MFT/3 for cutting accurately small plywood sheets with fine cuts

[antoniomcs]

Hi,

I need to cut quarters of plywood sheets (24"x49") into small pieces at 90 degree angles, accurately.
Ideally, it was not necessary to make any adjustments to the cuts and that the cut pieces came out perfect, with extreme precision, perfect right angles and with fine cuts.

I already have the TS 55 FEBQ-Plus-FS.

Is the MFT/3 system capable of doing this?

Thanks.

 

[peter halle]

Yes it is possible depending on your definition of perfect.  You will need to set up your MFT and go thru a calibration process just like you would need to with any other saw system.

Peter

 

[semenza]

How small are the pieces going to be?

Seth

 

[afish]

The MFT/3 is on my do not buy list.  It works for some.  The biggest weak point of the MFT is the rail hinge.  There are several issues with it. 1. Its has very loose tolerances and prone to introduce errors. Particularly when adjusting for height there really isnt much keeping it from moving side to side if going from 1/4 to 3/4 ply for example so you would need to re square it each time. 2. Most of the hinge is just stamped steel including the pin/blade that fits in the bottom grove of the rail so not only does it not fit well it also can wear the rail.  This is such a well known issue there is an after market industry for a "slop stop" to help address it.  Bottom line the rail hinge is not up to Festool standards and should have been redesigned long ago. Plus the whole thing is not real stable. the fence can deflect, seems most people dislike the protractor head.  If you think "im going to use dogs for cutting so that stuff doesnt matter to me"  well the hole pattern isn't guaranteed to be perfect either.  Festool says its for clamping so "perfect" square cuts are not going to happen unless you get lucky. 

You need a few things for the most accurate, dare I say "perfect" 90 cuts (Ill say close too, near perfect for wood working) Even high end CNC equipment has some tolerance. Either way you need 1. A rock solid no deflection fence 2. A "good" rail hinge both dashboard and benchdogs make two very nice if not the best on the market. 3. A flat bench  This can be a knock down style MFT or a slab type on saw horses.  which ever style works best for you.  Dashboard also makes a nice MFT bench but its pricey like most quality items.  It really just depends on your budget, space and needs if it needs to be transported/stored away etc.

This is a popular Item/issue here so a search should provide you with lots of hours of quality reading.         

 

[Packard]

I don't have an MFT, but after reducing the size of the boards to about 24" wide, this sounds like a table saw job to me.  Set the fence and forget. 

My fence can be slid forward or backwards, so I can use my miter gage and the fence at the same time.  Or a sled would work even better. 

This is a job that seems to beg for a table saw.

 

[Michael Kellough]

All of afish’s comments about the MFT are appropriate but to answer your question, yes the MFT can be set up to make perfect cuts. You just have to take the time to do so. As he says, if you change the workpiece height you have to do the squaring process again, if perfect results are required.

To make this process easier we need a large square that is tall on the rail side to accommodate the range of possible rail heights. As far as I can tell there isn’t an appropriate product to buy. It has to be shop made at the time you do the 4/5 cut squaring process and when I’ve done it I’m always in a hurry to move on with the project at hand, so I still don’t have such a square. I do have a couple of squares of different thicknesses (the piece I used for the 4/5 cut process) but not a universal square.

 

[Birdhunter]

Woodpeckers makes a large tall square perfect for squaring up the MFT rail or just about anything else. I get perfect (as perfect as I can measure) using my MFT, dogs, SlopStop, and the real big Woodpeckers square.

As others have said, I’d probably turn to my table saw, SawStop Industrial, and a crosscut sled for a much easier job.

 

[afish]

I used the TSO MTR triangle and would highly recommend it. Not only will it help square up whatever system you decide on but also works for cutting odd angles if needed.  Even though I dont cut on an MFT anymore I still kept the square since its the largest and most accurate square I have.

 

[Michael Kellough]

The WP and TSO squares are nice but not tall enough on the rail side to fully accommodate the range of heights of the MFT rail.

 

[Peter_C]

I need to cut quarters of plywood sheets (24"x49") into small pieces at 90 degree angles, accurately.

What size are these small pieces?

A tracksaw can cut fairly small pieces, but there comes a point a table saw with sled is preferable.

 

[Birdhunter]

“A tracksaw can cut fairly small pieces, but there comes a point a table saw with sled is preferable“

I think safer as well especially with a crosscut sled

 

[afish]

The WP and TSO squares are nice but not tall enough on the rail side to fully accommodate the range of heights of the MFT rail.

Im a little confused and dont own the WP so I cant talk about that one but the TSO does have some pins that extend the range.  Otherwise I would through a piece of whatever material I was cutting under the track and then the track isnt elevated and just set the square on the material (left side) I hope that made sense.

 

[Michael Kellough]

“A tracksaw can cut fairly small pieces, but there comes a point a table saw with sled is preferable“

I think safer as well especially with a crosscut sled

This is true but then there are small things that a track saw can cut more safety than a tablesaw too.

