MFT Aligned. At Last.

[simonh]

I always found frustration with the MFT guide rail system. I could get it all squared, but it wouldn't maintain squareness, and this became a very frustrating experience. I eventually changed track when I got the GRS16PE and made the suggestion to TSO to make it mountable to the rail. Hans obliged and that's been my go to method when using the MFT. More recently I've used the GRS and parallel guides solely with a STM1800 for making cabinets and managing sheet stuff.

A couple of days ago I had a project where it would be handy to use the MFT and bring the saw to the material rather than using my table or mitre saw. I didn't want to dig out my STM1800 and I thought given my years of experience since I got the MFT and all the suggestions on FOG that I'd set it up using the stock Festool hardware. Well, that ended a frustrating experience with all the same problems. I was determined this thing wasn't going to beat me. I read around and there are now products such as Dashboard and TSO MFT Aligned aimed at solving the problems.

As my experience of all [member=61691]TSO_Products[/member] and support has been amazing I decided on the TSO MFT Aligned product. It seemed to tackle the weak points of the Festool product without throwing everything away. There aren't many videos out there on this product by the usual YouTube influencers, just a couple from TSO.  Anyway, I ordered it from Axminster UK and it arrived next day.  It was easy to assemble and took around 10 minutes to swap the parts over and install on the table. I did the initial squaring with my TSO large triangle and then did a 5 cut method and a slight tweak and was happy.

I then decided to test on 9, 12, 18, 30mm material. Lifting the rail supports as needed. Everything checked out perfectly square. I've never experienced such good results from my MFT. I was actually quite shocked and decided to remove the brackets from the MFT, re-install them back to the stops, then try again. Perfectly square! I'm so surprised that I felt compelled to leave some feedback on the product.

Great work Hans & TSO Team!

 

[TSO_Products]

Hello Simon and fellow MFT/3 users!

As well established as the MFT/3 is and standing on the shoulders of its FESTOOL 1080 predecessor, the MFT/3 remains an exceptionally versatile and useful tool in this digital age.

At the same time, we see it underutilized by many, in part, due to a limited understanding of its capabilities. As you stated, Simon, the “moving target” of guide rail alignment between the table surface and elevated above workpiece height was a shortcoming calling for relief.
Instead of throwing the “baby out with the bath water”, TSO’s engineering team made it a point to understand the root cause of this behavior and then correct it – with the upgrade of critical components.

Simon, thanks to your FOG post, more than a few MFT/3 owners may take a fresh look at their past tolerance of some MFT/3 idiosyncrasies and raise their own expectations of the repeatable accuracy made possible by upgrading their MFT/3 with TSO’s MFT ALIGNED set.

User experience reports from a discerning woodworker like yourself, are helpful to
old Pro’s and newbies alike.

Thank you, Simon, on behalf of TSO’s engineering team for sharing your experience on the FOG!

Hans