MFT1080 cabinet options

[jmatz]

I've seen some really nice ideas here for mounting an MFT on an alternative base, so thought I'd come up with one that suits my space (lack of). 

The first image is my original idea, with room for one sys2, two sys3's, one sys4 and one sys5, plus room for a CT33 (roughed in with green box).  The translucent grey on top represents the outer dimensions of the MFT1080, which will be held in place by shallow blocks that the inside surfaces of the MFT feet press against to hold it firmly. The translucent white box on the bottom represents the depth of the 4" casters (2 fixed, 2 swivel). Overall height will be 37" to match the height of the tablesaw and outfeed tables in the shop (half of a 2-car garage).

The second and third images are an alternate design, with the systainers all stacked along the front and the CT33 at the right-rear corner of the whole thing.  This design leaves some room in the left-rear for two or three more systainers, so I'm leaning towards this approach.

I realize that I need to leave room for air exaust from the CT33... maybe some 1" holes bored in the back surface of the base.

If anyone sees any glaring problems, please say so!  Hoping to start cutting up the 3/4" birch this weekend.

Thanks in advance for any opinions.

John M

Finished project here...

 

[Brice Burrell]

  Jmatz, if you use clamps Festool clamps in the holes of the MFT top, you may not have room to slide them in with the vac and the Systainers that close to the under side of the top.

 

[jmatz]

Thanks Brice.  I'll do a test on that tonight before going further.

JM

 

[fcraven]

Cool,

I've been thinking about doing this myself. If I put my MFT on a movable cabinet, then I'll have extra storage, I'll be able to build the cabinet so the MFT height becomes a good outfeed table, and I can get it out of my way easily.

When I take the MFT to a job site, The cabinet would stay home, and I'll use the legs on the MFT If I really need a lot of horizontal space in my shop, then I can set the MFT up separately from the cabinet.

 

[Brice Burrell]

  Jmatz, if you use clamps Festool clamps in the holes of the MFT top, you may not have room to slide them in with the vac and the Systainers that close to the under side of the top.

I quoting myself, however, I'm sure Festool thought of this already, surely there is enough room. That is if I am understanding your plan, you are going to place the MFT with the legs folded on top on your cabinet. If that is the case, you should be good to go, I think.  ;D

 

[jmatz]

Yes, that's how I plan to do it.  In fact, I'll be taking the legs off and storing them, since I won't be using the MFT on-site for any projects soon.

Thanks everyone for the input.  I think I'll go with the alternate version which gives me room for a couple more systainers.  Sounds like some premeditated spending that I'm planning on!

 

[John Stevens]

If anyone sees any glaring problems, please say so!

Not glaring, but the top of the cabinet will be covered in dust after sawing or routing.  I've made storage units for underneath the MFT twice now, once without doors, and once with overlay doors.  With no doors, everything got covered with dust.  With doors, and dust would collect on the top edge of the door and then fall inside the cabinet when I'd open the doors (sorta like how snow gets on your car seat when you first open the door after a snowfall).  Depending on your storage needs, you may or may not find cleaning the sawdust from the top and inside of your cabinet to be worth it.

Regards,

John

 

[Matthew Schenker]

I think there are some great ideas here.  Combining this discussion with the couple of other discussions we've been having regarding lifts seems to open up several possibilities.

My shop space is limited.  So for me, it would be great to have the MFT pop up and be ready for use, then be able fold down and move to the side of the shop at other times.

Here are the other discussions I'm referring to:http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1010.0http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1004.0

Of course, there have been other great discussions on the MFT.  The MFT has much potential.

Matthew

 

[Corwin]

Hey Matthew, how 'bout taking the Multi-Stand approach with some profiles attached?  Mount a fence along the top (when in raised position).  Probably will want to slide guide rail & brackets off while loading sheet goods and replace once in the lowered position -- so, use stops in profiles.  Now give the twins a pair of roller skates and you'll have a rolling tip-up MFT.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Corwin,
From my very first experience with Festool, I have been constantly thinking about what I could do with the MFT.  These past couple of discussions have opened up a whole new realm!

My head is swimming with possibilities.

