My home made domino!The Build

Alan Bienlein

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Well I just got the plans down loaded and am fixing to get started on this build. I figured whats $11.

If any one else is interested here is a link to the plans http://www.instwood.com/2013/01/portable-mortising-router_6259.html . The first video is a shortened version of one he has on his website showing him measuring the loose tenons and cutting the mortises. The second video shows all the features of the machine. There is no narration as everything is visual.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX05hTxO5V4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0FpgdzR56c
 
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Well I got started this weekend by buying the BigPrint program Matthias has to print out full size templates and make life a little easier. http://woodgears.ca/bigprint/index.html It's a pretty awesome program as you only need to know one dimension to calibrate it for printing out full size templates.

I'm also going to try a different way to make the plunge mechanism move other than using the slides he has listed. They only seem to be available from hafela and from past experience are a pain to get in a timely fashion.

I'll be posting pics of the build as I go.
 
what applications would you be using this in primarily? (the dominos)

Never thought about that Allen. I guess just for loose tenons in areas where my other machines can't get to.

In all honesty I'm building more for the challenge of making a tool for less than 1/10 the cost that will do the same thing as the smaller festool domino.
 
Well Alan i saw an episode of this old house this weekend where they had an enormous 11ft butcher block island custom made and placed it over the island. The block went from the floor one side across the island with the draws and down to the other side on the floor in a big U.

Delivered in one piece from a guy by the name of Paul Grothouse from his company The Grothouse Lumber company. Well they used dominos on the mitred edges of the slab going from floor vertically up to meet the horizontal counter part. They used the dominos to keep the alignment in place for the precision mitre on this massive slab.

Again one sees the merit of CNC in this guys manufacturing plant when he uses it to cut a receptacle box hole in the slab with absolute precision.

Here is a link to the "This Old House Project" and there is a video snippet on the landing page where you can get to see the butcher block being assembled. Did not take time to look around for the whole episode of that show.

Here is a link to Grothouse Lumber Company and no one can tell me there is no money in woodworking for a living today. But you need to have a clear value proposition and execute properly with focus and clarity as to what your offering is. Check out this guys work .

BTW for those looking for excuses saying you need money , i say nonsense. Even Norm in this episode of the show made the point to the guy of how he was not setup like this last time Norm visited him. He only had a table saw previously. But he has made a niche for himself and stuck to it. Wonderful work and its clear to me if you were a designer or architect and wanted a unique counter top guy to match your design ideas, hey where would you go. This attracts the people with money to be able to fund a counter top like this.
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/video/0,,20658413,00.html to see the part of the episode that relates to the butcher block start this video at 3 min.
 
The build begins

Well I finally started to build the domino after Norma left for work this afternoon. I acquired the most important part this weekend which was the Bosch router for a very very good price thanks to Norma and her eagle eyes!
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I made full size patterns from the prints using Matthias BigPrint program. I cut them out and attached them with some spray adhesive since I'm using 1/2" phenolic instead of the Baltic birch.
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I also made another change as the slides he used in the original are a Hafele item and aren't readily available here. I decided to use 3/8" solid rod and bronze bushings. I'm also hoping to be able to shrink the size of it some what by doing this.
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Here I have it set up to test for binding and it slides silky smooth!
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Here I'm cutting the arc in the sub base for the router that allows the router to swing from side to side.
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Here I'm cutting the angles on the base for the router on my SCMS. I sure do love that laser as it made lining up the cut a snap.
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I finished of the rounded ends on my horizontal edge sander.
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Well I made a little more progress today. I got the holes drilled for the 3/8" bar that the assembly will slide on done and it works nice and smooth.
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Figure I would a post and update. The whole assembly is held together with 8-32 screws. I still have a few things left to do like make the handle for plunging, the various depth stops and the dust collection connection.
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This shows the set screws I made from the 8-32 screws to hold the 3/8" guide rods in place.
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