Does an MFT/3 make mitre saw ownership pointless?

[Maximus]

Just wondering what the thoughts might be of any MFT/3 owners here on the forum?

In my own experience, a mitre saw gets used mostly for cutting floorboards and fitting skirting and architrave.  The table can do all those things and with better accuracy arguably.  Plus it can handle panels and wider stock.

So is there any benefit to owning an MFT/3 with a TS55 and a mitre saw, beyond it being slightly more portable?  [scratch chin]

I'd be interested to know what your practical experience is.

 

[travercadaver]

Keep in mind that I'm just a hobbyist with a small basement shop.  Most of my shop furniture was built using the MFT/3 TS55 combo.  It works very well.  Now I've got a miter saw set up down there, too.  The miter saw makes things go a bit quicker for cuts.  Instead of getting the table calibrated, getting the saw out of its systainer, etc. I just go up to the miter saw and make a quick cut.  That's just me, though.  Other people have different needs and experience that might be closer to your situation.

Travis

 

[JimD]

I use my miter saw for crosscuts but also to cut molding for the house.  I wouldn't use my track saw to cut molding unless I had no other option.  Even a table saw would be better.  On the other hand, if I need a cross cut beyond the capacity of my CMS or RAS, I would use the track saw.

 

[Peter_C]

Let me know when you can cut a 4x12" with an MFT...

 

[Sparktrician]

HA!  Try cutting crown moulding on an MFT.  Kapex - no problem.  Not so with an MFT. 

 

[sheperd80]

For most carpentry an MFT doesnt even begin to replace a miter saw, unless you wanna be the slowest carpenter in history. For furniture making maybe.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[JHZR2]

Not sure I understand how this can be a question.  MFT with TS in place of a table saw, perhaps; mitre?  My compound mitre saw is probably my most useful saw in the shop.

 

[Holmz]

Not sure I understand how this can be a question.  MFT with TS in place of a table saw, perhaps; mitre?  My compound mitre saw is probably my most useful saw in the shop.

Well I can put the dogs in at 45 degrees, so I can do picture frame type of mitres.
I can also tilt the saw to do compound cuts, so it is possible.

The CMS being your most useful saw is meaningful to you.
Any a person that make cabinets, would say a cabinet saw, and a paneller might say a panel saw.
Maloof would probably saw a band saw.

All that tells us is about your work, which may not have any bearing on the the OP's work.

 

[JHZR2]

Not sure I understand how this can be a question.  MFT with TS in place of a table saw, perhaps; mitre?  My compound mitre saw is probably my most useful saw in the shop.

Well I can put the dogs in at 45 degrees, so I can do picture frame type of mitres.
I can also tilt the saw to do compound cuts, so it is possible.

The CMS being your most useful saw is meaningful to you.
Any a person that make cabinets, would say a cabinet saw, and a paneller might say a panel saw.
Maloof would probably saw a band saw.

All that tells us is about your work, which may not have any bearing on the the OP's work.

I get it if you're talking cabinets or panels or something... But modern CMSs are set up to get really decent reach at the compound angles, with high accuracy and consistency.  You can set up anything to do almost anything - is it the right tool for the job? Especially is a decent CMS is somcheapmrelative to a TS and MFT...

 

[Maximus]

I get it if you're talking cabinets or panels or something... But modern CMSs are set up to get really decent reach at the compound angles, with high accuracy and consistency.  You can set up anything to do almost anything - is it the right tool for the job? Especially is a decent CMS is somcheapmrelative to a TS and MFT...

My train of thought was along the lines of asking the question from the perspective of an existing MFT/3 owner, as in, is it worth spending extra money on buying a CMS / SCMS as well?

I'd question the idea about modern saws being super-accurate.  My own experience is the reverse, particularly with the new crop of far east imports.  The forum contains a lot of similar comments too.  Tool quality is not what it used to be, for sure.

 

[Holmz]

... You can set up anything to do almost anything - is it the right tool for the job? ...

Bingo - We are in agreement.

 

[ajshobby]

For me the mft/3 replaces my scms but not the miter saw.  Just to many angle cuts are able to be done with ease on the cms that almost no other saw does as easy.  i don't have much need for a sliding CMS as most of the time i need to do wider cross cuts they are usually straight in nature and the mft/3 has so much more capacity in that regard.  At the end of the day it all boils down to what works for you.

 

[Dan-]

A TS55/75 w/ MFT does not replace a mitre saw.

Even when you are cutting engineered flooring a mitre saw with a well-used blade (get the Bosch GCM12SD) cuts more cleanly than a TS with a new blade. Granted you should buy a Forrest Chopmaster on that mitre saw and apply some zero clearance items. The cut will be superior, and easier to accomplish. Period.

 

[grbmds]

I don't own a Kapex and, for my home shop woodworking, I don't need one. However, I have used  the Kapex in several Festool classes and, if I were a contractor who did repetitive crosscuts, miters, and bevels, I'd get the Kapex. It is a great saw with great dust collection. From the several times I've used it, I would say it's extremely accurate and for repetitive cuts where you want the pieces to all be the same length, you can't beat it.

For contractor or  production work, I'd say you wouldn't want to rely on the MFT completely.

For me, as a side woodworker, I feel that your assessment of accuracy and squareness with the MFT is correct, but then I don't cut flooring or crown molding and can take my time doing what I do.

 

[#Tee]

you know you want it, just need some motivation lol

 

[StreetMasters]

I have a Storage Shed Company, we use the MFT to make 67.5º cuts on roof truss pieces, and also some Birds-Mouth cuts.
We sell this cut lumber in our Shed Kits, to the public, so every piece needs to be exact and identical.
We easily achieve this task, and many more, thanks to the MFT!

I have never seen a CMS that can cut past 50º so I will say that is at least 1 task that the CMS cannot do that the MFT handles accurately and quickly!

I use the MFT in a Commercial shop setting, where it only performs a few different tasks - it makes me a lot of money!
If I only needed to build truss pieces for 1 or 2 sheds I would probably not be likely to purchase the MFT

 

[Gwerner]

Nope, no way can I see myself going through the effort of setting up the MFT and pulling out the track saw just to cut 1x2 or 1x3 stock to length. I fully understand and agree with the notion of not having redundant tools and also agree that in a lot of cases a track saw/MFT combo can take the place of table saw, but there's no way in my opinion that it can take the place of a miter saw.

 

[Arvid]

The only tool that comes close to being an all in one saw is the mafell Erika or festools version which I've never used or seen. But even that will have some limitations breaking down large sheets. But there have been many many jobs where that is all I used from start to finish from rough framing to finish work.

 

[lwoirhaye]

Once I cut some 14" wide crown moulding on an MFT.  It was a pita to do it but it was the jig I had that could do it. 

For casual crosscutting I never found an MFT to be a real replacement for  a miter saw,  but it was somewhat useful in setting up work flows on cabinet making jobs.  The MFT could be setup for one crosscutting task.

Really not a substitute for a miter saw but there are times when it can some nice wide crosscuts with reasonable precision.

 

[Arvid]

A festool HK or a mafell kss might be what your looking for if your work is mainly flooring and baseboard. Cordless versions. Cut the floorboards as you lay them instead of walking them back and forth to a stationary setup.
I've trimmed windows with a kss300 and kss 400 and they will be my flooring saw as well.
My miter saw only comes out of the shop if I'm running lots of footage of baseboard or crown.