Quick question on Domino Joiners

[Johnnyy Johnson]

I have searched online and can only find Festool. Are they the only company that make them?
Thanks
Johnny

[John Lanciani]

Quick answer; no competitors.

Protected by patents.

[Doug Garson]

I believe Festool invented the Domino and probably holds patents that prevent any other manufacturer from copying it, once the patent expires we may see several competitors. There are a couple of shop made copies you can make (I have made one) using a trim router. Not as good as the original but for hobby use it gets the job done. It's basically a handheld horizontal mortiser.

[Dave Sabo]

I think you can bet the farm that there will be copies when the patents expire. It'll be the same as when Lamello's patent expired on their biscuit joiner.

Well, maybe Ryobi won't be coming out with a hand held morticing machine.

[Johnnyy Johnson]

Thanks all...that answered the question

[George Bokros]

Domino is basically a loose tenon system and there are plenty of ways to make loose tenon joints, One is Rockler BeadLock another is the now out of business Mortise Pal. Many plans for a jig to cut mortises using a router are available on line.

[Jim Becker]

George is spot-on in his observation...there are many ways to do joinery in this way. It just so happens that Festool's Domino system is a pretty elegant way to accomplish it with precision. Not inexpensive, of course, but for folks who do a lot of this type of joinery or just like the method/machines, it's great. A Domino tool is on my personal "bucket list" for when I can fund it as all of my Festool tools have proven to be excellent and frankly, less expensive over time since they last.