MFS 400 and MFS 700 Multi-Routing Template System.

[semenza]

Hi Brice,

      Sorry for continuing the OT spiral of your incredibly well done write up on the MFS.  The again you brought this on yourself with those two sanders.

Seth

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Charles, I was thinking maybe a tale of forbidden love, two sanders whose paths cross in an exotic location...........
;D

Hmmm... are you the one who posted a video on "YouTube" some time ago showing the Festool party?

Dave R.

 

[gkeas]

I'd rather see the two sanders than the two vacuum hoses...



Brice, excellent review.

 

[spikfot]

" it may be necessary to add the connecting hardware to both ends of some of the profiles to join different shapes. The hardware can be removed from one profile and added to another. The bolt and V nut have to be removed and the threaded insert can be taken out. The insert has an allen recess, the insert is reverse threaded, turn clockwise to remove, use a 4 mm allen key. The insert can then be screwed into the another profile, turning counter clockwise, it will self tap into the aluminum. I recommend exercising great care removing and installing the connecting hardware, it would not be hard to strip the aluminum, especially if you forget about the reverse threading."

      thanks for the heads up Brice.

      i purchased the mfs 700 kit and two extra 400s with the intention of creating an adjustable depth, tread/riser pattern for closed let-in winder stairways.  my problem isn't with the v-bolts, that is a relatively easy fix, but with the alignment pins that are pressed in.  what it came down to was the inability to use the product without modification that would probably void the warranty .  after a few calls to h.q. and a meeting with a local rep, they offered to send me a 700 with double bolts and pins, delivered in a week.  i have also ordered extra v-bolts  to install two at each of the ends i won't be often adjusting- so the unit wont rack on me when i slide it around.
      this problem will re-occur until festo offers a profile with double sided connections,  or taps out all of it's alignment pin holes and offer threaded pins for sale so the end user can install where necessary. 
      another problem will be the painted on scales.  for the money they cost, these profiles should be recessed slightly and engraved.    the same problem occurs on my fs-ks, the angles are about 30% worn off from regular wear.  since the mfs profiles don't come with a case option,  these painted on scales are temporary at best. 
      any new system is bound to have some minor bugs. my complaints about festo are very few and far between and i use their tools every day. 

   

"i'm not sure about anything, but i have alot of suspicions"- R.A.W.

 

[Brice Burrell]

  Spikfot, when I connected the profiles to rout for my stair strings, I found not having the indexing pins on one end was not a problem for my project. It was used only for about an hour and half, perhaps with everyday used problems could surface. I like your idea to tap the ends for threaded inserts.

  I couldn't agree more about the painted on scales. These things should be engraved! This is probably less of an issue for shop use, my 400 set stays on the truck, the everyday traveling is going to ware the paint in no time. I'd like to see Festool come up with a bag with a pocket for each rail, a simple canvas bag would do. I have fine tip "paint" marker I use to make repairs to the scales. At some point I'm going to try the Incra Precision Measuring Rules to add Imperial graduations on the bottoms of my profiles.

 

[spikfot]

how about a magnetic scale insert that drops in place ? sort of like incra systems use.     

 

[Dave Ronyak]

    I couldn't agree more about the painted on scales. These things should be engraved! This is probably less of an issue for shop use, my 400 set stays on the truck, the everyday traveling is going to ware the paint in no time. I'd like to see Festool come up with a bag with a pocket for each rail, a simple canvas bag would do. I have fine tip "paint" marker I use to make repairs to the scales. At some point I'm going to try the Incra Precision Measuring Rules to add Imperial graduations on the bottoms of my profiles.

Brice,

I have one of Incra's 6" T-square style precision measuring and marking rules.  Works very well with a 0.5 mm diameter lead pencil.  Do you plan to use a metal scriber to mark Imperial graduations on your MFS profiles?

Dave R.

 

[spikfot]

  my god, you can't use a 0.5mm. metric pencil to mark an imperial incra gauge. you must order the.019 imperial pencil.

 

[Brice Burrell]

  Dave, I can't see any other way but to scratch the graduations into the aluminum. My first thought was to try the peel and stick tapes, I might look into that idea first.

 

[Ned]

  my god, you can't use a 0.5mm. metric pencil to mark an imperial incra gauge. you must order the.019 imperial pencil.

 

[Steveo48]

Thanks, Brice, for another excellent "manual under construction."  As others have said, You should write an entire Festool user's book......[/quote]

It's outstanding, I finally have an idea what the MFS is about.  Festool should be compensating you guys for creating these documents, especially since Festools documentation is so ...... invisible.

Your stuff here is first class, and probably indicates your craftmanship is too.  If I could I'd buy you a beer!  ;D

Steve

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Thanks, Brice, for another excellent "manual under construction."  As others have said, You should write an entire Festool user's book......

