MFS 400 and MFS 700 Multi-Routing Template System.

[Tinker]

I cut a hole at 2-3/4" by setting the MFS upside down with the piece I was cutting hole in on top and turning the piece around the MFS.  I think I could have gone even smaller that way.  I liked doing it that way as there was no cleaning up of the cut after routing the hole
Tinker

 

[Tinker]

BTW, I did this before I got to Brice's pictorial.  I don't know as I would do it that way again, but somehow, it worked.
Tinker

 

[Brice Burrell]

                Using the MFS as clamping aids. 
  Using the MFS for squaring glue ups is one more great way to eliminate more fixtures form the shop. The MFT by itself is very useful to for clamping, add the MFS profiles and your clamping options are greatly increased. With the MFS flexibility there is no need to build your own wooden squaring jigs and fixtures to fit different projects.

The MFS profiles offer a lot of options for different configurations, the one shown here what I use most often for clamping face frames. Once the profiles are clamped to the MFT they provide a sturdy squaring fixture.

Clamps can be added almost any place needed to square the frame.

Both the MFS 400 and 700 sets were used in the configuration shown above. A much simpler version for smaller projects can be made from the MFS 400 set. The profiles are clamped against the MFT fence, making a perfect right angle clamping jig, as seen in this picture.

Squaring is not the only way to use the MFS to aid in clamping, I've used my profiles as cauls. With clamps from below the MFT the profiles can be clamped, pressing the stock down onto the bars of the parallel clamps, giving me flat glue ups.

  The profiles can be quickly put together to make a custom clamping jig and when the glue dries, take them apart for the next project.

Text, graphics and pictures, copyright 2008, Brice Burrell

 

[ROb McGilp]

Hi Brice,
Your tutorial cotinues to amaze!
I am now the owner of a MFS400, but don't have a MFT, so I'll be using it on my work bench. I am wondering if putting some of the adhesive strip used along the edge of the guide rails would be useful on the bottom of the 400 to give added stability to the frame while working?

Regards,

Rob

 

[Eli]

It will affect your depth, that's the only caveat I'd offer.

 

[Brice Burrell]

  Rob, I assume you mean the same adhesive strip used on the bottom of the guide rails to add grip. I'd try two sided tape each time you are having trouble clamping it. I really make use of the angles stops to aid in clamping. Check out this picture, you can just see the clamp handle sticking out from under the MFS. I have the clamp on the angle stop under the MFS and around the work piece holding everything in place. I'd recommend getting a MFT, or making your own table top with the 20 mm hole to clamp the MFS down. This will help you get the most out of the tool. Good luck and I think you will really enjoy the MFS.

 

[Brice Burrell]

                      Miscellaneous uses for the MFS. 
 
Finding creative solutions to the everyday problems that affect productivity or enjoyment of our work is the key to successful projects. I use the MFS not just as a routing template or as cutting and clamping aids, but to make any task easier, faster. Its a problem solver.

I've used the MFS to index my Domino to cut mortises in the middle of panels. I set the angle stops to square the profiles to the edge of the work piece so the zero point is right on the edge. This will let me use the scale on the profiles to index the Domino.

I set the MFS to the location on the panel where the mortises will be cut and clamp in down.

With the base of the Domino against the MFS profile, I can cut all of the mortises in a perfectly straight line, at a right angle to edge of the work piece. Using the center line on the Domino's base and the scale on the MFS, the mortises can be cut quickly and accurately. I would normally use the backside of the guide rail on the MFT for this, but when I'm on a jobsite without my MFT this really comes in handy.

I've struggled to find a good way to use the 42" LR32 rail on stock longer than the rail itself. No problem, install a guide rail connector to join a MFS profile to the rail and clamp the profile to the edge of the stock. Now drill your holes.

Stock eight feet long posed an even bigger challenge. Using the same technique and the circle cutting pivots to re-indexing the rail you can drill holes in a full shoot of plywood. You are going to have to wait until I write my LR32 Hole Drilling user's guide of more details.

