PerL said:
Has anyone of you tried this top with Festool accessories?
Yes, I have this top. It’s very good quality and
dead flat even after a few years. If you need to carry it around, know that Valchromat is heavier than the standard MDF that comes with the original Festool MFT (because it’s denser / more water resistant), which makes it awkward to move. I have wheels on my MFT (once the legs have been folded up), but I do everything I can to avoid moving it.
It works fine with the Festool clamps etc. It’s 18mm thick according to the Axminster site, but mine is exactly the same as the festool MFT at ~19mm. Maybe they’ve made it thinner since I bought mine (they can do this because Valchromat is stronger/less-saggy than Festool’s MDF).
You would do well to also buy the chamfer/reamer tool that Axminster/ UJK sell. Chamfering the holes will allow the table to accept more-recent dogs from UJK / BenchDogs etc. (improving the stability of the dogs) and the reamer takes care of any swelling of the material over the seasons. I also bought the plastic hole covers that Axminster / UJK sell (you need two packs to cover a whole table). If you are doubling up the table to be a general workbench, they are great to stop stuff falling through. It takes ~2 seconds to remove one when you need to put a clamp in.
I coated mine with a couple of thin coats of shellac on both sides. While it won’t stop the material from absorbing / releasing moisture, it will slow it down.
My last Festool MDF sagged in the middle. So far, this hasn’t. If it shows any signs, I’ll simply turn it over.
I had wrecked the old bolts, so I substituted them with new ones. (IIRC, it didn’t come with any bolts, but the top is drilled in the right places.)
You don’t say where you are based. It’s expensive to ship heavy large items like this across continents, so if you’re in the US, I would first check out local places with a CNC that can run some moisture-resistant MDF through it to cut the holes. Valchromat is basically just that, but dyed in fancy colours all the way through. A locally-sourced custom-made top would also allow you to add some offset holes slightly further out than the standard ones, which (a) will avoid you cutting through some holes when using a Festool track and (b) give you an extra bit of space between the extremes when you need it. (I made my own extra holes in the UJK top with my Parf guide set.)
Given the caveats on shipping / better options locally, I can highly recommend this — no regrets.
It sounds I am going to pay them a visit very soon.