MFS Substitutes

[greg mann]

Great were the originators, for sure, but their extrusions were different. In the first year of Festool's introduction their catalogue actually illustrated Geat profiles in lieu of the revised Festool design. I am speculating here but it may be that the Festool extrusions were made by Festo. Extrusions are used extensively in their pneumatic product line so it would seem to make sense for them to be a source. Just guessing again but it seems possible to me that a decision was made by Festool to phase out of the product, at least in NA because of low sales. It also may be that Festo is now selling the extrusions to Virutex with Festool's blessing. If Festool decided the product did not warrant continued marketing but negotiated a new home for it then that is a good thing. Even if I am wrong about Festo being the extrusion supplier someone is making them and they would be happy to have a customer, Virutex, to buy them. It can also be argued that the product fits more neatly within their product line; witness their offering it configured in a tread and riser template configuration.

Of course I could be totally wrong on all counts. [2cents]

 

[Cheese]

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/mfs-notes-on-the-mfs/

Thanks [member=11629]GarryMartin[/member] for the link. Some very interesting reading and history.

 

[HarveyWildes]

Virutex is a Spanish company located in Barcelona.  Coincidentally, I'll be touring Spain this summer, with stops in Barcelona, Madrid, and Seville.  Anyone familiar enough with Spain to recommend where I might find a retailer that sells Virutex stuff?

 

[TheSergeant]

Of all the MFS clones I've seen Justin's is pretty much the simplest to make.  I'm sure it works phenomenally as well. 
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/homemade-mfs-600-router-template/

 

[JavierMoreno]

In Madrid, you could visit Comercial Pazos.
http://www.comercialpazos.com/virutex-pf400-conjunto-prolongacion-plantillas-fresado.html

Address:C/ Embajadores, 129, 28045, Madrid 
Email:comercialpazos@comercialpazos.com 
Phone:+34 915 279 761

Virutex is a Spanish company located in Barcelona.  Coincidentally, I'll be touring Spain this summer, with stops in Barcelona, Madrid, and Seville.  Anyone familiar enough with Spain to recommend where I might find a retailer that sells Virutex stuff?

 

[HarveyWildes]

In Madrid, you could visit Comercial Pazos.
http://www.comercialpazos.com/virutex-pf400-conjunto-prolongacion-plantillas-fresado.html

Address:C/ Embajadores, 129, 28045, Madrid 
Email:comercialpazos@comercialpazos.com 
Phone:+34 915 279 761

Thanks!  We'll see if tour and my wife will let me get close enough to the woodworking store to pick up a set.

 

[HarveyWildes]

Of all the MFS clones I've seen Justin's is pretty much the simplest to make.  I'm sure it works phenomenally as well. 
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/homemade-mfs-600-router-template/

That's the kind of creativity I was wondering about.  If I can't pick up a Virutex set this summer, or if I need something sooner, this looks like a possibility.

 

[Holmz]

In Madrid, you could visit Comercial Pazos.
http://www.comercialpazos.com/virutex-pf400-conjunto-prolongacion-plantillas-fresado.html

Address:C/ Embajadores, 129, 28045, Madrid 
Email:comercialpazos@comercialpazos.com 
Phone:+34 915 279 761

Thanks!  We'll see if tour and my wife will let me get close enough to the woodworking store to pick up a set.

Thanks [member=43849]JavierMoreno[/member]

[member=61231]HarveyWildes[/member] Or contact Virtulux and see how many are required for a direct buy?
Or maybe enquire with ToolNut to see if they would organise it?

 

[ddb]

My first knee-jerk reaction is that they were the original suppliers for Festool. That could be a valuable alternative source, as Festool has discontinued MFS sales in NA.

It seems these are being discontinued elsewhere too - I think that the UK are not available now.

Do you have any further info on this? I ordered an MFS400 and expansion rods with my dealer late November, and have not yet received them. The dealer says they're in backorder, because Festool still has to produce them (for some reason).
Just spoke to him last week, and he surely didn't mention that the MFS would be discontinued. (This is for Europe, Belgium though)

Cheers.

