MFT1080 cabinet

[jmatz]

I'll post the front, left, right side diagrams with dimensions... they will be added to the photos already at the top of this thread.  Hope that helps.

I like the lazy susan idea - might have to try that!

 

[maxwell]

I was wondering if, after using your MFT cabinet for a while, whether you had any problems with dust or chips accumulating between the MFT top and the cabinet top.

I know that the CT's dust extraction is pretty good, but I sometimes use hand tools on mine and its easy to clear up when the crap just falls to the floor.

Do you find your design easy to clean?

 

[jmatz]

Dust hasn't been a problem so far.  The CT33 seems to take care of most of it, and the fact that the MFT is at the opening of the garage helps because any breeze clears off the dust.  Or I blow it off underneath the MFT using compressed air.

 

[Brian 57]

Neat idea.
A detail I would like to better understand relates to the four square ply "studs" which receive the right-angled legs of the MFT. I think I can see that the studs are screwed to the upper plywood surface, but am unclear if/how you then attached the MFT to those studs.
Regards

 

[Eli]

I don't think it's attached to them, the legs are folded and the ply pads prevent the MFT from sliding off the rolling base, by sitting around the outside perimeter of the pads.

 

[jmatz]

Yes... I am just relying on the weight of the MFT (with the full leg assemblys detatched) to keep it on the cabinet.
All the pressures on the MFT are downward or lateral, so the small plywood blocks work fine for keeping the MFT from moving.
You could certainly drill a hole in each of the MFT short legs and add a screw through them into the block for full anchoring.

JM

 

[mntbighker]

I have been watching this discussion with interest since I finally got my first 1080 today. The various ideas have been coalescing in my melon and I have one suggestion based on what I have read. Keep in mind I have a very small storage shed, car port and no real "workshop" :-(  I like the idea of the cabinet having it's own MFT top, and I like the idea of the MFT and cabinet being the same height when separated. So I put the two ideas together and I propose the cabinet having a "shelf" near it's base for the MFT legs to sit on. The MFT is a pretty heavy unit and I have a bad back. This way you would tip the MFT up at an angle... roll the cabinet under... and tip the MFT back the other way while sliding it the rest of the way onto it's narrow shelf. Then all that's needed is some fairly elegant way to clamp or lock the MFT in place. Maybe all you really need is a couple of small wood blocks that rotate to capture the legs from sliding off the trailing edge? Now the MFT is a bit higher (I'm 6'2") and on wheels with some storage underneath. If I need the real estate I separate them and have a way to lock them together back to back. So this is only possible because it appears Festool designed the MFT with the legs dead vertical and lateral supports on the narrow side only. The wrinkle is the height of the leg mounts but I hope that's not a deal breaker.

--Mark

 

[Dan Clermont]

I am looking at starting an MFT cabinet tomorrow or Thursday.

has anyone who has built one like this happy with it or would you make some changes and if so what would they be?

I plan to build a drawer into it so I can store my MFS 700

Cheers
Dan Clermont

 

[mhch]

I've been struggling with making plans for one. Nothing satisfied me.

I suggest you read my last post inhttp://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1223.0
to see where I'm aiming at.

 

[jmatz]

Having lived with the cabinet for a while, I am thinking of adding a 4-plug outlet box somewhere.  This would make it easier to plug in the saw, router, domino without running cords all over the garage or plugging/unplugging tools too much.  Just one extension coming from overhead to the back of the cabinet.

That's about it.  All other functions of the table have been great!

JM