Help! Should i buy MFT?

[russ_1380]

Hi All

I'm a Festool fan and considering a MFT to join my ts55.

What I want to know is how accurate is this device when set up and calibrated?

The main use I want it for will be cutting MDF sheet (3/4 - 1 inch thick) SQUARE and at 90 degrees BANG on for general cupboard carcass work (Euro style, frameless). 

I do own a table saw with a crosscut slider (home made) which is great for smaller pieces but when I want to crosscut say 2 foot as accurately as possible to 90 degrees, it takes a lot of setting up, adjusting and trial and error with the fence.  Obviously you guys will appreciate the larger the span, the larger the inaccuracy.

Presently I have made a rough home made MFT to try out the theory;  all I have is a fence to butt the piece onto and then two adjustable stops which the rail sits on (one at each end of the rail).  Adjustment is manual and I do it by taking a square to the fence, then putting a steel rule up against the square (90 degree) and measure the distance from the cutting edge of the rail and fence. I make sure the distance is as close as I can get it to the same at both ends of the rail.

In theory the cut should now be parallel to the fence.  Does this make sense?  Sorry if not.

The problem I am finding is there is still lots of human error; i.e reading the scale of the rule etc.

When using the MFT can you set up the rail parallel with the fence and then slide it up and down the table whilst retaining perfect paralellness? or will it side skewed loosing its paralallness and need resetting each time the rail is moved?

Hope this make sense

Russ

 

[Roseland]

I have a TS55 and an MFT/3 and hope I can offer some light.

The rail on the MFT is hinged at the back, so one never needs to move it up and down the table.  I spent a while when I first got the table adjusting the front rest for the rail (which has a location pin) to get really accurate square cuts, and as far as I'm concerned it's still bang on.

I used a square of ply and did the standard five cuts, rotating the piece anti-clockwise between each cut to amplify any error.

Having said that, I've yet to use the back fence (with the protractor on it) at anything other than its original setting.

Good luck,

Andrew

 

[mouppe]

My MFT could not be more square. Out of the box it was square to my precision square when I checked. Every cut since has been bang on. I could not be happier with it.

Richard.

 

[tbellemare]

Once you square the fence to the rail, you can move the fence and angle unit up and down the table profile (aluminum extrusion) if you want.

That's how i square up the tables now. I used to use a square, then I used the holes, now I spin the angle unit so that the fence and guide rail are parallel, slide the fence over to the guide rail, fine tune the fence to the rail, and then slide the fence and angle unit back down the table plus spin the angle unit to whatever angle I want.

Tom

 

[grobin]

I have a MFT800 I got on blow out but the guide rails with the extensions are much easier to use IMHO.

 

[russ_1380]

Ah sounds like you are all pleased.

Tom, I think you are talking about what I mean; If you pushed the rail up to the fence so that it was touching and perfectly parallel to each other can you then slide the rail down the track whilst maintaing this parallelness?  Basically I want to cut parallel as well as 90 degrees. (sorry forgot to mention that before).

PS I've previously bought the parallel guides but sent them back as i could not get on with them for the life of me.  Was wondering if the mft provides as accurate parallelness on wide boards (say 1 to 2 foot).

Cheers

 

[tbellemare]

Yes, you can slide the angle unit/fence up and down the table profile with it in the same relative orientation to the guide rail.

Tom

 

[Neill]

Ah sounds like you are all pleased.

Tom, I think you are talking about what I mean; If you pushed the rail up to the fence so that it was touching and perfectly parallel to each other can you then slide the rail down the track whilst maintaing this parallelness?  Basically I want to cut parallel as well as 90 degrees. (sorry forgot to mention that before).

PS I've previously bought the parallel guides but sent them back as i could not get on with them for the life of me.  Was wondering if the mft provides as accurate parallelness on wide boards (say 1 to 2 foot).

Cheers

[/quote

Russ,

I bit off track but...

I think you may have given up on the parallel guides too quickly.  Even as an amateur I find them to be invaluable in making accurate, repetitive cuts.  I don't do cabinet work or anything too complex but it is nice to know that when I am making, let's say, a bookcase, that the shelves will all be the same length, the sides will be the same height, etc.

I find that the parallel guides have made my MFT even more useful than it was.

 

[Gaucho Woodworking]

Now all you need are the parallel guides and you will be set. Using the parallel guides you will require less space to work with, it sounds like you are building boxes. Good luck.

 

[russ_1380]

Thanks guys

Yes I suppose you could class it as boxes, simple construction dominoed but needs to be parallel and square to make assembly as simple and quick as possible.

I found a page on the net (and now have stupidly lost the link [sad]) that seemed a good idea for me.  I'm not quite sure if I interpreted it right though.  It looked something like:

- Put dogs of same size in two of the holes on MFT.
- Butt workpiece up against the dogs
- Place rail on top of workpiece but also butted up to the dogs too.
- Lock off rail adjustment?  so that the rail can now slide across table yet remain perfectly parallel to dogs and resultant edge of work piece.

Is this possible with MFT? its mainly the parallelness I need but would like to know if parallel cuts can be made WITHOUT utilising the parallel guides?

Thank you

Russ

 

[tbellemare]

Yes, parallel cuts can be made with just the MFT.

