GreenGA
Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2007
- Messages
- 877
Well, not really, but something in the, if not ball park, at least the same city.
Yesterday during our weekly shopping cycle at the local Costco, I was strolling down the hardware/tool/automotive aisle and came across a work platform that could possibly be used in place of an MFT. ???
It's one of those work platforms one sees around. You know, it unfolds into something you can stand/work-on that allows you to get high enough that it will allow you to reach an 8' ceiling to do whatever. The legs on this one, however, also extend enough to bring the height of the platform up to your waist where you can use it as like an MFT. The top is 1 1/2" - 2" thick, rigid, perforated plastic with the perforations large enough one could extend clamps through to hold down a work piece or two. It also has a couple of built-in tool trays and it even has 3 built-in electrical outlets for plugging in power tools. The weight capacity of the table is rated at 500 pounds. Not bad.
If one does not have the $500.00-$600.00 necessary to purchase a real MFT, this could possibly do in a pinch. In fact, even if one already has an MFT, this thing could easily be used as a decent in-feed/out-feed platform to work with your MFT!
Granted, within an hour or two, one could coble a couple of sawhorses together, grab a sheet of 3/4" plywood and get something close. But this thing costs only $100.00, folds up and is easily carried from place to place with the built-in handle. And don't forget the 3 electrical outlets and built-in storage trays.
It measures about 28-34 inches deep and about 46-56 inches wide; I am going from memory here and we all know about memory...
It's not much of a stretch to see two of these things placed near each other and bridging the gap with a piece of 3/4" plywood with a 1" thick piece of rigid foam adhered to the top of the plywood. Presto-Change-o, a cutting platform. Remove the rigid foam and you have a construction platform to build those cabinets and anything else you are working on.
With the imagination of this bunch, I could see someone taking one of these things, reinforcing the top after cutting a 10"x12" hole in the plastic top, custom fitting a sheet of 3/4" melamine to cover the entire top, routing some groves in the melamine to install some t-bolt track, cutting a 9"x11" hole in the melamine for a router plate and you have yourself a portable router table which mates up with your real MFT. A little more imagination you could cut another, smaller, hole in the top off to one side where you could then insert a piece of plywood into which you mounted one of the two Kreg "Bench Klamps" which permit you to hold, or clamp, down a piece of material while you pre-drill the pocketholes.
Anyway, I thought I would pass it along.
Happy Holidays to all!
Yesterday during our weekly shopping cycle at the local Costco, I was strolling down the hardware/tool/automotive aisle and came across a work platform that could possibly be used in place of an MFT. ???
It's one of those work platforms one sees around. You know, it unfolds into something you can stand/work-on that allows you to get high enough that it will allow you to reach an 8' ceiling to do whatever. The legs on this one, however, also extend enough to bring the height of the platform up to your waist where you can use it as like an MFT. The top is 1 1/2" - 2" thick, rigid, perforated plastic with the perforations large enough one could extend clamps through to hold down a work piece or two. It also has a couple of built-in tool trays and it even has 3 built-in electrical outlets for plugging in power tools. The weight capacity of the table is rated at 500 pounds. Not bad.
If one does not have the $500.00-$600.00 necessary to purchase a real MFT, this could possibly do in a pinch. In fact, even if one already has an MFT, this thing could easily be used as a decent in-feed/out-feed platform to work with your MFT!
Granted, within an hour or two, one could coble a couple of sawhorses together, grab a sheet of 3/4" plywood and get something close. But this thing costs only $100.00, folds up and is easily carried from place to place with the built-in handle. And don't forget the 3 electrical outlets and built-in storage trays.
It measures about 28-34 inches deep and about 46-56 inches wide; I am going from memory here and we all know about memory...
It's not much of a stretch to see two of these things placed near each other and bridging the gap with a piece of 3/4" plywood with a 1" thick piece of rigid foam adhered to the top of the plywood. Presto-Change-o, a cutting platform. Remove the rigid foam and you have a construction platform to build those cabinets and anything else you are working on.With the imagination of this bunch, I could see someone taking one of these things, reinforcing the top after cutting a 10"x12" hole in the plastic top, custom fitting a sheet of 3/4" melamine to cover the entire top, routing some groves in the melamine to install some t-bolt track, cutting a 9"x11" hole in the melamine for a router plate and you have yourself a portable router table which mates up with your real MFT. A little more imagination you could cut another, smaller, hole in the top off to one side where you could then insert a piece of plywood into which you mounted one of the two Kreg "Bench Klamps" which permit you to hold, or clamp, down a piece of material while you pre-drill the pocketholes.
Anyway, I thought I would pass it along.
Happy Holidays to all!
