MFT/3 with T-slot on top...

[Steve Jones]

Home made jigs are what woodworking is all about, I do not get that statement at all.

Nickao
[/quote]

My shop is full of home made (well, shop made) jigs, I was refering to jigs for the MFT. I just still haven't grasped what's wrong with the MFT fence.
The angle unit stops are not particularly solid, but that's why Festool added the clamp at the end of the fence.
And to cut exact 90s and 45s all day long I put some pencil marks on the MFT top at the outer edge to indicate where the fence is at those angles.
Since the fence always goes into the same two holes, the pencil marks always place the fence at the correct angle - exactly!

no manipulated router guides, no home made extra fences, no muss - no fuss, it slices, it dices, etc

 

[Qwas]

Well I gotta say it, That's what makes the MFT so great.

If you can make the existing fence work for you, that's great. If you can't the table has enough other options that you can make something else work.

I tried for for over a year to use the existing fence but it seems after 10 cuts it needs realignment. Maybe it is the way I'm using it. But then I seen how the holes work and my problems have disappeared. I haven't had to realign in about 50 cuts, maybe longer.

Semenza got me thinking tonight about a jig for cutting plywood. I'm going to experiment with it this week and (hopefully) be posting my idea shortly.

No one is trying to convert you. But for some of us the existing fence just doesn't make the grade.

 

[mhch]

  The alignment issue appears not only after 10 or so cuts, as Qwas mentionned, but also
  in the worst case when the MFT is folded, stored away then re-installed, specially by
  those who have a small shop or use a garage. I don't feel comfy to leave the fence
  and rail in place, specially because of the overhanging parts of them.

  In that case, a quick easy repetitive way to re-install rail and fence is invaluable,
which is why I invested some time into designing a good scheme for myself.

  In addition, the MFT does not come with an accurate built-in mechanism to
  setup the workpiece for a cut. The Festool suggested approach relies
  on aligning the splinter guard of the rail with a mark on the workpiece.

  As a result, a number of people described what they think is a more satisfactory approach
- Jerry Work's "getting the most from the MFT"
- some of the Woodshopdemos web pages
-  The various contributors to the  "Guide Rail Alignment' thread
- and likely many others