MFT fence placement

[HowardH]

I decided this last weekend to recalibrate my MFT 1080 and after looking at the guide that came with the unit and John's set up at Woodshopdemo, I noticed that John set his up with the fence at the front of the unit and the factory has theirs set up at the rear.  I can see the utility of having it up front, not having to reach across the table but it would be at a disadvantage when cutting miters.  Should the fence be set up at the rear and left there?

 

[Michael Kellough]

The MFT should be used as a versatile jig for supporting the work, guide rail, and fence in various configurations, rather than a single (90 degree) configuration. While we do usually use it for crosscutting at 90 degrees you really don't get the benefit it can provide if you try to keep it set up that way. I know there is a great temptation to leave it at 90 degrees after struggling to get it perfect but the fact is that it is easily knocked out (of perfection) so you really need to learn to quickly reset 90 and check it often.

After adjusting the fence to make it perfectly 90 degrees cut as big a piece of plywood as will fit on the table and mark and save it to use to quickly recover 90 degrees after moving the fence for other work, or bumping into the table and torquing the frame a bit.

To answer the question, the fence should be placed wherever it is most useful and or comfortable. The guide rail can be moved wherever too, but when adjusting the angle between guide rail and fence, make adjustments to the fence and keep the guide rail locked. Remember to set front/rear guide rail mounting brackets so that the rail is sprung laterally so that it catches snugly on the pin on the front bracket.

 

[HowardH]

Thanks, Michael.  That's a great idea on keeping the plywood handy as a reference tool.  It would be a lot easier to use that my square. 

 

[Tinker]

I have spent considerable time fiddeling with the adjustments on that guide bar (the one for the 1080) getting it square to the rail.  It has never seemed like an easy fix.  Since I acquired a MFT 800, I now have the two mft's clamped together in tandem.  I will be cutting a hole into the 800 to mount router and jigsaw plates. 

Altho I have not actually worked with this setup, I have been fooling around to work out various problems, one of them being the moving of the fence bar for various angle cuts.  What i have found to work best (at this point it is proficy, not actual fact) is to lock the 1080 fence down as tight as I can using the miter guage and the locking device (don't have the nomenclature locked in my head) tight at the far end.  If i need to cut a series of angles, i will either line up a couple of sections of my MFS, or setup the shorter fence and miter guage from the MFT 800.  I have several different architects miter guages from various old drawing sets that i use for checking and making accurate setups.

In actuality, i have found the MFT miters to be quite accurate once i have either one of them set up perfectly square to the guide bar or edge of the table.  Those slots seem to be right on the money.  I may find it a little different when i try cutting some octagons or hexagons.  Since i retired my table saw with the old dubby and the newer incra 1000, I am going to have fun learning to make angles all over with the ATF/MFT.  but new ways is half, or most, of the fun.  So far, I have never duplicated a project, so I have not had a chance to really learn if there are advantages, or disadvantages for production with the Festool systems.

BTW:  I have also had my fun with the ATF tipping.  I don't know if I disagreedisagree with the responent who said the 55 "only tips" while the 75 falls.  I have not tried the 75 so i don't really know the difference.  I do know that once you have the ATF 55 cocked at an angle, it is going over, so you need to pay attention.  I hold down on the the plate and use no more pressure on the saw handle than is absolutely necessary to keep the blade buried and the saw moving forward
Tinker

 

[greg mann]

Something that gets mentioned every now and then but also seems to get glossed over is the usefulness of putting a stop in the far left slot behind the outboard clamp. A nut and set screw is all you need. Make sure you have the squareness you desire between your guiderail and fence. Lock down the stop in the slot and then push a nut and setscrew up tight behind the clamp. Once it is secured you can duplicate the location of the outboard clamp very easily and every time.

 

[HowardH]

That's another good idea.  Taking that idea further, you could place another screw and nut set at the other end of the table as a stop where the 45 would be located.  Kinda like a Ronco rotisserie where it you "set it and - come on now - forget it!!

 

[Michael Kellough]

Something that gets mentioned every now and then but also seems to get glossed over is the usefulness of putting a stop in the far left slot behind the outboard clamp. A nut and set screw is all you need. Make sure you have the squareness you desire between your guiderail and fence. Lock down the stop in the slot and then push a nut and setscrew up tight behind the clamp. Once it is secured you can duplicate the location of the outboard clamp very easily and every time.

This is works as long as the MFT doesn't get bumped too hard, or the the humidity doesn't change much. The problem is that the guide rail is attached to the frame and the fence to the mdf table which is not securely secured to the frame. It really can't be since the expansion rates are so different. The relationship can change so it's best to get good at resetting the angle.