Festool Domino Machine Instruction Manual - page 72
Next, let’s tackle the leg assemblies.
Here is where the extreme strength of the
Domino loose tenon joint is really going to
pay off big time.
Since the table legs have to move with
the top to create enough space under-
neath for the diners’ legs, there can be no
leg stretcher which normally would be
used to stabilize frame legs like these.
The stretcher plays the important role of
preventing rack when the table is pushed
from one end. Since we don’t have a
stretcher, we need to build the leg
with the anti-rack strength derived
in some other way.
These legs are made from 50mm
thick slabs of solid black walnut
with silky oak spindles loosely set
in Domino mortises cut into the
leg top and bottom cross mem-
bers. Domino M&T joints are used
to reinforce all of the joints in the
frame structure so it is very rigid
and strong.
Four “L” shape fillers attach at
right angles to the top of each leg
reinforced with Domino glued
loose tenons. Those fillers are
pocket hole screwed to the under-
side of the top using over-size
holes to accommodate the sea-
sonal movement of the table top
between these screws.
A maple top plate is then Domino
mortised and tenoned into the leg
holding the maple top plate flush
with the top of the fillers and se-
cure to the face of the leg. The
plate is then screwed down tightly
to the fillers. The underside of the
top forms one side of a torsion
box, while the maple top plate
forms the other side. The fillers
hold these two apart and act like
an “I” beam spreading the rack
loads placed on the legs out over the top,
the skirts and the maple top plate itself.
The only way the legs can rack from an
end load placed on the table is if the
wood itself bends since the leg assembly
is held firmly in place by the torsion box.
The upper photo shows the com-
plete assembly while the lower
shows the legs and fillers with the
top plate removed so you can see
the details.