Bookcases: Domino instead of stopped housings...?

[LuckyDuck]

Hi Guys:

I wasn't sure where to post this, but since half of the question has to do with the Festool domino I thought I would post it here.

Like many, when making bookcases, I use stopped housing joints for the shelves. This typically involves a router to make the trench, squaring off the end where it stops near the front of the cases, cutting the corner of the shelves to match (usually by hand as this gives the best results for me), and then assembling with glue.

Yes, I know, I really should be making sliding dovetails, but this is VERY time consuming for me!

I've been experimenting with using the Domino for the joint, instead of the stopped housing. It looks identical, but it is a hell of a lot easier to make!

My issue, and this is the heart of my question for those with more experience...do you think the dominos are strong enough for the long haul? Typically, I thickness my material to around 20mm for the case sides and shelves, and work in hardwoods. And so far I've been using 8mm or even 10mm dominos, three per joint -- front/middle/back of a typical 280mm depth shelf. I can only plunge the domino in about 15mm in the case sides, so I use an uneven joint in the sense that I plunge the other 25mm into the end of the shelf, 8 x 40 dominos, or the same if I'm using the 10 x 50, and cut them off on the bandsaw before assembly.

This matter has come to a head for me as I'm about to make a built-in library in a 4m x 4m room with about sixty shelves to join...

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Kuffy]

Using the domino as described will be fine. You can also use 3 sets of double dowels 32mm apart. Sliding dovetails are the best, housing would be second best, and dowel/domino would be equal last best. All are good enough.

[Evanism]

Strength wise, they will be excellent, but I can think of one negative for shelves.

Not that there is much, but there is some expansion/contraction longitudinally. If it were one shelf, it wouldn't be a problem, but 6 or 7, all moving at different times/speeds, might make the edges gappy with time. It will only take one shelf to move that 2mm more than the others and its instant gaps.

Not that it will be much, but a sliding dovetail will hold all of them in place absolutely forever.

I'm thinking after doing a few cupboards myself that use pins, stops and sliding dovetails (I sell commish jobs and tackle any-and-all skills and really love to think it through) that the sliding dovetails would absolutely be the right thing to do.

Making up a couple of jigs and doing some exact tests to replicate the depths/setups would be worthwhile.

BTW, I am a huge fan of my Domino and absolute gold timesaver.

[LuckyDuck]

Thanks Kuffy and Evanism. You're right, with you I do consider sliding dovetails to be the best, and they certainly ensure absolutely no gaps at the front! I just find making and fitting such rather time consuming as inevitably some joints, out of say 12 for a typical 6 shelf bookcase, require a bit of hand work to fettle the fit (at least for me)!

Normally I would assemble the joint by sliding through from the back -- ie stopped sliding dovetail. Have you guys experimented at all with the notion of cutting a sliding dovetail in say 100mm from the front, and then using a domino to secure the back of the shelf. The joint would show which may be a good or bad thing depending on your tastes (and/or the furniture). Probably doesn't save any more time, and if I'm going to the trouble of a partial dovetail, I might as well do it properly. !!

[Kuffy]

You wont able to have 100mm of sliding dovetail at the front and then have a domino at the back, because it cant be assembled. You would need a very loose dovetail to do it, and it would take longer overall.

[LuckyDuck]

Ha! How utterly stupid of me! 😁

[davo453]

Dominos or dowels would certainly work and speed up construction.

The only problem I can see as someone else pointed out is the expansion/contraction of the timber. Also any cuping would not be prevented by the dowels or Dominos but would by the halving joints or sliding dovetails.

I have used a Domino jointer and loved it, currently saving up my pennies to buy one why soooo expensive .

Dave

[LuckyDuck]

Dominos or dowels would certainly work and speed up construction.

The only problem I can see as someone else pointed out is the expansion/contraction of the timber. Also any cuping would not be prevented by the dowels or Dominos but would by the halving joints or sliding dovetails.

I have used a Domino jointer and loved it, currently saving up my pennies to buy one why soooo expensive .

Dave

Agreed on all of the above. I think I either have to go back to housings, or else I'm even contemplating stopped sliding dovetails. That's even more work!

The Domino is expensive, except that it works ever so quickly! That makes it good value for those with time constraints -- and that may well include the hobbyist as well as the pro!