Festool DF 500, PI574332, PI574432 Operation, Overview, General Notes, and Tips, Plug-ItPower Cord

Operation

Overview, General Notes, and Tips

	tenon joinery. Here are some guidelines to assist
Getting Started	you in making your choices:
Because the look and feel of the Domino joiner may already be familiar	► When the strength of your workpieces is
to you, or similar to other tools you may have used in the past, you	comparable to the strength of the Domino tenon
might be tempted to forego a basic introduction to using the tool.	(e.g. general hard woods) then the thickness of
However, unlike other tools of similar look and feel, the Domino	the Domino tenon should be approximately 1/3
machine is extremely precise in its operation. For this reason, it is	the thickness of the workpieces.
recommended that you spend some time practicing using the Domino	► It is acceptable to use a tenon that is slightly
joiner before you begin using it for your fine woodworking projects.	thicker than 1/3 when the width of the Domino
The old adage that practice makes perfect is very applicable to all of our	tenon is relatively narrow compared to the
	width of the joint. This is why 8mm Domino
woodworking skills, and is even more important when dealing with
	tenons are the most common for joining ¾-inch
precision systems such as Domino. Even though the Domino machine
	lumber.
is easy to learn and easy to use, it is always a good idea to make
	► For softer woods, such as pine, the joint will be
several practice cuts to learn the nuances of the tool before you put it
	stronger when the tenon is 1/3 or slightly less.
to use.
	► For plywoods, especially low-grade construction
	plywoods, the Domino tenon is much stronger
Choosing the Right Domino Tenon Size
	than the surrounding wood, so it is best to
Because the Domino system is a form of the classic mortise and tenon	maximize the strength of the substrate by
joinery, it should follow much of the same guidelines of mortise and	minimizing the thickness of the tenon.
Domino Tenon Placement Guidelines
There are no steadfast rules on where tenons should be placed,
especially when they are used for alignment purposes. For edge
joining boards, a typical placement might be 6 to 8 inches apart.
However, when tenons are used to strengthen a joint, you might
be tempted to place the tenons too close together. This can actually
weaken the joint by removing too much of the substrate material.
► A wide mortise weakens the substrate, so it is better to have
several narrow mortises with uncut space in between, than it is
to have a single wide mortise with several tenons side-by-side.
► When placing several tenons close together, leave at least twice
the tenon thickness between mortise holes. As a general rule,
this means the minimum tenon spacing should be about 10
mm to 20 mm, but they can be spaced much wider.
► When creating stacked mortises for extra thick lumber, an
extension of the “1/3 rule” mentioned above still applies.
Specifically, the distance between mortises, and the distance
between a mortise and the wood surface should all be equal to
(or larger than) the thickness of the tenon.

Plug-It®Power Cord

The Domino joiner comes equipped with a removable Plug-It power cord. To install the power cord, insert the cord into the inlet on the tool with the key and keyway aligned, and twist the locking ring. Reverse the procedure to remove the cord.

Note: Turn the outer locking ring ¼-turn to fully engage or disengage the cord.

10 Domino DF 500 Tenon Joiner