MFT being discontinued

[Bob Marino]

We were notified that the MFT 1080 is on backorder and  that the MFT 1080 and 800 are no longer being manufactured. Festool is coming out with 2 new MFT 's (hopefully) Spring of 08. The tables will be called MFT3's. The side profiles  will be different as will the height of the new larger table be higher. The MFT3's  will also offer an extended line of accessories. No pics or other info is available as the MFT3 has not been in existance yet. I am sure updates will be forthcoming.
  Bob

 

[Fred West]

Bob, is this serious? Why would they bring out a new line that would not fit with the old ones? As you know I have the three MFT 1080s and I am sure the new ones will fill needs that we have all been looking for but will make it difficult when we already have lower and or smaller ones that cannot/will not meld. Fred

 

[Tinker]

I have read other posts where the poster was not happy with how low the MFT's are.  I for one, would not complain if they were even lower.  I'm a short guy and my shop ceiling is about as low as legally can be called a cellar.

I'm sure the newer model would be an improvement.  However, I am surprised that FT might come out with a new table that cannot be joined to the old models. What happened to the "system" approach???
Tinker

 

[Don Bullock]

Bob, thanks for the "heads-up" on what is happening.

I wonder if the new design is Festool's way or competing with the new Kreg tables.

 

[Bob Marino]

 Guys,

I don't know much more thaqn I posted, but I am thinking the old accessories (most anyway) will fit the new table. Apparently Festool cannot make any older MFT's with the current tooling they have, so the decision was to retool for a newer version.

 Bob

 

[Brice Burrell]

I have read other posts where the poster was not happy with how low the MFT's are.  I for one, would not complain if they were even lower.  I'm a short guy and my shop ceiling is about as low as legally can be called a cellar.

I'm 6'2", a new, taller table would be welcomed in my workspace anyday!! I can't wait!!

 

[mntbighker]

Having become a very recent Festool addict and just recently bought my MFT this frustrates the crap out of me to think that I can't ever expand this "system". Of course there is the used market and I'm guessing there will be "service repair parts" for some time period? In the end it makes me wish I could have been clairvoyant enough to have just built my MFT from 80/20 parts which being industrial in nature are much less likely to EOL on me. I bet we will all get all exited by the new version but the obsolescence is still a frustration. Me personally, I would not want it lower but I would support a choice of heights.

--Mark

 

[Steveo48]

Bob, can you encourage Festool to make the new table adjustable so we can put away the bricks and hacksaws? ;D

Steve

 

[rodwolfy]

Having become a very recent Festool addict and just recently bought my MFT this frustrates the crap out of me to think that I can't ever expand this "system". Of course there is the used market and I'm guessing there will be "service repair parts" for some time period? In the end it makes me wish I could have been clairvoyant enough to have just built my MFT from 80/20 parts which being industrial in nature are much less likely to EOL on me. I bet we will all get all exited by the new version but the obsolescence is still a frustration. Me personally, I would not want it lower but I would support a choice of heights.

--Mark

Mark,

I'm totally with you on this. I've spend around $3k in the last month and a half on Festool and accessories. Now they're going to change the MFT so that the accessories don't work?  Doesn't make much sense in support of their current client base.

Canon Cameras did a similar thing when they went to digital. They changed their lens mount and alienated a lot of their customers. Nikon engineered around it and you could still use lenses from the 1950's on their digital cameras. In the interveining years, they have updated their cameras so much that you likely wouldn't want to use one of the old lenses. But, in the mean time, it made the transition easier.

I would think that they are not going to be changing out that many things. Hopefully the clamps will still work with the new MFT rails, as they are also designed to use on the guide rail. If they changed that, then they will likely change out the guide rail too. Which will in turn change out the other items like the saws and router guide system. And hopefully they'll keep the basic MFT design so that the multi-angle clamps will still work on top. We'll just have to see. I'm all for improved products, as long as it doesn't short out the use of current ones.

 

[kgregc]

Hmmm... I just got my long awaited MFT last week!!!! My wife laughed when I ordered it the day she said I could get one, but she won't laugh if I tell her my new Festool table is no longer made.....

Not a happy Festool owner right now.