I once needed to make a plug to fix damaged end grain in white oak on an art project. The growth rings where quite clear so a shoddy match was unacceptable. After cutting a clean mortise and tracing the grain on paper I cut a hole in the paper matching the mortise and used the paper template to find a scrap of wood that would match then transferred the cutout to the donor end grain.

I cut the donor piece to a length that matched the thickness of stock to be used to surround the piece and support the guide rail.  Used adhesive tape extensively to keep the donor piece secure within the support stock while the saw snuck up to the line. Final size was 5/16”x3/4”x3/4”.

The result was a 98% match. After gluing in the donor piece and sanding the whole end so the fibers all leaned the same way the match was perfect. I don’t think I could have made that replacement with the tablesaw. With skill, patience, and a fine handsaw and block plane a good plug couldn’t been made but at that time and site I had to make do with the tracksaw. I really appreciate the splinter guard that lets you know where the blade will cut!

 

[antoniomcs]

I only have one bandsaw (newbie) and I just bought the TS55.
I understand that it's a perfect job for the table saw, but I don't know if I have the space for it.
I have a very limited workspace
Hence, my question if the MFT/3 would be a good option.
The pieces to be cut are about 4"x13", 6"x12", for example.
There are smaller pieces, 3.5"x3.5" for example.
Just like there are bigger ones.

The thickness will always be the same, 5/8"

 

[Peter_C]

For those sizes I would have no problem using a stop on my fence and cutting away on the MFT. Depending on which side of cutting a spacer may be required under the fence rail. I have a fence on my off cut side for such work, just flip the stop up after piece is placed prior to cutting. Don't want to pinch the work piece.

Edit: Fixed wording.

 

[Michael Kellough]

@ afish. My TSO MTR18 is an early version and it only has pins that are less than a 1/2” tall. I guess later versions have taller pins but from your photo it looks like the total height is less than 1-1/2” and the MFT rail can be raised over 3”. As you point out the higher the rail the more wanky the support provided by the brackets so a tall square is even more important.

The BenchDogs UK guy shows a square with (maybe) taller pins in his video about his rail brackets but if he sells such a square I can’t find it on his blinking site. Blinking as in a lot of punchy photos but not much information.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I only have one bandsaw (newbie) and I just bought the TS55.
I understand that it's a perfect job for the table saw, but I don't know if I have the space for it.
I have a very limited workspace
Hence, my question if the MFT/3 would be a good option.
The pieces to be cut are about 4"x13", 6"x12", for example.
There are smaller pieces, 3.5"x3.5" for example.
Just like there are bigger ones.

The thickness will always be the same, 5/8"

If you could get someone to rip the stock to 6, 4, and 3.5 inches then you could make the rest of the cuts on a miter saw.

Another option is a TSO rail square and short length of guide rail. You can make a nest-like jig to hold the small stuff which could also give you places to add shims to perfect the angles if the TSO/guide rail alone is good enough. In fact you could go further with the jig to eliminate the rail square.

 

[afish]

@ afish. My TSO MTR18 is an early version and it only has pins that are less than a 1/2” tall. I guess later versions have taller pins but from your photo it looks like the total height is less than 1-1/2” and the MFT rail can be raised over 3”. As you point out the higher the rail the more wanky the support provided by the brackets so a tall square is even more important.

The BenchDogs UK guy shows a square with (maybe) taller pins in his video about his rail brackets but if he sells such a square I can’t find it on his blinking site. Blinking as in a lot of punchy photos but not much information.

part of the issue is the fence on the MFT is low profile the entire length not just under the rail section. If you are using a 3rd party fence that is taller its not an issue but if using the mft/3  fence and your material is much taller than the fence you can put your material in place and hook the triangle on the actual wood instead of butting it to the fence like in the photo below and slide the MTR over to square the rail that way then the pins arnt needed.  Im not sure if your MTR came with the extra piece or not I would reach out to TSO and see if they can update your pins at least. 

 

[antoniomcs]

For those sizes I would have no problem using a stop on my fence and cutting away on the MFT. Depending on which side of cutting a spacer may be required under the fence. I have a fence on my off cut side for such work, just flip the stop up after piece is placed prior to cutting. Don't want to pinch the work piece.

And are the resulting workpieces with a perfect 90 degree angle?
My intention is to make small boxes, so can I make it with 4 resulting workpieces, without any major adjustments?

 

[woodferret]

I only have one bandsaw (newbie) and I just bought the TS55.
I understand that it's a perfect job for the table saw, but I don't know if I have the space for it.
I have a very limited workspace
Hence, my question if the MFT/3 would be a good option.
The pieces to be cut are about 4"x13", 6"x12", for example.
There are smaller pieces, 3.5"x3.5" for example.
Just like there are bigger ones.

The thickness will always be the same, 5/8"

Get a waste side jig. https://www.strawbyte.com/merchandise

Long rip your 4", 6" and 3.5" strips than cross cut.  With the 3.5, you'll need a scrap piece to fit under your track.