Domino Dock

**Bernmc** · 7th November 2021, 10:13 AM

Cobbled up a Fe$tool Domino DF500 dock on the CNC yesterday.

Needs a bit of refining, and I need to think about joints between angled surfaces on the CNC - didn't quite get this right, and mucked up some dogbones too. But not bad for a prototype.

It's based on Ramon Valdez' design. What I'm not sure about is his has the machine facing away from the user, which means you're working with stock and a spinning oscillating blade while it's obscured by the fence. Unless you work from the side, which makes it awkies in my workshop. I can see why he's done it this way - all the controls are easily accessible on the front, and it's the way we'd usually use the DF500. But I'm not sure it's the safest.

I'm going to have a go at a different flavour with the machine the other way around. Needs a reasonable amount of re-design to make sure essential controls are still accessible on the back of the dock. I also have a CNC'd DF700 dock in the pipeline...

A couple of hours of modelling on Fusion360, and another couple with the CNC and a dirty great hammer to get those zero-tolerance box joints together.

Domino DOck F360 model.jpg Domino_500_dock_rendered.png

500 flatpack.jpg 500 assembly.jpg 500 front.jpg 500 domino front.jpg 500 domino side.jpg

There's no glue or screwing involved in this prototype, and it's as solid as a solid thing on a solid day - the joints are so tight.

For the CNC'ers amongst us, I used an amanatool 46170-K 1/4inch spektra-coated spiral bit. According to the datasheet, it'll plough through ply at 110ipm (that's 2.8m/min!) at a cut depth of the bit diameter (6mm). However, the blokes at toolstoday say it'll cut 3/4in ply at full thickness quite happily. Fusion does the cunning calcs automatically, so it went through my cheap poplar ply at 1016mm/min at the full 18mm thickness without a problem. One pass, all done. Just got to make sure everything is well clamped down...

**barri** · 7th November 2021, 12:50 PM

Well done bernmc!

Here's a few alternatives for those who don't have a CNC machine

The Dock for Festool Domino DF500 Drawings & Parts List | Ramon Valdez Fine Furniture

Domino Station - Bau-Woodworks

I bought the plans for the first which is similar to yours and it worked out well but I preferred the fence facing towards me so I ended up buying the second which is well priced at 49 euro with inexpensive but slow delivery. For making small boxes these really speed up the process

**Bernmc** · 7th November 2021, 01:07 PM

Barri, what exactly are those locking knobs on the Bau version doing? Do they just allow you to slide a wedge up against the machine to lock it in place?

I saw his version on youtube, which made me think of CNC'ing a forward facing dock.

**GraemeCook** · 7th November 2021, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by barri

Well done bernmc!

Here's a few alternatives for those who don't have a CNC machine

The Dock for Festool Domino DF500 Drawings & Parts List | Ramon Valdez Fine Furniture

Domino Station - Bau-Woodworks

I bought the plans for the first which is similar to yours and it worked out well but I preferred the fence facing towards me so I ended up buying the second which is well priced at 49 euro with inexpensive but slow delivery. For making small boxes these really speed up the process

WARNING

My security software blocked access to the Ramon Valdez site.

No idea if it is a systemic problem, or some random event.

**GraemeCook** · 7th November 2021, 01:16 PM

Interesting little project, Bern, but I have one tiny question:

Why would you want a dock for a Domino? I just put it on the bench top.

**barri** · 7th November 2021, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by Bernmc

Barri, what exactly are those locking knobs on the Bau version doing? Do they just allow you to slide a wedge up against the machine to lock it in place?

I saw his version on youtube, which made me think of CNC'ing a forward facing dock.

The locking knob slides up and locks the machine. Its not necessary but adds some stability

**barri** · 7th November 2021, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Interesting little project, Bern, but I have one tiny question:

Why would you want a dock for a Domino? I just put it on the bench top.

I can make a small box very quickly particularly when using the built in stops. Have a look at the video on the Bau woodworks site and you'll see what I mean. I also use a desktop jig where I screw in the domino base from underneath but this dock is way quicker for certain tasks

**Bernmc** · 7th November 2021, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Interesting little project, Bern, but I have one tiny question:

Why would you want a dock for a Domino? I just put it on the bench top.

It's just an easy way to deal with small/thinner pieces (this bit in Bau's video explains - 5 TRICKS to make the Festool Domino even FASTER and more efficient || TOOL HACK - YouTube).

I seem to remember issues with Ramon's website too, but he's legit. I think he puts a lot of his stuff on instagram, but I don't play with any social media on account of Mark Zuckerberg looking at my undies.

**GraemeCook** · 8th November 2021, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by Bernmc

It's just an easy way to deal with small/thinner pieces (this bit in Bau's video explains - 5 TRICKS to make the Festool Domino even FASTER and more efficient || TOOL HACK - YouTube). ...

Thnks, Bern, all clear now. I had a brain phaart on this one and never envisaged actually using the Domino while it was positioned in the dock. Makes a lot of sense.

... I seem to remember issues with Ramon's website too, but he's legit. I think he puts a lot of his stuff on instagram, but I don't play with any social media on account of Mark Zuckerberg looking at my undies.

I am not a nerd, so often I just muddle through; don't really know what is going on.

My security kicked in, so I ran away as fast as I could. No lasting effects (so far!):

Possibly the "virus" was on Ramon's website,
Possibly it was lurking somewhere on the route from my PC to Ramon's server,
Possibly it was just a random event.

With so much emphasis on covid, people are forgetting that computer viruses and the offspring are lurking everywhere.

**Midnight Man** · 8th November 2021, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

I am not a nerd, so often I just muddle through; don't really know what is going on.

My security kicked in, so I ran away as fast as I could. No lasting effects (so far!):

Possibly the "virus" was on Ramon's website,
Possibly it was lurking somewhere on the route from my PC to Ramon's server,
Possibly it was just a random event.

I'll throw this out there with a word of caution in advance - whilst I use this tool a bit to test suspicious files and/or links, *NOTHING* is guaranteed, but checking a link or download through up to 53 other tools does give some level of reassurance...

VirusTotal

If you have a file to test you can upload it.

If you have a URL to test, click the URL link and paste it before clicking it yourself.

Again, *NONE* of this is a substitute for your own set of proper security tools and mechanisms that should be live 24x7 on any computer you use (including Macintosh - 25 years in IT has proven to me that nothing is immune to compromise, old wives tales of such be damned).

Oh, and Ramone's link posted in this thread is clean as of the time of writing this post according to both VirusTotal and my own security checks.

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