Demonstration by Festool Representatives

[extiger]

At a local lumber store which sells Festool, two company reps showed up with their truck for a 6-hour demonstation. Lucky me  -- I was the only customer on that cold, blustery morning. I asked about the equpt. I own:

OF 1400
ATF 55
MFT/3
C-12
RO 150E

My table and the router are new and unused. The clamping abilities of the MFT/3 were amazing. No other word for it. And to show how to cut Dados, he used the table, clamping elements and the OF1400. Setting the plunge depth and balancing foot are two tasks not easily learned from the simplistic documents that come in the Systainer. Same for the features on the MFT/3.

Merry XMAS.

Gary Curtis
Los Angeles

 

[honeydoman]

yes it must have been a cold and blistery morning...... in los angeles?  what was the temp 50?

well at least you got to learn some stuff.

 

[extiger]

I live permanently at the Oregon border, and my little town is locked in snow. I'm here for the holidays. You're right, though about Los Angeles  . Let me correct myself  - a cool and damp morning. A 40? day here would justify a phone call to Heraldo Rivera and the NBC News Team.

The aspect of the MFT/# that was new to me was that little T-slot running along the perimeter the top. A screw clamp or quick clamp inserted can hold a board upright, either flat against the table, or protruding at right angles. Great for touching up dovetails with a block plane.

And they talked about the forthcoming Router Table, that can be joined to the MFT/3. Currently available in Europe and promised for North America sometime in 2009.

 

[wnagle]

Extiger,

"And they talked about the forthcoming Router Table, that can be joined to the MFT/3. Currently available in Europe and promised for North America sometime in 2009."

Did they say which router the table was designed for?

 

[extiger]

It was lucky that instead of watching a "dog & Pony show" of every green machine, I told the guy which Festool equipment I own, and he only spoke about those pieces.

And since I own the OF1400, that was the only router he mounted up with the Guide Stop atop the MFT/3. He broke the sliding gate on the see-through dust fixture while setting it up. He was going to cut some Dado's with the OF 1100 but he couldn't get the guide bushing mount off the base. He did haul out the OF2200 to show me the dust collecting collar on that baby. He said little about those two machines.

On the OF1400, he showed me how to tighten up the slop on the Guide Stop and how to adjust the leveling foot to compensate for the gap between the Guide Rail and workpiece. With all that hardware attached, there are a lot of knobs to adjust and tighten. Meanwhile trying to manage the dust hose and power cord. Have you seen the Wood-whisper video on the OF2200? Pretty thorough.

Gary Curtis