MFT 3 Stability

[Jimhart]

I've been considering the MFT3 even though I do 90% of my work in my shop and have pretty good setups to support most of what I do. I've recently bought a lot of Festool stuff and the overall system intrigues me.

I just watched this video on You Tube and it makes me scratch my head.
=related

I don't know who that is in the video, but I'm assuming it's someone from Festool since the video was posted before the MFT3 was released and there's about $1,000 worth of guide rail behind him.

The MFT3 video on Festool's site shows the 'evolution of the workbench' from the big beech benches to the MFT3. I've never seen a big beech bench rock back and forth like that. If I bought a card table from Costco and it rocked like that I'd take it back in a minute.

The solution is to buy an optional accessory for another $75.

Am I missing something? I would think a product being positioned like this would be solid without the need for additional accessories to keep it from rocking back and forth. The 'before' in that video would be totally unacceptable to me.

Jim

 

[mrwilby]

I've have the MFT3 for a few weeks now, and I've used it in anger. I personally wouldn't buy it without the stability braces. Even with them it still seems to move more than I'd like... but it may be that I just haven't found the optimal positioning for the brace lock-points.

Those braces were about 80 euros over here IIRC. That'd be ~120$. I'd snap them up at your price...

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Good Afternoon,
Just a friendly reminder: you can insert YouTube videos right in your posts.  This makes it easier for everyone to see the video in the context of the forum discussion.

It's easy:
1. Start your discussion
2. Click on the YouTube button [attachimg=1]
3. Insert the address

To illustrate the point, here's what the video mentioned in the first post looks like using the steps above:


Matthew

 

[Frank Pellow]

...
Am I missing something? I would think a product being positioned like this would be solid without the need for additional accessories to keep it from rocking back and forth. The 'before' in that video would be totally unacceptable to me.

Jim

I agree with you that Festool should not sell these as an option.  They should include them and up the price a bit.

The wobble shown on the video appears to be much more than I experience with my two "old" MFTs (one of each size).

 

[Michael H Hinkel]

I gotta rant

This is a pet peeve of mine. You buy something only to find out later that you need something else for it to perform at its best.  Reminds of the days when tool cords were so short I had to buy extension cords.
"Sometimes you can do without the extras because the tool or whatever does what you need, maybe not as well as you hoped.
This is a high dollar "work" table,  The table should be sold with the braces because it shouldn't wobble.
I do not believe there is one person here that would send a table out the door that has this problem.

rant over, thanks.

I own more FESTOOLS than I care to admit ;D ;D ;D ;D

 

[dltflt]

I guarantee that if I designed a piece of equipment that needed an accessory to work properly my sales people would go ballistic.  They expect along with their customers that a piece of equipment should work flawlessly especially if you are paying top dollar.  Now if this improvement came after the initial release of that product we would upgrade the customer for free and it would be standard equipment from that point on.  That is just good customer relations.

 

[mhch]

More ranting,

Customers also expect stability of a product line in time, specially for tools meant to work
  as a system, In that respect, the incompatibily of MFT/2 and MFT/3 is, least to say, a weak
  marketing strategy, specially for those who were considering to buy more to
  extend their work surface.

  Hopefully they will buy demo MFT/2s or second hand ones

 

[stvrowe]

Hey - didn't you guys notice, it has more "flexibility". ???  Apparently, it is an intentional design feature the way it was discussed.  I was seriously contemplating purchasing an MFT3 but, after seeing this "flexibility", I am not so sure.
Steve

 

[kmhphoto]

Festool should be careful that Stella Liebeck doesn't buy an MFT/3 !
A lawyer will have a field day if anyone has an accident using one so I wouldn't be surprised if this video is removed soon

 

[DaveM]

I also saw the MFT3 video on YouTube and was surprised by the "rockability."  Even after the support braces were installed it looked like there was still a bit of free play.  I've got to say, this pretty much turns me off of buying the MFT3 after seeing that.

DaveM

 

[Forrest Anderson]

The video was first mentioned on FOG by Shane Holland on 23 April and he introduces it by saying "As promised, here's a video showing the cross members in action.  Pay close attention near the beginning of the video where Rick shows the table without the cross members installed".

Could Shane or Rick perhaps confirm whether or not the beginning of the video really is representative of the MFT3's stability without leg braces? Did someone forget to tighten up the leg bolts, or does the MFT3 really rock like that when the legs are tightened?

At the moment, it seems that a lot of people are being put off buying the MFT3 because of that video.