 

[Milvus]

In Madrid, you could visit Comercial Pazos.
http://www.comercialpazos.com/virutex-pf400-conjunto-prolongacion-plantillas-fresado.html

Address:C/ Embajadores, 129, 28045, Madrid 
Email:comercialpazos@comercialpazos.com 
Phone:+34 915 279 761

Thanks!  We'll see if tour and my wife will let me get close enough to the woodworking store to pick up a set.

Thanks [member=43849]JavierMoreno[/member]

[member=61231]HarveyWildes[/member] Or contact Virtulux and see how many are required for a direct buy?
Or maybe enquire with ToolNut to see if they would organise it?

Hi HarveyWildes. I live in Madrid and I love Comercial Pazos, but be aware that it is a quite specialiced but small shop. They sell the template for sure, as they are Virutex dealers, but if you are thinking of buying it there, be sure to call them some days before, as they probably don't stock it. Just in case you don't speak spanish, PM me before your hollidays and I will contact them on your behalf.

By the way, it is not in a quite tourist place, but it is not far away from the center of Madrid.

Regards.

 

[ben_r_]

I wish I would have bought an MFS before the discontinued them.

Anyone made any progress getting Virtulux so sell us the parts?

 

[Llap Goch]

Hello Ben

I spoke to Ney UK on Friday, they are the Virutex distributors in the UK. They can get the PF400 from Spain in approximately 10 days at a cost of £224 plus £15 carriage. This compares to an average price of £161 delivered for the Festool MFS400 when it comes back into stock.

From the photo's in the Virutex catalogue it looks to be exactly the same. I do not know what carriage would be to CONUS.

 

[ben_r_]

Hello Ben

I spoke to Ney UK on Friday, they are the Virutex distributors in the UK. They can get the PF400 from Spain in approximately 10 days at a cost of £224 plus £15 carriage. This compares to an average price of £161 delivered for the Festool MFS400 when it comes back into stock.

From the photo's in the Virutex catalogue it looks to be exactly the same. I do not know what carriage would be to CONUS.

Interesting.

FWIW I just found these two sellers on eBay from Germany listing the MFS 400 and MFS 700 kits:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Festool-Frasschablone-MFS-400-492610-/171419553994?hash=item27e966d0ca:g:7TEAAOSw-0xYP-zC
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Festool-Frasschablone-MFS-700-492611-/181216065752?hash=item2a3151b8d8:g:1cMAAOSwcUBYP-s-

Waiting to hear back on how much they want for shipping to the US.

 

[Corwin]

I wish I would have bought an MFS before the discontinued them.

Anyone made any progress getting Virtulux so sell us the parts?

I asked their US office about the router templates. Didn't get any response about the PF400 or PF700 templates, but they do offer the stair template. http://virutex.com/templateforstairs-pfp.aspx

 

[tjskinny]

I decided to give the Virutex Stair Template a try, I ordered them from Virutex US website; which no longer lists them for some reason.

They are essentially the same as MFS 200, 400, and 700 profiles. 

[attachimg=1]

Same 16mm thickness and 80mm width.

View attachment 5

View attachment 6

The interal webs of the extrusions are slightly different.

View attachment 2

The end track alignment features are different,  the Virutex mills a tenion in the end and Festool uses installed round plugs. 

View attachment 7

The Festool MFS extrusions will attach to the Virutex PFP extrusions.

View attachment 3

And visa versa.

View attachment 4

But they do look like a perfect alternative if you decided to purchase rather than make your own. 

 

[Corwin]

I decided to give the Virutex Stair Template a try, I ordered them from Virutex US website; which no longer lists them for some reason.

That's odd. They were on their website the other day. Guess you must be lucky.  [big grin]

 

[ben_r_]

Yep, their gone from the USA site now:
http://virutex.com/stairstemplate.aspx

 

[MrToolJunkie]

You must have ordered the last one!  [laughing]

 

[tjskinny]

I guess I did get lucky.

You know what they say -  "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes". 

I wasn't too sure if the order had worked,as I had placed it, received a confirmation from PayPal but not from Virutex.  My account order stayed as "processing" for a about 4 days.  So i called them, they said they had some glitches in there ordering system and didn't get a notification of my order, but they would ship it out right away.

And even up till just the other night, the Template was still showing on the website. 

Maybe a run on them?

 

[ben_r_]

I guess I did get lucky.

You know what they say -  "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes". 

And even a broken clock gets to be right twice a day.