You would need to align the guide rail to the holes like shown here.

Then use some dogs, like the ones from the clamping profiles and spacer(s).

Tom

 

[Corwin]

Another method to make parallel cuts on your MFT is to make a simple sled that has its own fence.  Use a rectangular piece of sheet good for this sled.  With the MFT's fence set square to the Guide Rail, place a good edge of  the sled against your MFT's fence and install a fence onto the top of the sled that is parallel to the Guide Rail.  You can use the back edge of the Guide Rail to assist in aligning the sled's fence during installation, or you can elect to run a router down the Guide Rail to cut a dado in the sled to accept the fence.  Either way, the result should be a simple rectangular piece of sheet good with a fence on top that is installed perpendicular to the edge of the sled that will index off your MFT's fence. 

With this sled positioned against your MFT's fence, you can place the material you wish to rip against the right-hand side of the sled's fence to make a parallel cut.  If the resulting cut is to be narrower than the width of the Guide Rail, before making the cut you will want to place another piece of your material (or something the same thickness) on the left-hand side to support the rail.  Making these narrower cuts does require that the sled's fence is shorter that the thickness of the material you're cutting, or that you place and additional piece of thin sheet material on either side of the fence to raise your material above the height of the sled's fence.

In my shop I often have two MFTs joined together with a FS1900 Guide Rail installed in the guide-rail brackets.  I have a large version of this sled (about 4'x4') that I use for much of my cutting needs.

 

[tbellemare]

You can also spin the fence to be parallel to the guide rail and move it along the aluminum table profile.

Tom

 

[bonesbr549]

I use my mft3 .vs. my tablesaw mostly now.  It makes cross cutting panels easy and I like the blade down .vs. up stairing at you.  Once you dial her in she's stayed that way for me until I recenly did a bone head thing and got it out.  I pulled her back in and its cutting perfect again.  The only think I would still put a TS still is cutting miters and small strips.  Don't fret it, you will love it.  Now to be fair I lock mine in at 90 and use it almost exclusively for that purpose so I'm not moving from different angles and back.    I would think there would be a bit of set up or calibrating if you did that much, but I use the TS for miters or the Kapex if the pieces are small.  I plan on getting a second one to put with the first one. 

 

[nickao]

I would get an MFT for sure. Then as you use it things will become apparent and you will be able to use it to to help the way you work. You may make up a bunch of stuff yourself that makes your particular operation simpler for you.

I still use my table saw for cutting, but the MFT is more than just a place to cut wood. Assembly and sanding are two areas it is great for.

I must have an MFT!

 

[Corwin]

You can also spin the fence to be parallel to the guide rail and move it along the aluminum table profile.

Tom

[doh]  Oh yeah, the fence on those newer MFT/3s are probably great for that -- I have the older tables.  But, I think that would only work when making cuts wider than your Guide Rail.  So, for making cut narrower than the Guide Rail, you could still use the sled I described above with the newer tables.  

 

[russ_1380]

Tom; Thanks for the great link, now I understand more about the adjustment process.  All other websites I've seen do not explain it as detailed.

Corwin; Do you have a pic of the sled at all?

What i will do is use set up the mft to cut along its longest side (use my 1400 rail).  I presume this is doable?

Then for crosscuts, I can re set the rail to reach over the shorter sides of the MFT.

Long winded I know but after a table saw accident from trying to cross cut 2 foot wide panels its put me off lol

Can you guys think of any problems or limits of my intended use?

I might order one tonight!  Excited!

 

[nickao]

Yeah, once  you get one you will want another. 

Or you will want to make a much larger one yourself for a permanent place in the shop.

My only issue is that they are small, but they are made to be portable so that is a necessity. I had to make two large units,

 

[Corwin]

Tom; Thanks for the great link, now I understand more about the adjustment process.  All other websites I've seen do not explain it as detailed.

Corwin; Do you have a pic of the sled at all?

What i will do is use set up the mft to cut along its longest side (use my 1400 rail).  I presume this is doable?

Then for crosscuts, I can re set the rail to reach over the shorter sides of the MFT.

Long winded I know but after a table saw accident from trying to cross cut 2 foot wide panels its put me off lol

Can you guys think of any problems or limits of my intended use?

I might order one tonight!  Excited!

I don't see any problems.  As for a picture of the type sled I described, I don't have any recent photos but there are a few shots of a large sled in my photo album with the sled in the background.  Select 'Gallery' from the the menu near the top of any page on the FOG and then select my gallery to see my photos.  Look for some photos that show an Incra Miter Gauge in the foreground and you will see the sled with an gold-colored T-track that is used as the sled's fence.  The sled then slides left or right along the fence to set the width of the piece you want to cut.  Enjoy.

 

[russ_1380]

G'day

You'll be pleased to know I ordered MFT plus some Veritas (think they're sold as Lee Valley over your side of the water? bench pups and adjustable dogs! Mind you I needed a few beers to pluck up the courage before i ordered online!  The one downside of Festool is the painful price [unsure]

Thank you all for your help and I'm sure I'll be in touch with some questions regarding set up when it comes.  Is it really that sad to get excited about receiving a new tool? please tell me its not just me! ;D