Forrest

 

[Woodenfish]

I'm with you guy's on this disappointing review. For $575 this table should certainly be solid, not flimsy like a folding card table. When the boom arm began sagging because of that nylon spacer bending Festool stood up to the plate and warranted an aluminum replacement. It's a shame that they are attempting to gouge their customers with a retro-fit repair to overcome poor initial design. I have been anticipating this table for quite some time. For me the $575 + tax was more than I had anticipated  but with the way things are economically I can almost justify it because of the Festool quality. Now when it becomes over $700, I start to pause.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Guys, I will say only what I know to be factual.  Let me preface this by saying that I think it would be in your best interest to visit your local dealer and check it out for yourself if you're interested in the MFT/3.  The amount of play is a matter of perspective and my "experiment" was in now way meant to be a precise quantification.

Now, that being said...  I have an MFT/3 and I just headed out to the garage to refresh my memory about it's stability performance because I wanted to be as accurate in my description as possible.  I do not have the cross braces, so this is stock.    I found that with quite a bit of force that would be similar to, say hand planing in a side-to-side motion, I was able to create about 1/2 cm (if even) in rocking.  I feel like it would skid (and even that is not easily done) before it would sway.  So, I would not say that the video is not representative of the stability of the table.

I was not present when the video was created so I do not know the circumstances of how the MFT/3 was set up.  I certainly do not think that Rick would have purposely over-exaggerated the rocking just to sell the braces.  In fact, this video was originally created as a training piece for internal use.  I have used my MFT/3 on quite a few occasions for various purposes and have been pleased with how sturdy it is.

I would encourage others that have purchased one to weigh in to give more unbiased opinion since I know mine may be taken with a grain of salt.

I guess at this point, if warranted, I may need to coax Rick back into the training room to shoot another video with no cuts or editing to show what the table is like from collasped to unfolded position with the knobs well tightened.

 

[jaegerhund]

I only have a few (3) Festool sanders (plus vacuum) and have been extremely happy with the quality.  Every now and then I think about buying more stuff --- the system I suppose.  However, this video really turns me off of the MFT3 --- hopefully something is done about this issue.

Justin

 

[Jimhart]

Shane,

Thanks for weighing in. I'm new to metric. Is 1/2 CM about 2 inches?  ;D

You've seen the video and you have a MFT 3. Do you think somethings not quite right with the MFT3 in the video?

Thanks,

Jim

 

[Jimhart]

Shane,

Just googled 1/2 CM, about 1/4". Is that about what you see on your MFT3?

Jim

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

What I think is this: the video was created for the purpose of showing what type of difference the cross braces make.  NOT to demonstrate the amount of wobble from the MFT/3.  So, think of it like this.  Would the cross braces installed seem to have a significant effect on the stability of the table if it already looked rock solid at the beginning of the video.  Probably not.  I think that it what Rick was trying to convey.  Not that the table was wobbly out of the box.

I think most of you are now familiar with the quality of our products.  Safe to say?  Then do you really think our engineers would have overlooked something like 3-4" of lateral play in the table out of the box.  Uh, nope.  I now regret posting the video.  I think it has been taken out of context.  Like I said, looks like we will be shooting a new video tomorrow because I want the MFT/3 to be fairly represented.

Jim, yes. VERY little play.

 

[Fred West]

I have my new MFT/3 setup in the basement with one cross member support on it as I broke the other one being stupid. I have NO issue with the rocking of my MFT/3 and the only reason I am getting the supports is because I wanted to attempt hand planing on the side. As everyone else here I am a huge Festool fan but please trust me when I say that had my table showed anywhere near the rockability that showed in Ricks video I would have sent it back. I have issues with the manuals but NOT with the table and would seriously suggest that you all go see one  and push the heck out of it. By the way, sanding on it has been a breeze. As a serious disclaimer I have only had the table for a couple of days so have not tried every configuration or sanded with every sander, etc. Fred

 

[jaegerhund]

I think most of you are now familiar with the quality of our products.  Safe to say?  Then do you really think our engineers would have overlooked something like 3-4" of lateral play in the table out of the box.  Uh, nope.  I now regret posting the video.  I think it has been taken out of context.  Like I said, looks like we will be shooting a new video tomorrow because I want the MFT/3 to be fairly represented.

Jim, yes. VERY little play.

Thank you Shane.  No -- I for one was dismayed because it seemed out of character ----but glad to hear the video doesn't represent the product.

Justin

 

[Bob Marino]

My MFT/3 is still in the box in my shop (due to space/time/ issues - what else is new? ), but  a couple months ago saw one at a Festool demo and though  I  did not put it through any kind of test, felt it was about as stable as the 1080, at least I didn't notice wobble at the time. I agree totally with Shane's assessment of the table and the video. Festool doesn't design a flaw into a product, so they can sell you a fix, even though one would thinks so looking at Rick's video. Poor video, great table, no worries.

Bob