MFT stabilizers

[obdoor]

For $ 72.50 will these stabilizers make an appreciable difference ? Also, I'm told they will fit my MFT 1080 but not my  MFT 800, yet they fit the new MFT 3. What is up with this ?

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I do not know if your information is correct or not, but the spread [distance] between the legs on a MFT 800 is less than on a MFT 1080.  You can make your own diagonal brace stabilizer.  If you disassemble your MFT, you can insert internally threaded nuts into the bottom channels for attachment of braces and other accessories.  10mm square nuts and the elongated nuts that Festool uses for the side rail stops which are threaded to accept 6mm bolts and screws, fit perfectly in those channels.  Festool uses 10mm square nuts to fasten the cast corner fittings.

A brace can be made of a length of wood  and a pair of strap hinges.  One hinge is connected to the underside of the MFT side rails using those nuts as anchors.  The straps of the other strap hinge are bent to enable them to wrap around the cross member of one of the MFT pairs of legs.  Alternatively, a shaped wooden bottom end clamp can be made of plywood and secured the the brace rod with a bolt and hand knob. 

I have not tried it, but I think those telescoping painter's poles could be modified to work as a lightweight, adjustable brace.  The telescoping legs from a sacrificed camera tripod might be suitable, too.

Or you can buy the Festool brace.

Dave R.

 

[Jimhart]

For $ 72.50 will these stabilizers make an appreciable difference ? Also, I'm told they will fit my MFT 1080 but not my  MFT 800, yet they fit the new MFT 3. What is up with this ?

I think it has to do with the MFT/3 legs being more vertical than the earlier models. I think that this was done so you can connect 2 tables without collapsing the legs on one of them. Also made the newer table a bit more 'wobbly.'

I have 2 MFT/3's and haven't found a need for the braces. As long as you really tighten the knobs the wiggle isn't a factor for what I'm doing.

Unless you're doing chip carving or something intricate, I really don't think you'll see value from these.

Jim

 

[Dave Ronyak]

You can conect an MFT 1080 and MFT 800 without collapsing the legs on either one.  Since the axes of the pair of legs on one table will be at at 90 degrees to the axes of the  pair of legs on the other table, the joined pair is much more resistant to racking loads than either table used alone.  If you place one MFT 800 between two MFT 1080s, or one MFT 1080 between two MFT 800s, all the legs can remain in use.

Dave R

 

[Jimhart]

Dave,

I never owned a 1080 or an 800. In the Festool Essentials books (the lame books on the TS saws and the Domino), they show the legs being folded before 2 tables are connected end to end. Is this not necessary?

Jim

 

[paul_david_thomas]

I've been doing edgebanding... Thus I need to scrape the edges of materials with special tools to give them a radius. A table with the stabalisers is a lot better. It just does not budge... Is it worth $72? You choice... I think I paid about ?40 for mine.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Dave,

I never owned a 1080 or an 800. In the Festool Essentials books (the lame books on the TS saws and the Domino), they show the legs being folded before 2 tables are connected end to end. Is this not necessary?

Jim

Jim,

If you want to connect two MFT 1080's with their shorter sides end to end, the Festool manual is correct, one of the legs has to be folded up or removed..  However, the length of the MFT 800 corresponds to the width of the MFT 1080, so when the long side of an MFT 800 is connected to either short side of an MFT 1080, the folding axes of the legs are at right angles to one another and all legs can be used to support the tables ,and provides an assembly much more resistant to racking loads than either table alone.  I'll try to take a photo and post it in a later update to this message.

13Jan2009:  Here's a photo

By alternating MFT 1080 with MFT 800, you can connect as many as you want in a row with all legs down if you desire.

Dave R.