It's outstanding, I finally have an idea what the MFS is about.  Festool should be compensating you guys for creating these documents, especially since Festools documentation is so ...... invisible.

I agree!  With a tool like the MFS, it looks interesting but is a bit mysterious, which makes clear information really valuable.  This creates a healthy cycle: more people understand the tool, which means more people will become interested in buying it, which means more people post about it, which helps more people understand the tool...

Your stuff here is first class, and probably indicates your craftmanship is too.  If I could I'd buy you a beer!  ;D

Now that would be an interesting forum modification!

Matthew

 

[Dan Clark]

Beer.    Someone mention brewskis!?!    Hmmm...  Maybe we could start a brewski rating for posts.  One stein for OK posts, two for very good posts and three steins for the awesome ones!    ;D

Dan.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Dan,
Actually, there is a feature in SMF that allows members to vote on the helpfulness of other members.  The more of these votes you get, the higher your rating goes.  It's called "karma" by default, but we can label it anything we want (we could call it the "Festoolian Level" or something like that).  Your level appears below your name on all your posts and people can vote to increase or decrease your level.

Currently, I have the feature turned off here in the main forum.

If people want to see how this feature works, I just turned it on in the test forum using the term "Festoolian Level" and a [ + ] and [ - ] for voting.  We can have people turn in their levels for beer at some point!

Matthew

 

[ROb McGilp]

Ummm.....How do I access the test forum please? :-[

Regards,

Rob

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Ummm.....How do I access the test forum please? :-[

Address:http://www.festoolownersgroup.com/TestForum/
Username: test
Password: test

Matthew

 

[ROb McGilp]

Thank you Matthew.

Regards,

Rob

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Brice,
Just wanted to jump in here and say that I have returned this topic numerous times over the past couple of months.  I find myself not only learning from the specific ideas you posted, but also taking your ideas and dreaming up other possibilities.  It's amazing how many ideas come to mind with the MFS.

At the moment, I'm obsessing about how to take the MFS to the router table.  I'm imagining some kind of jig where the MFS is a hold-down for end-grain routs and which would allow repeat setups.  I'm thinking such a jig could also be used to rout angles by pivoting the MFS, as in the photo in post #1 of this discussion.

Also, I often use my router table as a jointer (more and more lately, actually).  But I'm wanting a longer fence.  I'm thinking there must be a way to use the MFS to create a long fence, but with two halves that could be offset for jointing operations.

Anyway, just thinking out loud here and letting you know that your post is inspiring, and the MFS really does open so many possibilities.

If anyone has other creative uses of the MFS, please post about them!

Thanks again Brice for putting such great effort into this discussion.

Matthew

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Brice,

Your excellent tutorial and that of Jerry Work have cost me again!!  I ordered a MFS 400 and router slide today, and a pair of 700 mm extrusions, if they can be separately purchased, and I don't even have a particular project in mind -- yet.  Inlaying may be the first.  Or leveling an old wooden top work bench.

Dave R.

 

[Ned]

...Or leveling an old wooden top work bench.

In that case, Dave, you may be interested in the only piece of the MFS system Brice hasn't mentioned yet-- the Routing Slide (492728).

The Routing Slide
The primary purpose of the routing slide is to support the router when hollowing out the center of large rectangles, for instance, a shallow tray.  This is done in a series of overlapping cuts as you move the slide from one end of the rectangle to the other.  The MFS with slide will accurately control the depth of cut, but it does not seem to be intended to precisely control the x,y movement of the router--other than constraining it within the rectangle.  There is no way to lock the OF1010 at a particular place in the slot, nor is there a pointer or markings to tell you where you are on the slide.

Both the OF1010 and OF1400 routers work with the routing slide, despite what you may have read elsewhere.  The OF1010 requires the 30mm copying ring.  The ring is a loose fit in the slot.  The ring protrudes below the slide; at the end of the slot, the ring will hit the extrusion, protecting it from the bit.

The slide is a heavy steel channel.  There's a lever clamp that attaches to the outside vertical surface of an MFS extrusion.  Tabs in the slide go into slots on the top of the extrusion to keep things at right angles.  The slide is clamped only at one end, but in normal use you shouldn't be applying forces that would deflect it.  An index pointer centered on the slide's slot lays over the graduations on the extrusion.

The maximum distance the router can be moved within the slot is approximately 625mm (a bit more than 24").  The longest cut you could make is somewhat less, affected by your bit and also the extrusions.

Thanks to the index pointer and clamp, it should be possible to do a series of parallel slots, although the loose fit of the ring in the slot would need to be compensated for.  More accurate results could be achieved with a guide rail.

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