How about a jig to cut toe kicks for cabinets. One edge of the saw's base rides against the profile and the second profile acts as a stop for the cut. The first picture shows the setup, the angles stop are on on both the top and bottom of the profiles to index the jig. Second photo, I'm holding the jig and making the first cut. Third, I've flipped over and turned the jig 90 degrees to make the second cut. Fourth, the finished toe kick. I can make the cuts in less time it would have taken to do the layout, its easy, fast and, you guessed it, accurate.

  Again, the MFS flexibility is shown here. Finding different uses, both within the Festool system and out, for the MFS is only as far away as your imagination.

Text, graphics and pictures, copyright 2008, Brice Burrell

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Brice,

Thanks for your excellent, comprehensive tutorial on uses of the MFS.  I hope when you get to your tutorial on the hole drilling jig that you will come back to added functions through combining it with the MFS.  I don't own an MFS (yet) and recently had to drill 5 rows of holes in each side of a 7' tall storage cabinet to match the five 5 mm holes in the HD slides I intended to install, using a short LR 32 and a 1400 router.  (I couldn't use the side stops to set some of those rows because the distance was too far from an edge.)  To extend its length and maintain the needed accuracy, I used non-holed Festool guide rails and connectors, and used the router jig and bit ro register the holes when I had to shift the position of the jig.  I suspect the MFS could make it faster and easier to line up the LR 32 after shifting its position.

Slick idea regarding cutting out toekicks!!

Dave R.

 

[Eli]

Thanks Brice. Excellent article.

We have to make sure it gets (it's rightful) place in the reference library.

Maybe stuff like this should have a link in each post of yours to a separate comment thread so it's ready for output when it's complete.

 

[Tinker]

I agree about a seperate area for Brice's how too's.  I don't think the replies and other comments need to be sperated tho.  There have been some valuable input thru the questions and answeres along theway.

BTW:  I mentioned in previous post that I had simply dragged this thread onto my desktop.  Since I did that, I do not have to even come on line to keep up with the discussion.
Sorry if a lot more mistooks than usual as I still cannot read what I am typing for this thread.
Tinker

 

[jimwho]

Terrific thread Brice. Very helpful as well as insightful. You always help inspire my imagination. I wish I would have thought of using the MFS with the LR32 for a board longer than 42 inches recently. I did find another solution which works.

Thanks again.

 

[Dan Clark]

Brice,

This thread is excellent.  You are showing us how to use the MFS in new and innovative ways, and describing the true value of this tool (tool, not accessory).  But more importantly...

This tutorial  brings us up close and personal with the DETAILS of the MFS.  Your unique combination of pictures, drawings, animated gifs, video, and clear descriptive text takes us "inside" the MFS.  We see it not just a some lumps of metal, but as a very flexible solution for lots of problems.  Subtle details now have value.  Odd bits and pieces now make sense. 

IMO, this easily ranks in the top 10 threads on FOG.  With this incredible, in-depth tutorial (it's not just a review), I believe you have joined the ranks of senior Festoolians like Jerry Work and John Lucas. 

And, while you may be an excellent professional finish carpenter and woodworker, I believe your true talent lies in teaching.  Pardon the pun, but you clear away the FOG.  You take the complex and make it relatively simple.  You take the obtuse, and make it clear and understandable.  You have the unique capacity to explain things very well.

Thank you, teacher! 

Dan.

 

[The Dude]

Brice, what a great contribution to a very under-rated Festool accessory!  Thanks for the post...it's great.

Timmy

 

[Brice Burrell]

                      Closing thoughts. 
 
