Mft squaring problems

[Rudymejia12]

How often do you square up your mft?  I feel like I have to do it a couple of times a day. Is that normal? I use a wood pecker square and it's usually the inside corner where the track meets the rail will move just a hair. Enough to make my cuts off by 1/32 maybe. Any advice or input would be great. I also bought the accessory that goes under the track to prevent movement. I have seen all the videos. I have no problem making it square. It's keeping it square that I am having issues. Thanks in advance

 

[Gregor]

Only when I had disassembled the fences and after moving it (the latter to be sure, no real deviations found so far).
As long as it stands in one place I havn't found issues.

 

[geoffshep]

You must be moving something between the operations for it to change.  Are you cutting different thicknesses and therefore raising/lowering the front and rear brackets?

 

[Stone Message]

Have you tried doing away with all the MFT extra bits and just use some bench dog (tall and short) and a guide rail up against the tall dogs.

View attachment 1

There are dogs suitable for the task from Lee Valley, Qwas, TSO and Axminster.

You will be able to get consistent 90 deg and 45 deg cuts and never need to do any calibration at all.

Peter

 

[Birdhunter]

Peter, as usual, is correct.

I use 2-3 bench dogs along the top of the MFT parallel to the long side. I square the fence to the dogs using a Woodpecker framing square. I tighten the fence bolts.

When I cut, I butt the wood against  the bench dogs, drop the fence making sure it nestles into the SlopStop, and lock down the fence. I do clamp the wood. I try to guide the TS55 without any side pressure.

I’ve never used the protractor that came with the MFT. The bench dogs work well for me. I use both Qwas dogs and the dogs Peter invented.

I get consistent square cuts.

 

[geoffshep]

That is not what Peter is suggesting.  He is using dogs to position the workpiece, and also dogs to position the rail.  This is also the way I use the MFT - but it is not answering the OP's question.

The MFT default setup is fine for repeated cuts at a set thickness, but as soon as you adjust the guide rail clamp bracket up or down it can tilt, thus moving the support point for the rail out of square.

 

[ear3]

As someone already mentioned, there can be some issues when you change the height of the rail brackets to accommodate different thicknesses.  I find that these can be minimized if when squaring up the rail you add a little tension in and use the slop stop.  I keep a scrap piece of plywood a little smaller than the surface area of the table, and have scribed a line from a trusted square on it (Woodpeckers 32" T-square).  So when I setup my MFT, I simply line up the splinterguard with the line and am ready to go, assuming, of course that the splinterguard is still relatively intact.

 

[Rudymejia12]

Thanks for the input everyone. I think geoffshep and ear3 got it. I do lift the guide rail up and down for different thickness. For Peter and birdhunter I have considered that option but for the amount I spent on the mft I am not ready to give up on it. Peter thanks for all great videos btw!

 

[Corwin]

This is a common problem that has been discussed here several times. Please read my post in this thread: TS55 + MFT/3 Not Cutting Straight

 

[Birdhunter]

I often adjust my rail to accommodate different wood thickness and never lost square. I guess I don’t understand how adjusting height affects square.

 

[Bob D.]

Have you tried doing away with all the MFT extra bits and just use some bench dog (tall and short) and a guide rail up against the tall dogs.

View attachment 1

There are dogs suitable for the task from Lee Valley, Qwas, TSO and Axminster.

You will be able to get consistent 90 deg and 45 deg cuts and never need to do any calibration at all.

Peter

One thing I found out when I tried using my TSC55 wit the tall dogs was the lower battery will not clear the dogs as it overhangs the side of the rail.

 

[Stone Message]

I often adjust my rail to accommodate different wood thickness and never lost square. I guess I don’t understand how adjusting height affects square.

If, as you raise the rail at the hinge end or the support at the free end, there is any left/right play then your squareness is lost.

Peter

 

[Klemm]

Have you tried doing away with all the MFT extra bits and just use some bench dog (tall and short) and a guide rail up against the tall dogs.

View attachment 1

There are dogs suitable for the task from Lee Valley, Qwas, TSO and Axminster.

You will be able to get consistent 90 deg and 45 deg cuts and never need to do any calibration at all.

Peter

One thing I found out when I tried using my TSC55 wit the tall dogs was the lower battery will not clear the dogs as it overhangs the side of the rail.

that is why TSO has developed  the "Stubby Dog" with a height of 40mm above the worksurface - just half the height of our Tall Dog. picture attached . Works great with 3/4 inch / 20mm thickness material. Let us know if there is interest and we'll stock them.
email to: info@tsoproducts.com

Hans

 

[cperren]

[member=59331]TSO Products[/member]

perfect solution for the TSC ...  I'm interested in ordering a set

 

[Bob D.]

Very nice Hans. My work around so far has been to remove the lower
battery for those few cuts that I have had a problem with and run on 18V.

Not the best but it worked.

 

[sancho57]

When I was having similar issues with my MFT, used a slop stop
https://www.toolnut.com/tool-improvements-slop-stop-for-festool-mft-tables-and-rails.html

and also use 2 of the MFT angle stops (compasses ) rather then the little black plastic thing that locks the MFT fence in. That will make it almost bomb proof as long as you dont move angle stops you should be in good shape

 

[greg mann]

I often adjust my rail to accommodate different wood thickness and never lost square. I guess I don’t understand how adjusting height affects square.

Same here. I often remove and replace the rail and fence without issues. I leave the rail and the hinged support together when I do remove them but I just never seem to have the issues that others constantly do and I am pretty fussy about accuracy. I am also not relying on dogs either although I do believe that is a great technique and would use the dogs and holes if I ever do start to have problems. Maybe I am just lucky.

I don't doubt what others are saying but it is just not my experience.

 

[Rudymejia12]

Jobsworth I'm not sure what angle stops your talking about. I already have the slop stop installed.

When I was having similar issues with my MFT, used a slop stop
https://www.toolnut.com/tool-improvements-slop-stop-for-festool-mft-tables-and-rails.html

and also use 2 of the MFT angle stops (compasses ) rather then the little black plastic thing that locks the MFT fence in. That will make it almost bomb proof as long as you dont move angle stops you should be in good shape

 

[peter halle]

He is saying that he uses two of the protractor heads instead of one protractor head and the small black fence clamp mechanism that original comes with the MFT/3 setup.

Peter

 

[DynaGlide]

I square mine using the 20mm holes and dogs then leave 2 dogs behind the fence touching. Seems to work