Festool and Hand Planes

[adkinsb48]

Has anyone had success with hand planing and the MFT in some configuration. My space is limited and would like to do hand planing on my 2 MFT's.  Certainly too shaky with just the two of them linked with the connectors.  Primarily the MFTs stay in the shop and I would consider affixing them to some type of cart etc to facilitate hand planing.  Does anyone have any ideas or experience with this operation.  I would prefer not to build a woodworking bench.  Thank you. 

 

[Birdhunter]

I added an extension to my rightmost MFT to mount a heavy woodworking vise. The extension has a set of metal legs I bought from Amazon. The legs stabilized the MFT where I can plane, saw, chisel, etc with no table movement. I initially tried the MFT leg braces. Total waste.

 

[adkinsb48]

Birdhunter.  Thank you for the information. At some point would you mind snapping a picture of the configuration and posting?  This could be the answer to my dilemma.  Bill

 

[Svar]

Attach it to a wall or heavy object. Either one side flush to it or use some kind of stretcher between wall and MFT.

 

[adkinsb48]

Birdhunter. Another question please. May I have the information on the legs you purchased from Amazon?  Thank you

 

[adkinsb48]

I appreciate the wall attachment idea.  It may be the process I use if needed.  For now I tend to use in the middle of one side of the shop for many task to get around and I have the Festool boom assembly on the back side. Thank you

 

[Jason.L.Hagen]

They make an angled brace that really helps stiffen up the MFT. Item is #495592. $90 for a pair of them. I’m sure you could make something similar to them.

 

[Birdhunter]

I tried the braces. Didn't help all that much.

This helped....

 

[Jason.L.Hagen]

I tried the braces. Didn't help all that much.

This helped....

What did you use for the metal on the end? It almost looks like the MFT profile.

 

[RKA]

You have to calibrate your expectations.  I have a single MFT and CMS VL with the angled braces on the MFT.  It's far from rock solid.  Can I edge joint a 3/4" piece of wood, yes.  If a knot grain direction causes some extra resistance mid way, you're going to feel the table move and it's going to be more difficult to get a clean pass.  Even if the wood is consistent, soft and I'm taking a light pass I'll feel some movement.  It's not ideal, but if you have to make it work because of your space, you will probably find some operations are frustrating.  I wouldn't try flattening a board with an handplane over the MFT. 

 

[Birdhunter]

The legs were ordered from Amazon Shop Fox D2659 28-Inch Deep Workbench Leg

 

[Jason.L.Hagen]

The legs were ordered from Amazon Shop Fox D2659 28-Inch Deep Workbench Leg

I meant the metal piece the vise is attached to.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RussellS]

Figure out some kind of dogs and/or clamps to hold the wood on the MFT.  Then shove one end of the MFT into a wall and plane into the wall.  Assuming you have somewhat solid and sturdy walls.

 

[ChuckM]

I appreciate the wall attachment idea.  It may be the process I use if needed.  For now I tend to use in the middle of one side of the shop for many task to get around and I have the Festool boom assembly on the back side. Thank you

The MFT is light weight and strengthening the table itself with braces or brackets would help a little but doesn't change its weight. Birdhunter's is one way to do it, especially if you do plan to use the MFT for handplaning work often. If not often (and assuming the MFT is not too far away from a wall), a simpler approach is to clamp a 2x4 on each side of the table to make contact with a wall. Attach a board as a foot) to the end of the 2x4 or place a plywood sheet on the wall if it's drywall.  When done, remove the 2x4 to return the MFT to the usual setup.

 

[Birdhunter]

Sorry, it is an extrusion I bought from Festool. The extrusion was cut in half and connected to the MFT extrusion with Festool connectors on both the front side and the back side. The connectors are the same ones that I used to connect the two MFTs together. The vise is constantly in use and the MFTs don’t wobble. However, they are no longer mobile.

 

[Birdhunter]

If I were starting from scratch, I’d build a bench using the MFT tops and incorporate a vise.

 

[adkinsb48]

Thank you for a couple of good ideas.  I am getting somewhat of the vision. If I can find a way to stabilize the top from moving it could be used a planing surface. I appreciate the last couple of post.

 

[Birdhunter]

Shop Fox D2659 28-Inch Deep Workbench Leg

 

[waho6o9]

View attachment 1

Public domain ^

 

[Michael Kellough]

Has anyone had success with hand planing and the MFT in some configuration. My space is limited and would like to do hand planing on my 2 MFT's.  Certainly too shaky with just the two of them linked with the connectors.  Primarily the MFTs stay in the shop and I would consider affixing them to some type of cart etc to facilitate hand planing.  Does anyone have any ideas or experience with this operation.  I would prefer not to build a woodworking bench.  Thank you.

If you want stable don’t affix to anything mobile. Affix to the wall, with a stick if you have/can. Preferably two walls at 90* to one another. It will be remarkably stable then.