MFT Rail Alignment Problem

[mprzybylski]

Hey everyone,
The back story to this is that I bought a used MFT3 off of CL about a year ago.  I checked it out when I bought it and everything seemed fine.  I have unfortunately not used it for the past year (it's just been sitting in my shop where I took everything off of it and basically used it as a flat surface for many things during that time).  In any case, I'm starting a new project and it's now time to put it to use again.  I went ahead today and i re-assembled it and to my amazement I am WAY off on the rail alignment.  I have to physically push it over quite a bit to make it sit down on the slot that goes under the rail on the front.  I made a short video demonstrating my problem:

MFT Rail Alignment Problem

If you could please offer me some advice as to what I may be doing wrong I'd greatly appreciate it.  I can't figure out how to get this thing to go up/down and not angle to the left like it does.

I suppose one other thing is the stops on the MFT front/back (the one that the rail attaches to as well as the one with the slot that goes into the rail on the front) are extremely hard for me to clamp down.  I tried messing with the screws a bit and that made it marginally better but I still at times have to really bear down on them to clamp them.  Is this normal?

Thanks for any input you can offer me.  It's greatly appreciated.

 

[copcarcollector]

Were the stops on the front and back extrusions removed or re-positioned? They are set at the factory.

 

[mprzybylski]

Were the stops on the front and back extrusions removed or re-positioned? They are set at the factory.

I'm not sure if the previous owner did move them but as far as I can remember this problem didn't exist when I originally brought this home.  I did however adjust the stops to be exactly where the manual says just to be sure (because they were ever so slightly off from the measurements in the manual). 

I think the problem is different because if you look at the first frame of the video you will see that, even when the rail is just laying there (and isn't on the slot at the front) and you compare it to the row of holes just directly to the left, there is much more space between the holes and the rail in the back than there is in the front.  it's almost as if that bracket is bent somehow but it doesn't seem to be (at least not as far as I can tell).

 

[copcarcollector]

I think the problem is different because if you look at the first frame of the video you will see that, even when the rail is just laying there (and isn't on the slot at the front) and you compare it to the row of holes just directly to the left, there is much more space between the holes and the rail in the back than there is in the front.  it's almost as if that bracket is bent somehow but it doesn't seem to be (at least not as far as I can tell).

Yeah I kind of noticed that too. Other users will chime in soon with other ideas to help you resolve this issue...

 

[erock]

If I recall correctly, some guys like the rail to angle a little to remove the "slop" between the rail and tab.

I think the angle the rail comes down on to the tab is to prevent any movement with the rail while cutting.      I could be completely wrong on this….which is why I'm a little hesitant to reply.

One little slip here and guys jump all over you.  [unsure]

My MFT/3 tables have a slight angle when I would bring the rail down when I first got them.  I bought a aftermarket accessory off ebay (tool improvements) that got rid of the "slop" between the rail and tab.

From the video, it looks like you need to move the preset stops.  Use a good square and just reset the rail to the fence.  Get it 90* and make some test cuts to meet your standards.

My guess is that the rail is not bent, nor is the bracket that holds the rail.  You just need to dial it in to your liking.

Eric

 

[tjbnwi]

Read through this thread;

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tool-problems/ts55-req-and-mft-3-not-cutting-square/

Tom

 

[mouppe]

I don't think you have a problem, and I'll try to explain it as best as I can.

You want the rail to always come down in the same position so that it remains square to your fence (once you have calibrated the fence to the rail). If the rail comes straight down on the tab, there will be some side-to-side play involved. If it comes down in such a way that it is pushing against one side of the tab, it will remain true. It may be that you feel there is too much push involved, in which case you can move the preset stop a little.

Over time, the tab could work its way into the softer metal of the rail and you need to check you are still square from time to time. I wrap some blue tape around the tab to maintain a tight fit.

Note that the position of the rail has nothing to do with the layout of the holes on the MFT top. There is an alternative way to square your rail to the holes but that's an entirely different matter.

As to your point about the rail supports being too hard to clamp down, this is because the screws are slightly too tight. Loosen them 1/8th of a turn or so. They don't need to be very tight- just enough to stop the rail slipping down when setting the height.

