MFT used as a clamping table to glue up cherry doors

[Mahogany Man]

In need of clamping up a ton of cherry shaker style doors, I came up with this solution.
I used the MFT fence as a straight edge, there are Qwas dogs behind the fence for stability.
I also used an aluminum extrusion on the right side, also with Qwas dogs to hold everything square.
MFT clamps to push door into fence, once that was done, right side extrusion was removed.
Bowclamps are used to suck door to MFT top to pull everything flat.
Works like a dream, all joints are tight and everything ends up perfectly square!
Hope this helps someone out of a jamb!
John

 

[peter halle]

Thanks for posting that!  I will have to buy some more Festool clamps and try this.  My Bowclamps are feeling neglected.

Peter

 

[NorfolkNgood]

Curious,what are Bow clamps? ???

 

[Phred]

They are great and reduce the number of clamps needed for glue-ups.

Bowclamps

Fred

 

[newinwood]

John, are you using bowclamps backward?
Ed.

 

[epicxt]

They sure are in that pic!

 

[Corwin]

If you were to use the Bowclamps as they were meant to be used, would that not present far too much force upon the MFT's top?  Seems too risky to me…  Unless, of course, you use them upside down as it looks like has been done in the OP's photo.

 

[epicxt]

I've had good luck using the bowclamps as they were intended on the mft for glue ups. The mft top is surprisingly rigid!

 

[Corwin]

I've had good luck using the bowclamps as they were intended on the mft for glue ups. The mft top is surprisingly rigid!

You must be living right.  [tongue]  My first MFT's top was surprisingly flat when it first arrived, but after 8or 9 months in my shop it sagged from the humidity.  I certainly would not try using Bowclamps on my MFTs without some type of support below… 

 

[greg mann]

Looks like the Bowclamps are just holding the door flat to the MFT. The OP doesn't really need the spring face in action on this application, to my thinking.

 

[epicxt]

I've had good luck using the bowclamps as they were intended on the mft for glue ups. The mft top is surprisingly rigid!

You must be living right.   [tongue]   My first MFT's top was surprisingly flat when it first arrived, but after 8or 9 months in my shop it sagged from the humidity.  I certainly would not try using Bowclamps on my MFTs without some type of support below… 

Yeah, I must be doing something right at least!  I abuse my mft surface (I should take a photo of it soon) and have only rotated it once, still have to flip it over in the several years I've had it. I know other people have had bad luck with moisture damaging the top but mine seems impervious (not that I intentionally let it get wet, but sometimes it gets damp in the back of my pickup).  Now that I've posted this it'll probably swell up tomorrow...

 

[Corwin]

Looks like the Bowclamps are just holding the door flat to the MFT. The OP doesn't really need the spring face in action on this application, to my thinking.

Yes, I think we are all in agreement that the OP is, shall we say, thinking out of the box with his use of Bowclamps. 

 

[CharlesWilson]

It might make sense to have bowclamps both above and below the mft surface to prevent distorting the worksurface. Spacer blocks could be used underneath so that the bowclamps clear the mft side rails.

 

[suds]

I had good luck with the Bowclamps and MFT but I put butcher paper down in case I had any glue dropping.  Picked that up from the great article Jerry Work wrote on using the MFT table to clamp.

 

[Sparktrician]

I had good luck with the Bowclamps and MFT but I put butcher paper down in case I had any glue dropping.  Picked that up from the great article Jerry Work wrote on using the MFT table to clamp.

I use wax paper for the same purpose.  I always have a roll in the kitchen. 

 

[rst]

Ditto with the wax paper, I keep my roll with my glues and caulks.  I have a piece of 1/4" tempered masonite that I use on top of my MFT for cutting and gluing. 

 

[suds]

For some reason, unknown to me, I recall that in Jerry's article he did not use "wax paper" but instead "butcher paper".  I'm not sure if there was something about the wax paper or perhaps the waxed side but he didn't use it.  I'd have to dig the article out because it's been some time since I read and reread his article.

 

[peter halle]

There are a couple of versions of butcher paper in case people look for it.  One has a plastic coating on one side and one doesn't.

Peter

 

[Mahogany Man]

Looks like the Bowclamps are just holding the door flat to the MFT. The OP doesn't really need the spring face in action on this application, to my thinking.

Yup,
Just used them reversed, did not need the "bow"
I just basically pinched the panels between the clamps and the MFT.

 

[leer]

You must be living right.   [tongue]   My first MFT's top was surprisingly flat when it first arrived, but after 8or 9 months in my shop it sagged from the humidity.  I certainly would not try using Bowclamps on my MFTs without some type of support below… 

Corwin,
Sounds like you needed bow clamps to straighten your MFT, so you could then use bow clamps on your MFT.  [huh]