MFT 3 - Should I Buy One?

Petey83

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Joined
Sep 6, 2015
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97
Been toying with the idea of investing for a while now.

As it currently stands i use a Keter work bench with a MFT style CNC top attached.The set up uses the  supplied quick clamps that hold onto some thick strips i have attached to the bottom of the worktop using pocket holes. All the 20mm holes are usable for parf dogs / clamping elements but the row closest to the under rails cannot be used with things like quick clamps as they are obstructed. The other 2 draw backs are that I cannot access the holes from under the bench and having the keter underneath can make clamping work and rails down for crucial cuts a bit of a fiddly job.

The big plus side is it was way cheaper and takes 30 seconds to set up which given i have to carry all my stuff round to the garden from the house and set up every time (I am a hobbyist) is a blessing. But i can't help but wonder if i then loose that time at later stages when setting up cuts etc.

I was planning on buying another keter for my Kapex to sit on for now until i have some workshop space when i move house next year (hopefully), but now i wonder if i should just stump up and buy the MFT 3 and use my existing keter for the Kapex

I have just bought the parallel guides for making repetitive cuts in sheet goods for projects like cupboard carcasses but am wondering if the MFT will make it faster to do repetitive cuts on smaller pieces for things like rail and styles.

This is the only Festool product i have ever been in doubt about so would love some views and opinions from people.
 
I'm in this boat.

It's £485 for the MFT/3, plus £65 for the fixed stops, £35 for ratchet clamps and if I'm spending all that I'd have to get the £65 for the additional cross brace supports as I wouldn't be happy knowing my £500 table could be a bit more solid for the sake of £65, so all in that's £650.

Many times I've almost bought one, but each time at the last minute I take a step back and just can't internally justify all that money for what is effectively a work bench. I know it does/enables lots of things to be done, but when I look at what £650 could buy, I can always find something else on my list of wants/needs that seems like better value for money.

 
I love my MFT but I don't need portability. I use it in my shop so it is setup permanently. Plus I have other benches, etc. for the range of possible work I'd do. It's a great tool in and of itself, but if something else works that costs less, go for it.
 
Locks14 said:
I'm in this boat.

It's £485 for the MFT/3, plus £65 for the fixed stops, £35 for ratchet clamps and if I'm spending all that I'd have to get the £65 for the additional cross brace supports as I wouldn't be happy knowing my £500 table could be a bit more solid for the sake of £65, so all in that's £650.

Many times I've almost bought one, but each time at the last minute I take a step back and just can't internally justify all that money for what is effectively a work bench. I know it does/enables lots of things to be done, but when I look at what £650 could buy, I can always find something else on my list of wants/needs that seems like better value for money.

i am "lucky" to some degree as i already have 2 fixed stops clamoing elements, 2 rachet clamps 2 and 2 of the big and small parf dogs and 1 veritas low profile workstop... so that money is already spent. The cross braces on the other hand are a good point so i would be looking at £550 all in
 
I'm a DIYer and I bought one this year [eek] I've coupled it with an OF-1400 and plunge saw kit, only thing I would say is get the bench dogs as it makes using it so much better !
 
I resisted for a long time, for many of the reasons stated above.  Then I finally took the plunge and love the MFT.  It greatly enhances the fu ctionality of the TS, and the use of the holes, with clamps, is highly functional.
After I bought one new, a friend sold me his used MFT, so I have 2 and love the functionality of the unit.
 
so should i be looking at an MFT 3 with the included rail and fence or just a basic mft 3?

as said i already use a MFT style top attached to my keter bench so have a good collection of MFT related bits
 
I resisted too, mostly due to money and secondly I wanted a bigger surface.  Wanted to built Paulk table (and I probably still will soon).  Then I bought 2, one basic and one with the track attached.  Im a DIY and dont need portability but it has made a huge difference for me.  Money well spent.
 
Petey83 said:
so should i be looking at an MFT 3 with the included rail and fence or just a basic mft 3?

as said i already use a MFT style top attached to my keter bench so have a good collection of MFT related bits

If your happy like that and don't need to be mobile with your setup then stick to what you have, but I use the 1080 guide to cut doors as my 1400 was too small withut the extension, I use the mft as a feed table for my dewalt table saw so I use the protractor for that, I guess it depends on how you work. But i love mine  [big grin]
 
Go for the complete MFT, its awesome for cross cutting once squared up properly. You do need a true squared square in order to bet the best out of it.

But i you have doubts in buying a MFT, Remember Festool is a system, IMO the basics of that system are a TS 55/75, MFT and CT everything else you buy is based of those basic items. I have 2 MFT3s and a kapex MFT. I want to get another MFT a basic will work as I already got the kit for cross cutting.
 
Petey83 said:
so should i be looking at an MFT 3 with the included rail and fence or just a basic mft 3?

as said i already use a MFT style top attached to my keter bench so have a good collection of MFT related bits

I bought the MFT3 with the rail, fence and angle protractor thingymajig.
I don't use the fence and angle protractor that much to be honest, I use Parf Dogs for setting the rail square which I find very easy and convenient.
I didn't buy the cross braces for the legs and don't feel i'll ever need to.
I don't regret buying the MFT3 for a minute BUT I don't see you will get a lot of benefit over the set-up you are currently using.
However if the money is burning a hole in your pocket... go for it!

 
Andy UK said:
Petey83 said:
so should i be looking at an MFT 3 with the included rail and fence or just a basic mft 3?

as said i already use a MFT style top attached to my keter bench so have a good collection of MFT related bits

I bought the MFT3 with the rail, fence and angle protractor thingymajig.
I don't use the fence and angle protractor that much to be honest, I use Parf Dogs for setting the rail square which I find very easy and convenient.
I didn't buy the cross braces for the legs and don't feel i'll ever need to.
I don't regret buying the MFT3 for a minute BUT I don't see you will get a lot of benefit over the set-up you are currently using.
However if the money is burning a hole in your pocket... go for it!

