MFT hole plugs - 3D printed
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rmwarren
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festal said:
Just the chamfer, I've had the Parf kit since the early days. I do ream all the dog holes, just seperately.
My experience, slightly loose holes are fine if chamfered and using the chamfer dogs. The chamfer tends to self center the dog so if it's secured from below or an expanding type dog the hole doesn't need to be as tight.
RMW
ghhsolutions
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festal said:
I have the Benchdogs one (never used the UJK one) and it works great on MDF but tends to tear end grain on birch ply so I use a chamfer bit in a router for that.
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Trickman2 said:
All 3d printer slicers allows to pause the print at a certain layer. I've done it when I printed knobs for my new product and it works well. However, if you want to print the hole plugs, my remix allows for friction fit nut and it's really solid. I don't think you need to embed the nut in the print. It's not like you need to screw into these nuts.
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It's possible to modify the model to embed the nut inside it and add material on top. Then, you need to add the pause at the layer just before covering the hole after slicing it.
ElectricFeet
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I recently bought the UJK plastic plugs here in Europe: €13 for 40.
I considered this reasonable for a whole table and was a bit annoyed when they arrived and realised I needed two packs to cover a standard MFT — so €26. It’s unclear why they sell only half a table’s-worth. Though to be fair, if you generally stand in the same spot when working, then just plugging the holes around that area pretty much solves the problem.
They work really well, apart from having to stare at so many UJK logos all the time.
I considered this reasonable for a whole table and was a bit annoyed when they arrived and realised I needed two packs to cover a standard MFT — so €26. It’s unclear why they sell only half a table’s-worth. Though to be fair, if you generally stand in the same spot when working, then just plugging the holes around that area pretty much solves the problem.
They work really well, apart from having to stare at so many UJK logos all the time.
ElectricFeet
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TomK_2 said:
I have several dogs/plugs with a chamfer. They are all different. Around 1.7mm is the max depth I have measured on one of my dogs.
You can choose how deep you want to make the chamfers, based on the dogs/plugs you are using.
The downsides of not going deep enough are significant. If the dogs' chamfers are sitting proud of the surface, then when you push your workpiece up against them you will not be pushing up against the body of the dog. You will instead be pushing against a very fine chamfer line. The workpiece will then do one of three things: sit snug next to the chamfer (and your work will be off-square, by a small amount); rise up above and over it (with questionable results); or it will dig into the side of the workpiece, not good. Also, the less deep the chamfer is, you are negating the self-levelling benefits -- why people add the chamfer in the first place -- as only a tiny area of the bevel will be seating itself into the chamfer.
If on the other hand, you go deeper, the dogs/plugs will just sit deeper in the hole. Might accumulate a bit of dust, maybe, but can't see any negatives to doing this.
I'd go at least 1.5-1.7mm erring on the deeper side. The UJK chamfer tool seems to be nearly 2mm, but it's very difficult to measure because the milling behind the replaceable cutter is curved. The pic gives a vague idea.
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Crazyraceguy
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Packard said:
I think it is geared more toward guys who use it as an assembly table too. Small parts, screws, etc. will fall through the holes. You can also guillotine your finger tips quite easily, while working with it as a tabletop, rather than just a crosscut station. Yes, I have done it, blood blisters to prove it. It just takes some getting used to. I have been working on top of 325 holes for over 9 years now, so no big deal to me, but everyone is different.
ElectricFeet
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Crazyraceguy said:
Yup, I bought them for precisely this. The MFT is my workbench / cutting station / machine stand / dumping ground / general messing around place / etc. etc.
Another reason is that I'm using it in a rented property and cannot damage the polished floor (despite the fact that I do with irritating regularity). I recently had difficulty opening a small bottle of white correcting fluid. I eventually got it open and the it sprayed all over the table. It was a miracle that none of it fell through to the floor. I was CSI-style reconstructing the scene to figure out how it didn't get through for days. Imagine a scene similar to Adam Savage's Great Blueing Flood of 2023 video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_srLwzrh1s) [big grin]
I bought the hole plugs shortly after (not that I ever intend wrestling with a bottle on top of anything other than a sink in future).
ElectricFeet
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Packard said:
The great thing about the hole plugs is that you keep each of them in there nearly all the time. But when you actually need an mft hole -- for clamping something, say -- you can just push up from underneath and out they pop. Takes about a second. When you've finished the clamping job, you put that plug back.
I keep a few holes permanently open (e.g. some extra holes that I added at the very edges to get max width when sawing -- it's rare I'll be working on small objects that close to the edge).
Oh and an added bonus: when you have a lot of screws or similar on the bench that you want to collect, having the plugs is an advantage, because you can remove one (and only one) of the plugs and push all the screws into that hole, where you're holding a container underneath. I doesn't work when the holes are all open, because the screws fall through several holes at once. I did some screw sorting a few weeks ago and this worked great.
You can tell I really love these things -- they give you the best of both worlds. No affiliation etc.
Thanks all for the replies. I will just use a small chamfer bit and sneak up on the size.
New problem - did a test hole with my new Trend MFT jig. I have the 30mm bushing fitting tight yet the hole ended up oversize and oblong... 20.50 mm in one of the directions. Turns out my old Craftsman router plunge base has a ton of slop when it is unlocked. If I continue, this will only end in frustration. Does the OF1400 have slop between the base and the bit when fully extended? I really didn't want to invest in an OF1400 as I can't see myself using it very often vs. a router table.
New problem - did a test hole with my new Trend MFT jig. I have the 30mm bushing fitting tight yet the hole ended up oversize and oblong... 20.50 mm in one of the directions. Turns out my old Craftsman router plunge base has a ton of slop when it is unlocked. If I continue, this will only end in frustration. Does the OF1400 have slop between the base and the bit when fully extended? I really didn't want to invest in an OF1400 as I can't see myself using it very often vs. a router table.