  As I've touch on already, this review of the MFS system has a recurring theme, Easy, Fast and Accurate. Add to those attributes a great deal of flexibility of the system and the value of the MFS becomes very apparent Let my give you one example of why the MFS is so valuable to my work. I get jobs a few times a year where homeowners want to upgrade their old, hollow core doors to a much nicer, solid cord doors. This means routing for hinges and other hardware in the new door blanks, jigs or templates are needed to quickly and accurately do the job. In the past I would have to spend time making all of the different jigs. I could need the table saw, chop saw, jig saw, compressor/brad nailer and the stock to built the jigs. With the MFS I only spend a few minutes setting up the template to rout the hinges, when finished with all of the hinges, I readjust it for the next piece of hardware. I've tried other adjustable routing jigs, some I've liked and some I wouldn't even use again to scrape chewing gum off the sidewalk. But of the most part, they were not the right tool for the job. Now, I only keep the MFS on the truck. It's so easy to use I can hand the job off to one of my guys so I can turn my attention elsewhere. Being able to get in and out of a job quickly and not having to come back because of poor quality work is how I make my work profitable. The MFS is a real help in this regard. You don't need to be a finish carpenter to realize the same time savings and ease of use that I've found with the MFS.

  To take full advantage of the flexibility of the MFS system I'd recommend both the MFS 400 and 700 sets. I found I tend to use the smaller 400 set for most of my template routing, but the larger 700 set for cutting and clamping applications. If your budget doesn't allow for both, take a close look at your particular needs and decide which set best suits them. You can always add another set and/or the longer 1000 or 2000 mm profiles later as your needs grow.

  The flexibility the MFS is it's single greatest attribute. Routing template, cutting, routing and clamping aid all in one, normally I don't buy into a tool that claims to do it all. You know the saying, "jack of all trades, master of none", however, that is not the case with the MFS. I does all of these things equally well and all of them very well. In true Festool fashion, the MFS meshes perfectly with the entire "Festool System".

  I've not yet reached the limits of what the MFS has to offer, that's part of what I like so much about Festool products. It's what I call "built in value". It may be unseen at first, but the solution to a problem or a new easier, faster and more accurate way to do the everyday jobs we do for a living or for pure enjoyment. Good luck and I hope you enjoy using the MFS system as much as I do.

Text, graphics and pictures, copyright 2008, Brice Burrell

 

[Ned]

Please tell us about the arrangement shown in PIC_0756sm.JPG, the last pic in the post immediately above this one.

I agree with Dan, you're definitely in the top rank of Festool investigators and communicators.

Ned

 

[Brice Burrell]

 I'd like to thank everyone for the kind words and for sticking it out all the way through my rambling. This started out as a tool review, sort of turned into a user's guide. I thought a few paragraphs and maybe a dozen pictures, I guess I got a little carried away, over 100 pictures and 14 pages (on my site). Some tools inspire the user to be creative, this is one of those tools.  I didn't see that at first, because I wasn't looking, but after really taking a good look at Jerry's manual it all sort of clicked for me. As I used the MFS I started thinking, more people need to know about how this tool has to offer!

 I'd like to thank a few people, first, goes to Mr. Jerry Work, his manuals are the foundation that we all built our Festool knowledge on. I had the luxury of his MFS manual as a starting point, also, Ned Young and John Lucas, thank you. Also to Noel N., he's working on the PDF (and thanks to all of you that have offered to work on the PDF). I'll let everyone know where to download the PDF when it is ready, you will likely find it in the FOG gallery.

 I'm not sure what is next, some of the long term goals are a LR32 user's guide and a "how to" on assembling the boom arm . I have a ton of ideas, unfortunately not enough time to work on all of them.
 

 

[Brice Burrell]

  Ned that is a setup I used to help with pocket screw installation, I had my Kreg plate clamp on another job, the MFS was used to hold everything in place.

 

[ccmviking]

Brice,

I'd like to see how you store yours.  I made a small shelf to hang mine on the wall assembled but I'm not real happy with it.  I don't wanna stack'em like the picture above because I don't want to mar the labeling.  Have you worked out a good storage solution, maybe something protective and portable?

Chris...

 

[chrisrosenb]

Thank you Brice for the great guide.
I am looking foward to getting this in a PDF that I can print out for shop use.

Chris

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Would bubble wrap do the job, or the thinner white, opague plastic protective sheet material?  I single layer of Bubble Wrap allows you to see what is inside.  I store my spray gun this way.

Dave R.