MFT boring template - homemade MFT tops

E

EdwardK

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Joined
Oct 29, 2014
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Greetings one and all.

I recently bought a TS-55 with some rails and accessories including some parf dogs. THe plan was to get a local shop to cut a regular sheet of 18mm MDF all over with 20mm holes. I figured that this would be a cheap way of making a home made MFT table and gice me the option to make a small and a large table/top from a single sheet of 8' x 4' MDF.

Just got the price back and they want £300. Bit more than I was expecting...

Anyway, I was thinking that I could probably have a jig made up from aluminium/plastic from a metal shop for alot less - initial thoughts are that a sheet of aluminium maybe 800mm by 150mm with two rows of holes in it to allow a 20mm router bit in a bushing would work.

This would let me make any number of tops / different sizes of tops just with the right 20mm bit and correct bushing.

Not sure on what size bushing would be good - any thoughts?

With two rows of holes in the template/jig all I'd need to do is have two pegs to register in to the top and bottom holes of the first row. I guess the registration pegs would have to be 20mm at the bottom and lipped to the size of the template/bushing holes.

Has anyone tried this?
Thanks,
Ed
 
I have had a template made out of engineered plastic. CNC cut 30mm holes on 96mm centres, 4 x 11 hole grid. At the same time had a four bench dogs made 20mm stem and 30 mm head.

Technique is to clamp template to MDF, route four rows of holes using a 30mm copy ring into the template with a festool 20mm spiral upcut bit. Then advance the template three rows and use the custom bench dogs in the overlapping row to maintain registration, reclamp and route next three rows and repeat.

In theory the limiting factor to maximum size is how large is you sheet of MDF. Need to be very careful with alignment and maintaining registration as any errors are potentially magnified with larger sizes.

Template and dogs cost £300 but will break even on fourth standard sized top in comparison to list price for replacement

Will try and post pictures later
 
I might try another shop!  [eek]

I just had a 4' x 7' sheet of 3/4" ply CNC'd with holes for dogs and was charged $75 US. 

Seriously, that seems a bit high for the CNC work.  Was he providing the material as well?

Sven
 
Sven said:
I might try another shop!  [eek]

I just had a 4' x 7' sheet of 3/4" ply CNC'd with holes for dogs and was charged $75 US. 

Seriously, that seems a bit high for the CNC work.  Was he providing the material as well?

Sven
Click to expand...
$75 is cheap with or without the material ,the cost is in the set up that what I been told .Most CNC shop charge more than that just to set it up .
 
I'm with Sven, £300 is straight-up highway robbery.  The time it would take a CNC operator to program something that simple would be very minimal.  Try a different shop for sure! 

A template would be a great idea, then you can make whatever, whenever you want.  Plus, having your own template will allow you to charge people £300 for a sheet of MDF with a bunch of holes in it.... You may be on to something ;)
 
Thanks everyone - good advice!
Had a quick go on SketchUp to see if I could draw the template as Thistleman outlined:

router-template-dims.jpg


This sheet will measure 1056mm x 672mm.
50 holes.
I think that the sheet material could be 10mm to 15mm thick ? Do you think this is too thin?

Will have a chat with a mate who has a cnc shop (but won't cut wood :) ).

The pins I drew as 30mm tops at the same thickness as the sheet material and then 30mm long tails which have a diameter of 20mm to fit in the hole.

I reckon I only need two registration pins but saw that Thistleman had four. Do you think you need four?

Then I realised that I have the parf dogs which are 20mm pins... so why not just slip a 30mm outer diameter washer/shim over them and use that as the registration pin... might make it cheaper to get fabricated.

Anyway, going to email this to my mate tomorrow and see what the score is.
I suspect that he'll want to use a smaller sheet just cos he is v. busy.
What is the smallest sheet / number of holes you think you could get away with in terms of accuracy?

Many thanks,
Ed
 
Looks good mate.  I would go with 4 reg pins... Only because I'm OCD about perfection... Something you'd want in a template.  Also, with the pins, it won't matter how big the template is, it should be accurate.  As far as thickness goes... Thicker may be more durable, but it comes down to your bit type for routing the holes.  Let us know how it turns out.
 
My template is 10mm thick. It needs to be at least as thick as the depth of your copy ring or else your router will not sit flat on it. The registration dogs I had made up we're only a few pounds and fit the template holes perfectly as they were made to measure. Four is probably overkill but I reckon that every little bit helps reduce any errors. I considered getting a larger, almost square, template but cost became a significant factor. I also flip the template around its short axis every time I advance it so that hopefully any alignment errors will cancel out
 
Well got the price back from my mate - looks like £120 to £150 for the sheet material and same again for the machining and then some more for the pins....probably looking at £300 or more.

Screw it! Think I will just go with buying a MFT3 - think I can get one for about £430 ex-vat.

I can probably use the top as soon as I get it to make up a spare top? Just carefully use the festool 20mm spiral upcutter ?

Anyway, thought I could save some money but I have a project pushing closer....

Any good advice on additional parts / stops / things to buy to go with the MFT3? Will be making kitchen units and bedroom storage / cupboards soon.
Cheers,
Ed
 
Ed

This will not work as you will have to plunge your router through your template before the bearing engages it. With a 20mm bearing/bit you will have to be perfectly aligned with the template or else you cut into leading to inaccuracies when you subsequently use the template. If you are going to us an existing MFT top as your template with a top bearing guided cutter you would do better to use a narrower cutter to plunge through and then use the bearing to guide you in taking it out to the full 20mm
 
@Thistleman - ok, I see what you're saying about errors potentially (likely in my case!) happening with the 20mm idea.

So are you saying this: put a 20mm bushing on the router, insert a 10mm cutter and plunge through the sheet giving you a sheet with 10mm holes at 96mm centres.

Then find a 20mm cutter with a BOTTOM bearing that is 10mm just so that you can line up the centres - then plung through to make the 10mm holes into 20mm holes centred at 96mm.

If that isn't what you mean then I have made a dog's dinner of it! Think I burnt some brain cells in the day job today...
Cheers,
Ed
 
Place your template on top of what you wish to cut the 20mm holes. Then use a router bit smaller than 20mm with a TOP bearing, plunge the bit and route away. Simples!
 
Ed

Look at Axminster product code 666107 for an idea of the cutter you need

Clamp MFT template to your new top, line up cutter to the centre of the hole in your template, plunge straight down until the bearing is below the top of the template and you are fully through the new top, then use the bearing to guide the cutter all the way round the edge of the hole in the template

(I have no connection with Axminster, it's just that you mentioned them in an earlier post)
 
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