The 2 benefits I am most keen on are the attaching clamps to the side and the fact you can clamp against the undersides of the aluminium frame easily.

I am torn though as a lot of what I have found time consuming is making repetitive rips for cabinet doors and face frames and shelfs so trying to fatham if the MFT with the fence and tail stand will do that or if I need to stick with the parallel guides I ordered at the weekend.
 
Where the MFT really helps out is to make accurate crosscuts or cross router operations in sizes that exceed miter saw capacities.  So basically you can use it for up to base cabinet depth cross cuts.  You can expand the capacity by using a longer rail and rotating the mounting position to the "ends".

There are ways to make cabinet component size rips accurately.

Peter
 
Petey83 said:
Andy UK said:
Petey83 said:
so should i be looking at an MFT 3 with the included rail and fence or just a basic mft 3?

as said i already use a MFT style top attached to my keter bench so have a good collection of MFT related bits

I bought the MFT3 with the rail, fence and angle protractor thingymajig.
I don't use the fence and angle protractor that much to be honest, I use Parf Dogs for setting the rail square which I find very easy and convenient.
I didn't buy the cross braces for the legs and don't feel i'll ever need to.
I don't regret buying the MFT3 for a minute BUT I don't see you will get a lot of benefit over the set-up you are currently using.
However if the money is burning a hole in your pocket... go for it!

The 2 benefits I am most keen on are the attaching clamps to the side and the fact you can clamp against the undersides of the aluminium frame easily.

I am torn though as a lot of what I have found time consuming is making repetitive rips for cabinet doors and face frames and shelfs so trying to fatham if the MFT with the fence and tail stand will do that or if I need to stick with the parallel guides I ordered at the weekend.

I found that ripping, especially ripping narrower pieces is more easily done on a table saw. I ended up buying a jobsite table saw and that is what I mostly use it for now. I use my MFT with fence and guide rail mounted for extremely accurate cross cutting (although I found that I need to check the squareness of the guide rail to the fence regularly to make sure it is a perfect 90). For me, cutting up smaller pieces of plywood (that fit on the MFT table), crosscutting, and mitering are the MFT/fence/guiderail's strong points. Also, being able to use the OF 1400 mounted on the guide rail on the MFT is amazing for routing dadoes. Just a reminder, I only use my MFT in the shop and it never gets moved. I'm also a sideline woodworker and don't do that for a living. Sometimes  that makes a difference in how useful some of these tools are.
 
For convenience they are good, but 30 seconds seems acceptable.
They are not overly stiff which is the bulky test drawback. As a cutting and clamping table they work.
 
I think the selling point of a mft is PORTABILITY ,if not moving it, I think there is better methods.
I do think the cross cutting is good tho
Charlie
 
Petey83 said:
Andy UK said:
Petey83 said:
so should i be looking at an MFT 3 with the included rail and fence or just a basic mft 3?

as said i already use a MFT style top attached to my keter bench so have a good collection of MFT related bits

I bought the MFT3 with the rail, fence and angle protractor thingymajig.
I don't use the fence and angle protractor that much to be honest, I use Parf Dogs for setting the rail square which I find very easy and convenient.
I didn't buy the cross braces for the legs and don't feel i'll ever need to.
I don't regret buying the MFT3 for a minute BUT I don't see you will get a lot of benefit over the set-up you are currently using.
However if the money is burning a hole in your pocket... go for it!

The 2 benefits I am most keen on are the attaching clamps to the side and the fact you can clamp against the undersides of the aluminium frame easily.

I am torn though as a lot of what I have found time consuming is making repetitive rips for cabinet doors and face frames and shelfs so trying to fatham if the MFT with the fence and tail stand will do that or if I need to stick with the parallel guides I ordered at the weekend.

Yes the aluminium channel around the sides are handy for clamping particularly in the vertical position if you find a need to do that.
If you make a lot of cabinets and cabinet doors and you also have the parallel guide system you will be able to rip your sheets to width with the PGS and then accurately cross cut using the fence and stop flag on the MFT3.
I assumed as you are a hobbyist speed wouldn't be as essential as if you were producing cabinets day in day out hence my comment about the MFT not being much improvement over the set up you already have. But for convenience the MFT3 with the guide rail and accessories is where it's at. As I said earlier I've never needed the cross braces for the legs as I've found it to be stable enough for the work I do on it and hand planning etc. gets done on a different purpose made bench anyhow. 
 
They pretty much suck for hand planing unless hand planing involves a hand held electric planer.
 
Holmz said:
They pretty much suck for hand planing unless hand planing involves a hand held electric planer.

Sanding - yep
Sawing - yep
Power planing - yep
Routing - yep
General clamping - big YEP

Hammering, hand sawing, hand planing, etc - YEECHHH!!!!
 
So i bit the bullet and ordered one with all the bells and whistles.... Did order the cross braces too just to see what benefit they add as i can always send them back.

I have also returned the parallel guides as all i really wanted them for was repetitive cuts on narrow stock as this is what i tend to do most often and the bit that seems to take me the most time. Given the cost of them at circa £220 for the full set it seemed excessive for the type of use i forsee, if i ever need to knock out a kitchens worth or carcasses i will maybe go and re-buy them but for my current projects i only need a narrow stock solution. To this end I have looked into the RipDog narrow stock guides and they work out cheaper even after the import duty and T track costs so will order these in the new year once the wallet has recovered.

In terms of getting the MFT square - I have a Woodpeckers 1281 square which seems to be what was used in the older videos before the massive MFT one time square was produced but does anyone have any tips on the set up of the MFT and getting it square?
 
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