Ok buying TS55 and was doing combo with complete MFT/3. After reading here for hours besides the top itself which with all the holes is fairly cheap just to buy is the bridge and angle offer anything that can't be done with jigs and qwas???

I am thinking buy or make the top, mount in bench and use the QWAS for the rest? It appears that they replace just about everything the other components do? The front and side rails are easily obtained in a close profile.

I guess the question is do you feel you need the bridge and angle guide or or they more trouble then they are worth? I can even add a t slot and add an old Osbourne miter gauge?

Thanks Monday is coming and I want to place order.

It should work. I remember there was someone that got a replacement top and mounted it on brackets so it could snap onto the dewalt mitersawstand. A while ago I wanted to share the picture on another forum and couldn't locate it anymore, I can't remember if I saw it here or on the qwas website, but I saw it around the time the raildogs were introduced.

I was just going to say, try Alan M he has one.   There is another one that I think Frank-Jan is referring to. It is from Gil LaCroix who kept bugging me for the first Rail Dogs. After I sent him a pair, he sent me some pictures to show why he needed them. Here they are with the last picture showing how he configured the bottom of the MFT top:

You won't be alone, there are several people that have bought just the top and made their own bench from there. Personally, I like having the aluminum extrusions going around the top but you can use some from 80/20 Inc. and save some money. Of course these can always be added later.

I started a thread on another forum posing the question of how to go about building your own MFT style top. There were 2 or 3 outstanding answers but I still like the idea of a CNC top if you can find one close by otherwise the shipping expense and issues come into play.

For your last question, once the workpiece is under the rail, the rail is very solid and no problem with the cut being off square (no bevel). You may need some scrap pieces of the same thickness to stick under the far ends of the rail to keep it from tipping.

Yep, same size hole and spacing.

where are you located?  I had mine done at Hacienda Plywood for $40 

I was toying with getting (or making a substitute for) the top, and getting the hardware kit (rail and such), then using off-the-shelf T-track around the edges. of a "custom" base for it.

Does anyone know if the rail connectors from the MFT will fit into regular T-Track?  The clamps from the guide rail accessory kit do.


At any rate, I'm leaning more toward just buying an MFT first instead.  Might still take that approach later to build something for larger pieces and such, so still entertaining the idea of using T-Track...

I'm thinking that down the road, after getting one of the Festool routers and an LR32 setup, I could use the LR32 system to space and drill the 20mm holes for my own top, thus making something larger than the MFT... but I don't think I can wait that long to have one to use in the meantime.   

Haha, that's exactly what I'm cutting tonight... a series of wedges for 8 different compound cuts on this project.

My question to MFT/3 users is what is the accuracy of the angle setting unit?  Assuming you set it dead-on 90º to start, can you accurately position it to 0.767º off 90º? 14.734º, 8.142º, 3.828º, -7.068º and a few more.  Granted, I don't expect to get thousandths degree accuracy.  The benefit of the wedges, though, is if you are making boxes with either end of a board mitered to the same (but negated) degree, you can flip the wedge and cut again.

On the MFT/3, you could do that in a different way... you could align the fence with Qwas dogs to the table.  To flip the miter angle, you would use dogs on the offcut side of the fence along with some big parallels to get the cut in place re-using the same miter gauge setting without repositioning it.  The repeatability of the exact same angle is more important than the degree to thousandths.

If that made no sense, I blame the food coma from lunch. 

I posted a while back about using a 10" sine bar for very precise or repeatable angles. If any body needs a refresher on it let me know. I don't use my miter head anymore, and have several if someone is interested in one.

it was a 4x8 sheet...paid another $45 for the 1/2" u/v baltic birch...

EMER... Thanks and I will be calling them as that is a great resource.

LI Boatman I saw one of your past threads and that is kind of the idea I have for dealing with odd angles but may use a t-track and Obsourne miter gauge. I used to be from LI myself.

Funny thing is in the move I lost almost all my tools and equipment. I am starting to realize I need the MFT/3 to build my version of the MFT? Does that make sense?

Love the above accuracy but it is wood and I have learned accuracy like that in wood creates more problems then solutions.

Thanks

I just can't pass any opportunities to mention Steve's newest product -- Speed Dogs, if you really like Qwas Dogs you will love the Speed Dogs.  They have eliminated my using clamps for most all Domino operations.   

http://www.qwasproducts.com/SpeedDog.html

Actually the idea is very practical. You don't need the wheels, just a mark on the fence. A mark on one end and the other at 10 inches from the end (or better yet could be a mark at 20 or 30 inches). The Jo blocks can be replaced by a caliper dialed to the proper "height" and locked in place. The reference "surface" can be a temporary fence or bar. You can google "sine bar explained" and get more details.

You may remember I started a thread about a Tan Bar on the other forum. It used the same principle but used the tangent function instead of the sine.

Jesus , Your ultimate workbench with the LS positioner sounds exactly like what I'm trying to do. Would you be able to post some pics of it please?

 Thanks

 James

Jesus,

I would also love to see some pictures of your set up.

Thanks,
Eric