Matthew

 

[John Langevin]

JMatz,
Some excellent ideas and great renderings. If you built the base cabinet as a stand-alone with suitable receptacles to receive the MFT with its legs in the folded position it could be easily removed for separate use, for cleaning underneath it or for use of the base as a non-MFT assembly/finishing general purpose work surface.
A couple of questions:
Will the CT sit "up" inside or be constrained by the base cabinet so as to move with it as a unit?
Are you planning to use a Boom Arm? It would appear that you would need something to manage the hose and power cord. It also looks as if you could fabricate some sort of home-made boom arm, perhaps attaching it to the MFT rails to the right of the cutting rail.
What approach do you plan to take as far as the Systainers sliding out to open or for removal from the base cabinet. Under the previous (and popular) topic of homemade Systainer Ports many good ideas were presented; some seemed like overkill as far as the shelving goes. The Systainer is a very ridgid and strong container and if we could figure a simple, elegant way to quickly attach/detach cabinet mounted sliding rails to the sides or bottom of it we could simplify construction and reduce construction costs. Any ideas out there guys?

 

[jmatz]

JMatz,
Some excellent ideas and great renderings. If you built the base cainet as a stand-alone with suitable receptacles to receive the MFT with its legs in the folded position it could be easily removed for separate use, for cleaning underneath it or for use of the base as a non-MFT assembly/finishing general purpose work surface.
A couple of questions:
Will the CT sit "up" inside or be constrained by the base cabinet so as to move with it as a unit?
Are you planning to use a Boom Arm? It would appear that you would need something to manage the hose and power cord. It also looks as if you could fabricate some sort of home-made boom arm, perhaps attaching to the MFT rails to the right of the cutting rail.
What approach do you plan to take as far as the Systainers sliding out to open or for removal from the base cabinet. Under the previous (and popular) topic of homemade systainers many good ideas were presented; some seemed like overkill as far as the shelving goes. The Systainer is a very ridgid and strong container and if we could figure a simple, elegant way to quickly attach/dettach cabinet mounted sliding rails to the sides or bootom of it we could simplify construction and reduce construction costs. Any ideas out ther guys?

Thanks John.  You bring up a few considerations I hadn't thought of.  I'd like to have the CT remain inside the cabinet, with the power cord extending through a hole in the back or bottom.  I have a retractable power extension in the ceiling, so I would just pull it out far enough to hook up to the CT when necessary. 

For the hose, I was thinking of putting a large hook in the ceiling (the kind that's used to hang a bicycle from), and just  hanging the hose from that to get it off the ground and have enough slack to use my TS55EQ, OF1010EQ or Domino on the MFT.  I'll have to tinker with that idea until I find something that works well.

And for the systainers, I'm going to start with just standard shelves resting on pins and pull out a tool when I need it. I'd like to get by with that setup until I decide the best order to organize the various tools in, then I might do the drawer slides.  I was thinking about some way to attach the slides right to the systainer, but don't want to screw into them.  Although a nice clean hole drilled into the case with a stainless machine screw and locknut holding the slide might look professional enough and not destroy the systainer.

I'll also be able to add doors to keep dust off the systainers and shelves if necessary, but I'm really not too concerned about that.

Will post photos when I make this thing.  I've reserved Father's Day weekend to do whatever I want, which means I get to work in the shop.

John M

 

[munchcolo]

jmatz, I'm really interested in what you come up with this weekend.  I hope you take pictures and report back.  I've been thinking of something similar to your plan, but using two MFT's (side by side, not end to end).

I noticed that you said you plan to use 4" casters, 2 fixed and 2 swivel.  I've wondered about caster options myself.  Is there a type of caster that allows the base to rest on 4 feet on the floor, but when you are ready to move the entire unit, you step on or turn a raising mechanism that lowers wheels to the floor?  I'm not explaining this very well, but I've seen something like this, and I don't know what it's called.  Maybe someone else out there knows what it is or is not as tongue-tied as I am.

 

[jmatz]

jmatz, I'm really interested in what you come up with this weekend.  I hope you take pictures and report back.  I've been thinking of something similar to your plan, but using two MFT's (side by side, not end to end).