Hope this helps.

 

[woodie]

I found this series of videos the most informative regarding setup of the MFT. Lots of detail  [smile]

 

[Distinctive Interiors]

You say you took everything off the MFT when you got it.
Possibly, the 2 small bolts that hold the rear of the rail to the hinge may have got knocked out of alignment during the removal and the months that have passed.

It seems unlikely to me that the pre-set factory stops in the front/rear extrusions could have moved inadvertently during this time. However, it doesn't take much to knock the rear hinge on the rail if it has been laying idle somewhere since last year.

Just check to see if the rear hinge is set correctly to the rail and adjust the 2 x 6mm bolts to ensure that they haven't moved.

When I remove my rail and rear hinge from my MFT, I always leave the hinge on the rail and ensure I keep it out of harms way until I need to reassemble it.
Just a thought!

Tim.

 

[mprzybylski]

Thanks everyone for the replies thus far. I will take a look again at this today with a fresh mind.

I think my worry is that it's pretty far away from the tab and the amount I have to physically push it over to sit on the tab. Once it's on the tab it's only slightly out of square as I haven't adjusted that yet but I just don't think I should be having to push the rail over that far laterally to make it sit on the tab. I'd say it's about a good inch over to the left. Is that normal?

 

[peter halle]

Usually they are not that far off.  If you haven't yet you might want to watch the first video in the post above.  You might need to adjust the rear rail hinge to rail attachment.  That is covered in the video.  Also make sure that you inserted the front rail holder from the left - not the right.

Peter

 

[mprzybylski]

I just watched the 3 videos, thank you for posting those. I'm 99.9% positive I know what I did wrong and that's the tightening of the rail to the two screws. I wasn't aware of how to do it and that's what threw it out. I'm going to fix that today and feel a lot more confident in what I'm doing.

Peter, ironically from there I landed on your setup video which is pretty ingenious as well. I can use the fence between the dogs and rail to push it over if I don't want the cut line on the holes which is my preference.  Armed with all this knowledge now I should be able to get this squared away today (pun intended).

Thanks everyone for your help. I'll report back tonight with my status.

 

[Distinctive Interiors]

Sounds like I was right then........!!!!! [smile]

Even a small amount of mis-alignment on those two bolts can make a hell of a difference to the squareness of the rail at the opposite side of the table.

Tim.

 

[peter halle]

Happy cutting!  [big grin]

 

[tbellemare]

The long and short of it is that there is no magic place or orientation for the guide rail and its mounts. The 1080mm guide rail that comes with the MFT/3 is not magic either. I sometimes use a 1400 running the long way. You could use any guide rail. You might put two tables together and use a 1900.

The "feather keys" (elongated stops in t-tracks) are only there to allow you to take the guide rail mounts off and put them back where they came from. Their "factory settings" are purely coincidental and there is absolutely nothing magical or special or required about it.

Once you have the guide rail of your choice mounted where you want it and oriented the way you want it, then slide the feather keys up to the mounts and tighten them down. Now you can remove the guide rail mounts as many times as you desire and you can always return them to the same spot and angularity relative to the extruded aluminum profiles of the table.

After the guide rail mounts are located, square the fence to the guide rail. Because of the ingenuity of the fence's angle unit mounting to the v-groove, you can take the fence off the table as many times as you'd like and it will return to the same orientation relative to the guide rail.

And, yes, the guide rail should have a slight bias relative to the non-pivoting mount on the front of the table. It should be just barely enough to take the slop out.

Tom

 

[mprzybylski]

Well, I got it working perfectly now. The first time around I tried the Festool way and it took longer than I hoped and wasn't 100% square. The second time I tried Peter's method which was much faster and now produces perfectly square cuts. As mentioned in my prior post I used the fence between the dogs and guide rails so that I'm not cutting into holes and that worked beautifully and actually located the cut line almost exactly where it would have been had I set it up the Festool way. I can now get very repeatable cuts and am very happy with everything and off to pick up 4 sheets of 3/4" ply to start breaking down. Thanks everyone and especially Peter for your great setup method.