Other Uses for the Domino

While chatting with someone about the Domino, I realized a brief tour of other uses of the Domino might be interesting.  Here goes:

This shelf in my shop currently has three things hanging from it.  There used to be a few more jigs there, too.

The top of the shelf has a series of equally spaced Domino mortises...

The underside of the hung items also has mortises.  As you can see, the shelf is where I pop an unglued Domino in whichever mortise I need to hang items.  For awhile, I also had a moisture meter hung by a Domino since it had a wrist strap I could hook over it.  But the Domino isn't just used for stowing things on this shelf.  Next to the shelf is a large box that protects the water softener and water filter from clumsy woodworkers.  On the top of that, are 3 mortises (left, right, and one about 2/3 more to the right); each has an unglued Domino.

In this photo, you can see that the spray gun stand that was hung on the shelf can be hung from this box when I'm spraying outside the garage; the stand doesn't stand up well on its own with the long tail and whip on the gun so this is really handy.

In this photo, the "ladders" that were on the shelf are now deployed onto the box; they are used to hold panels as they dry with dye or finish (they can be much wider as they cantilever off the frontmost nail).  I made this while preparing 10 shelves for a cabinet and it has been very useful.  It is also the reason for the "2/3 more to right" Domino so it can handle shorter shelves or drawer parts.  As you can see in the picture, the exotic MDF is ready for French polishing :)

Ah, the back junk wall above my bench.  That horizontal stick of Oak is there for mounting mini shelves like the shelf for the scrapers (or the clamping squares to its left).

Push the Domino flush to the wall and plunge, which puts the Dominos 10mm from the wall.  Use that spacing to make the mortises on the bottom of the shelf and you have a quick way to make a removable shelf; easy to scoot over, too.  If you change your mind on a shelf's location, glue the Dominos in place and cut them flush.

I had a laptop in the shop for a long time.  I wanted a stand to hold it, but also wanted it removable.  I ran across the stand today in a hidden corner of the shop (in the garbage now as you've seen I have a wall-mounted monitor now).  Where my monitor is today, there was a horizontal strip of oak like the one for the scraper tray where this laptop holder could be quickly inserted or removed (as it stuck out over the bench a little, I'd often remove it when assembling something tall enough to hit it).

The laptop sat on the incline to make the keyboard more accessible; the oak front sticks up high enough to stop the laptop from sliding down!  Notice the two Dominos in the back.

On the back of my "Sysport" drawers, I use a Domino to register in the Systainers' locking slot to keep them in place.  I've used this trick on non-Systainers, too, as just a nub that sticks up is enough to keep a box from sliding around, but also easily removed.

If you remember the entry about the Moxon vice, I made a 'jig' mortise with the Domino using its registration pins so I could make mating mortises in jig accessories that attach to the vice.  First one I made and love is one for locating a drawer side plumb while cutting dovetails.

Out of the shop, I use a couple Domino tricks as well.  My dad made this ceramic bald Eagle long ago.  I borrowed it when I first moved in :)  That shelf is actually my first woodworking project in hardwood.  It is shaped from a tracing of that bird's shadow.  Now, I think the shelf needs more shaping, but I like it anyway.  It is mounted to the wall with 3 Dominos into the bracket (the bracket itself is screwed into wall bracing):

The two slots to the left are the "middle" size giving a bit of play; the other is elongated: 2 of the "wide" mortises in a row.  The shelf attaches by putting one Domino into the elongated slot then sliding the shelf into the other two:

Once inserted, a small screw goes through the top of the bracket to pin the Domino closest the corner.  It's rock solid, but easily removed.  Note that this shelf doesn't have to hold a lot of weight; 3 Dominos in shear like this would actually be pretty strong, but not enough for a hand-crafted anvil or anything.  Also, for the curious, there's a recess in the middle of the shelf that matches the base of the eagle so it can't vibrate off the shelf and also it places the eagle in the correct orientation it was in when the shadow was traced.

As a final example, this built-in cabinet is in my master closet.  The mirror in the back is held in place by 5mm Dominos.  No, no, I didn't mortise into the mirror :)  The Domino holes are set back from the front molding enough to hold the mirror in place; should I ever move, I can pretty easily remove the cabinet and take out the mirror for transport (no mirror mastic!)

Oh, yeah, I use the Domino for joinery, too :)