also references a previous video about making oversized mortises.  While that video was recorded using the DF500, the techniques are the same though the resulting mortise sizes are different.




For disclosure, the Test Drive program requires testers to return the full kit on June 1, 2012 or allows the testers to purchase it at a small discount.

Review of the Festool RAS-115 Rotary-Action Sander

If you saw my Sculpted Mahogany Vanity series, I used the RAS-115 a lot for shaping the surfaces into very tactile undulating waves.  That's not a normal thing to do, but shows how the RAS combines rapid stock removal, excellent control, and (most important!) dust collection!

As the name suggests, the RAS is a rotary-action sander with no eccentricity (other than any caffeine-induced shakes from the operator trying to finish the vanity late at night).

What makes this Festool different than the others is this is the only one I own that is a go-to tool when you don't expect it; if you have it around, you'll find it in your hands an awful lot.

In this review, I talk about the parts and an optional FiberFix pad used for fiber wheels and polishing heads (for stone, not your car). We'll take it apart so you see the components because not all of them are needed when you use the RAS: you can remove the dust shroud for polishing (this time, your car).

At the end, I'll do a demo of dust collection and shaping similar to what I did to the vanity surfaces; while you won't be doing projects like that, it demonstrates much of the dust collection concepts explained earlier.  Some close-up slo-mo clearly shows how even with the dust shroud in the wrong position, the RAS collects a lot of dust.

In the video, I list some uses; here they are listed in case you didn't have a pencil handy:

• Paint and varnish stripping; use Cristal papers for durability, no loading, and speed
• Shaping wood; use Rubin or Cristal papers.
• Coping; to me this is shaping, but in case you skipped that item
• Honing natural stone tile edges nearly dust free; needs FiberFix pad
• Scuffing or leveling concrete/thin-set; use Saphir paper.
• Cleaning metal including for priming; use Vlies pads (an abrasive pad).
• Coarse sanding of metal; use Saphir
• Smoothing cut metal edges; use fiber disc with FiberFix pad and optional metal dust collection brushes and a spark trap on your dust extractor.
• Polishing using Shinex pads.

There are no polishing heads specifically made for the RAS-115, but the now available Shinex has a number of larger 150mm (6") pads.  They also have an M14 arbor like the RAS pads.  Now the RAS runs from 1,400-4,000 rpm whereas the Shinex runs from 400-2,100 rpm; that means the RAS speeds 1-3 will somewhat match the Shinex speeds 3-6.  Is it as good as having a separate Shinex?  Likely not.  But if you have a RAS-115, you have the option of popping a Shinex pad on it for some polishing situations.  Note that this isn't outlined in the RAS manual as it predates the Shinex and Festool would likely only recommend polishing with the Shinex, not the RAS.  So, your mileage will vary.

Just as a reminder, the RAS-115 comes with a normal power cable (very long one at that!) and not a Plug-It tail like I have; I got that from one of my moles in the UK :) (thanks, mole!)  

Okay, popcorn is ready by now... cue up techno music...