 

[mastercabman]

Mark,

Canon Cameras did a similar thing when they went to digital. They changed their lens mount and alienated a lot of their customers. Nikon engineered around it and you could still use lenses from the 1950's on their digital cameras.

canon changed the mount when they went auto focus .nikon still have the same lens mount,but with a lots of limitations.

as for the mft,i wish they would come up with a better locking mechanism for the legs.instead of loosing off a knob,how about something like a locking pin loaded with a spring.all you have to do is pull on the knobs and unfold the legs.

 

[billybokay]

What is going to happen to your current mft when the new one is released? is it going to blow up? No , it is going to be the same centerpiece of your work environment as it has been. If it is that much of an improvement than I guess we will all have more than one multi function table.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Hang on guys, Billy is right, your MFT's are still everything that they were this morning when you got out of bed. I would guess the new MFT3 is compatible with the old accessories, just not the new stuff with the old (current) tables. Festool isn't trying to alienate the current MFT owners, maybe they simply couldn't  fit the "new expanded system" into the old (current) tables. If you fell your MFT isn't useful anymore sell it, someone out there will buy it. The only reason I'll sell my MFT is if I feel I don't have the space for it. Well until then, we can only speculate.

 

[Michael Kellough]

....Now they're going to change the MFT so that the accessories don't work?  Doesn't make much sense in support of their current client base.

Bob didn't say the accessories won't be interchangeable,

"The side profiles  will be different as will the height of the new larger table be higher. The MFT3's  will also offer an extended line of accessories."

 

[mntbighker]

Hang on guys, Billy is right, your MFT's are still everything that they were this morning when you got out of bed.

Agreed Brice, but when I get ready to convert my single 1080 by adding a second or combine them using Festool provided parts... oh wait, I guess I can't do that starting next Spring :-(  It's not the end of the world but a little annoying for sure.

--Mark

 

[Ned]

... when I get ready to convert my single 1080 by adding a second...

You'll be able to buy an old model MFT from some guy who's replacing his with an MFT3.

I don't know right now if I'll be a buyer or a seller in the old-model-MFT market, but I know there'll be one.

Ned

 

[mntbighker]

I don't know right now if I'll be a buyer or a seller in the old-model-MFT market, but I know there'll be one.

Ned

Yup, I think a common feeling 

 

[Brad Evans]

I dunno...  My MFTs, clamps, and guiderail will still work the same and be just as handy.

There's a similar sort of thing you see on the camera forums.  Nikon or Canon introduce a new model with new features, and it's like the previous years' models somehow don't work or take decent pix anymore.

In the camera world, it has to do with some needing to have the latest and absolute best - and somehow truly believing owning the best is what confers skill and talent. The Leica camera forum is a good example.  Lots of people think nothing of spending $5K for a Leica body and $3K for a lens. And then go out and shoot pix of of their kids or statues at the local park.  Go figure...

 

[Bob Marino]

Guys,

This is new info to the dealers as it is to the end customers, well maybe 12 hours difference. Nothing will become  obsolete, as I understand it. Apparently the tooling for the older MFT's needed replacing and the cost was prohibitive, so a new design was sought. Festool has prided itself (rightly so) on improving their tools without obsoleting the previous models (look at the earlier guide rails - they work with ther newer versions).
I am sure more info will be forthcoming soon.

Bob

 

[Corwin]

As I recall many here were interested in the 'other' new table from across the pond.  Cannot remember the name of it, but many liked how that thing worked...  I love my MFTs.  I have an 800, two 1080s and a 1900 (well, it is a square table from the longer 1080 profiles).  And yet, I look forward to a new and improved version.  And very much so. 

I do hope that along with the new profiles, Festool will also upgrade their corner pieces.  The current corners seem to hold the profiles such that their tops all lean inward somewhat.  While this is not a problem for the accessories they offer, it does add an undesirable element if you were to mount other kinds of accessories there.  Additionally, I would hope that they would offer more pieces for the do-it-youselfer to use to build custom units -- after all, how many either have, or have dreams of having a jumbo-sized MFT?

And I, for one, will be waiting for those spy photos with baited breath.

Corwin