I noticed that you said you plan to use 4" casters, 2 fixed and 2 swivel.  I've wondered about caster options myself.  Is there a type of caster that allows the base to rest on 4 feet on the floor, but when you are ready to move the entire unit, you step on or turn a raising mechanism that lowers wheels to the floor?  I'm not explaining this very well, but I've seen something like this, and I don't know what it's called.  Maybe someone else out there knows what it is or is not as tongue-tied as I am.

Some contractor table saws come with a wheel system that uses a lever to raise/lower the wheels.  I guess what you're after is the stability of the fixed base.  I'm not too worried about using casters - the double-locking ones really keep a platform or cabinet from moving.  I tested the concept on a movable lumber rack that I made last week, and it is SOLID once I lock the two swivels.

I got the information for this approach from the previous issue of Fine Woodworking:
#190 issue of Fine Woodworking - Casters Article

Here's a link to a mobile base that Rockler has.  It's customizable as far as the dimensions of the stringers that attach the hardware together.  The reviews shed a bit more light on exactly how it works. Seems like a reasonable price too.
Mobile base

 

[Corwin]

...  Is there a type of caster that allows the base to rest on 4 feet on the floor, but when you are ready to move the entire unit, you step on or turn a raising mechanism that lowers wheels to the floor?  I'm not explaining this very well, but I've seen something like this, and I don't know what it's called.  Maybe someone else out there knows what it is or is not as tongue-tied as I am.

That orange TS they sell at HD comes with their Herc-u-Lift mobile base.  I tried to purchase these back in January ('07) and found that they no longer offer them as a separate part.  While these require a certain amount of foot-pedal clearance space, they do lower onto all four feet as you describe. 

If you are really interested, I can try to find a back issue of a magazine that illustrates how to construct a base for a cabinet that will sit on four feet, yet you can crank down a sub-base with casters to lift the cabinet.  The sub-base, as I'll call it, used an acme-type threaded crank to move wedge shaped ramps for the lifting action.  Maybe a lot of work for this plan, but I would think it would be perfect for your application.

Corwin

 

[John Stevens]

And for the systainers, I'm going to start with just standard shelves resting on pins and pull out a tool when I need it.

That's what I've done with a couple of shop-made cabinets.  Works well if you turn the systainers backwards so the indentation in the top is easier to grab with your fingers.  Label the backs of the systainers neatly, and there's no disadvantage to having them backwards.

Regards,

John

 

[jmatz]

And for the systainers, I'm going to start with just standard shelves resting on pins and pull out a tool when I need it.

That's what I've done with a couple of shop-made cabinets.  Works well if you turn the systainers backwards so the indentation in the top is easier to grab with your fingers.  Label the backs of the systainers neatly, and there's no disadvantage to having them backwards.

Regards,

John

Ahh... I hadn't thought of that.  And I should probably give them a bit more surrounding space (not fit them too closely to cabinet sides) so there's plenty of room to grab.

I didn't get started on the cabinets over Father's Day weekend as I had planned. But I did get to spend both days in the shop, using the Domino and MFT to make a pair of french doors out of cherry.  Nice to have a perfectly flat surface for glue-up.

JM

 

[Frank Pellow]

I have taken a somewhat different approach for my MFT with a cabinet.  I built a mobile cabinet that fits under the MFT.  Here are a couple of pictures of the cart parked underneath the MFT:

[attachthumb=3]  [attachthumb=5]

I designed the cart to support various inserts.  Here it is in use as a spindle sander:

[attachthumb=2]

And, here it is being used as a router table:

[attachthumb=4]

The inserts as well as some of my systainers and a few other tools are stored both in the mobile cart and in a separate fixed cabinet:

[attachthumb=1]

 

[Doug Anders]

Frank...that'a beauty...

I have the same sanders (ridgid) and am also going to buy a benchtop router table and the Worksharp. Do you build this off of a set of existing (and modified) plans or is it all "original"?

Doug

 

[NMacK]

Brilliant design; I would like to build a similar design modied for an 800 MFT.

These questions I think might have been raised before; I would be grateful if you could confirmi:
What material did you use?
What joints were used?
Thanks