Considering switching from track saws/MFT to a panel saw.

[sarno]

Not knowing a whole lot about the BenchDog system I took a look and found out he has addressed the inadequacy of squares for the MFT with a couple of posts that screw into his big triangle. I’d like them to be taller though.

Also looked at his Quad MFT? rig. I still think the DashBoard system is better, mainly because the shoulders that guide the part that slides up and down are longer. I watched his (BenchDog) quick intro to the thing and he simply put the parts together and tested with his square and pronounced it good. I watched Peter Millard’s video of the pre-production model and the same thing happened. I consider both results minor miracles, especially in Peter’s case as it appeared he kinda eyeballed where to put the front mounting holes. Neither addressed the problem of adjustment if the grid pattern isn’t perfectly perfect. Maybe that is the difficulty sarno is having?

I really don’t know how to adjust that BenchDog setup. How in the world do you do the 4 cut method with stuff that is locked into holes? Maybe there is some play where the rail joins the hinge? I guess that would be possible but awkward. I’d be lost without a simple pivoting fence on top of the table.

The Benchdogs hinge has pre-drilled holes for each rail type. You put a stopper in the relevant hole for your rail then drop the rail into it. This locks your rail in and you can't adjust it so your fence must be square or adjustable. To get around this, you can choose to use the slotted cut out on the hinge instead of the pre-drilled holes. This allows the stopper to move left or right to get the rail square to your fence. You then tighten down the stopper once you're happy.

 

[sarno]

I am sure Peter Parfitt’s angles are all perfect.

Benchdogs UK sells CNC-milled tabletops made to measure. Metabo sells a cheap replacement tabletop for their MFT knock-off. But a crosscut station can be built more simply without a full grid. I wouldn’t bother drilling 100 holes by hand for this purpose.

Thinking about how to do this without using dog holes/MFTs... I have a t-slot track running along the face of my bench so if I add a second to the backside I could mount a Dashboard hinge there. Or even make my own bracket both sides where I could place a dog hole. At least then I can slide them around until they're square to the fence.

 

[rvieceli]

These folks make a square with a 3 inch side and a range of sizes up to 20 inches

Squares

www.fireballtool.com

Ron

 

[Mini Me]

Maybe you need someone who has experience using the equipment to give some advice. I used a Festool track saw when they first came out and it was a disappointing experience and I have never attempted to repeat it but in those days none of the accessories were available so instead I bought a Hammer slider and love it. MFT tables don't look like a rigid device at all but then I want a bench that is suitable for hand work with planes, chisels etc and is rigid enough for that purpose. One advantage of a slider is that it can if you want it can replace a mitre saw with no disadvantages at all.

 

[Michael Kellough]

The Benchdogs hinge has pre-drilled holes for each rail type. You put a stopper in the relevant hole for your rail then drop the rail into it. This locks your rail in and you can't adjust it so your fence must be square or adjustable. To get around this, you can choose to use the slotted cut out on the hinge instead of the pre-drilled holes. This allows the stopper to move left or right to get the rail square to your fence. You then tighten down the stopper once you're happy.

Sounds like it’s only awkwardly adjustable, hence you haven’t been satisfied so far.

I’d probably lock the rail in place and get a different fence. Being me, I’d get an original Festool MFT fence because they’re simple and so many people have thrown them over for something fancy, so it would be cheap too. I don’t think a fence needs to be fancy, although sliding stops are nice (and the old Fes MFT fence has them), but with all the holes in the table it’s simple to clamp a stop wherever it’s needed.