Making Carcase Butt Joints - Festool Domino XL DF 700 Supplemental User's Manual

Making Carcase Butt Joints

Using tenoned butt joints is an effective method for con-
structing a cabinet carcase. The tenons provide a strong
support for each of the horizontal partitions of the cabinet.
The simplicity of this method is that you use the carcase
components for aligning the joiner.
Vertical
Side Piece
Setup and Machining
1. Lay the vertical side pieces on your workbench, and draw
lines across both left and right pieces to indicate where
the shelves will be located. Note that it is easier to avoid
mistakes later on by drawing double lines, with one line
above the shelf and one line below the shelf as shown.
Mark the
Locations of the
Finished Shelves
2. For reference, label the top and bottom face of each
shelf. This is so your left- and right-hand mortises are
referenced from the same face of each shelf.
3. Working with one shelf at a time, lay the shelf on top of
the side piece so its edge lines up with the outside pencil
line for that shelf location.
Note: To help you remember how to position the
shelves for mortising, simply stand the shelf up verti-
cally between the pencil lines, and then gently tip it
over so it is laying flat against one pencil line.
Supplemental Owner's Manual
Horizontal
Shelf Piece
Because the mortises are registered from the base of the
Domino (fixed 15 mm distance), the direction that you
tip the shelf (either toward the top or toward the bot-
tom) depends on how thick the shelf is. Use the following
guidelines:
If the shelf is thick (greater than 30mm), tip it down
►
with the top-side facing up.
If the shelf is thin (less than 30mm), tip it down with
►
the bottom-side facing up.
4. Clamp the two pieces together to prevent them from
moving.
5. With the Domino baseplate resting on the face of the
side-piece, plunge the joiner into the edge of the shelf.
Do not use the fence for height positioning.
6. With the joiner standing upright and its baseplate against
the edge of the shelf, plunge downward into the side wall
of the cabinet (see image below).
7. Repeat these steps for each of the shelves.
8. When you repeat this process for the other side wall,
make sure you keep the same side of the shelf facing up.
Clamp
Horizontal
Shelf Piece
Vertical
Side Piece
Clamp
Horizontal
Shelf Piece
Vertical
Side Piece
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