MFT3 cross cut to replace Excalibur slider ?

T

terrystouf

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Mar 14, 2010
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Hi,I am a new user looking at getting into the Festool line,I  am gearing up to start my ride down the slippery green slope with a TS55 and a MFT3,I am holding out for the ct26.I am a little nervous about selling my Excalibur 60" slide table without having used  the mft3 for crosscutting,but to keep the better half happy and to ease the wallet shock i want to sell it now.My question to anyone with experience with this is: how easy is it to remove and reinstall the crosscut track, and is it accurate once setup again with out recalibrating? I know it would be nice to leave it setup,but the gain in space  by selling the slide table would be lost by a dedicated cross cut table,and i cant imagine leaving that track sticking up in the middle of the shop while using the table for something else.Any advice would be greatly appreciated...
 
If you are referring to the 42" rail that goes across the table, it is removed using 2 hex screws.  It is easy, but not necessarily convenient.  You may have to raise and lower the rail to get to the screws easily.

As far as it being accurate when it is removed and replaced, I can't answer that.  When the rail is lowered it fits into a tab on the opposite side of the table.  There are stops that the rail guides go up against, so you had moved the guides, you could move the guides up against the stops and lock them down.  The rail should be square to the angle unit fence, but you would have to check to ensure square.  There is a video on YouTube that shows how to square the MFT, and once you understand how to do it it only takes a minute or so to square the rail and angle unit.

Someone else with more experience will probably explain it better.
 
JohnDistai said:
If you are referring to the 42" rail that goes across the table, it is removed using 2 hex screws.  It is easy, but not necessarily convenient.  You may have to raise and lower the rail to get to the screws easily.
Click to expand...

I think he was asking about the fence, not the guide rail.  But the guide rail can be removed with the quick release and slid off the MFT/3's profile without any tools.  Likewise, the fence can be removed with a single knob being unscrewed, quickly and easily.

What John is describing is the process for removing the rail from the hinged mechanism that attaches it to the profile.  That's not necessary since the whole assembly can be removed.  For most applications, simply swinging it up out of the way would suffice.

I'll let others give their opinions of how easy and accurate it is.

PS - Welcome to the forum. [big grin]
 
Thanks guys,I guess I was refering to the whole assembly(fence and guide rail) as in to use the table for assembly or whatever.It is just so easy to throw the fence on the excalibur slide table and have 30" of dead on (?) cross cut capacity,I would miss it if I had to fiddle for 15 min to set the mft up,but the slider is such a space hog,i want to mount a new router table set up there...
 
As long as you don't bang the guide rail/mount assembly around and don't move the stops, it returns to where it was when you took it off.

Tom
 
Welcome to FOG.

The first and Primary question I need to ask is do you work with sheet goods?

IF yes and you are asking if you can crosscut full 49" sheets the answer is sadly NO you cannot use the MFT to do this operation.   Festool in its wisdom Has decided to make a Sheet cutting system that cannot handle full sheets [doh].  However there many other ways to acheive this operation in an Accurate +- 1/64 over 4' system.

http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/cutting-table/
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/large-shop-cutting-table/

and finally my own RIP/CROSSCUT TABLE
http://www.talkfestool.com/vb/jigs-inventions/2309-cutting-table-about-time.html

If you are planning on only crosscutting smaller pcs then an MFT will be great.

Craig
 
Thanks for the great ideas,yes my primary crosscutting is sheet goods, i dont have a 49" capacity now so have adapted to roughing down before finish cutting,I am trying to eliminate that step,I think if I had more need to crosscut panels at that width  i would look into building some jigs, but most stuff i build is domestic cabinet type stuff , rarely over 24" wide,but i guess somtimes you can make better use of the material by  ripping crossways first, But to be honest ,the last 4 kitchens ive reno'd,i have just installed,couldnt touch the prices of the crap they wanted,so i am accepting that most cabinetry i will build will be for me, and so dont need full out speed...
 
While you can get tablesaw accuracy with the MFT3, it is my experience that the stock fence is not always as consistently accurate as a tablesaw.  I always recheck the squareness of the fence to the rail when I re-install them on the MFT3, sometimes it is dead on and sometimes it needs tweaking.  There are bench dogs available that allow you to use the MFT3 hole grid to square your rail and fence and these supposedly give you much greater repeatable accuracy.  They are on the long list of Festool accessories I have yet to purchase but I am sure you can find out more about them with a quick search.

Personally I would not sell my tablesaw as there are many tasks that it performs easier and quicker then the saw/rail/MFT3 combination.
 
Thanks,some great ideas,ill definitely be keeping the table saw,so maby ill hang on to the cross cut slide table till i try the mft3 ? off the cross cut topic ,I was thinking about making  some type of parallel guide similar to the festool but fastening to the back edge of the track and indexing over the top of the sheet as opposed to under the track and side edge,(?)and ripping on a collapsable cut table,then crosscutting on the mft3, so maby a permanent cross cut set up? but i have yet to buy and fall in love with the ts55, april for sure...
 
I build a couple of kitchens and other custom cabinetry just with a festool setup. No problem at all!
I usually lay my 4x8 sheets on top of 2 MFT tables. (you can cut 2 at the same time!) Rip them down to the width I need, put them aside.
Now, I'm getting my 3rd MFT out, set up for cross cutting. I have three because I'm too lazy to take the rail and fence on and off... Anyhow, I'm then doing all my cross cutting at the same time with the other two mft/s acting as table extensions on both sites.
To make life easier, I have all three tables sitting on wheeled  cabinets.
Come install day, I grab on of the tables and have the same capabilities on site as I have in the shop.
As for squareness: You can get very close to a prefect 90 degree cut, close enough that it doesn't matter. But a nicely dialed in panelsaw will be better.
Anyhow, I guess you get my point. It's possible!
I have done all of that in a shop with less then 500sqft.

But don't sell your table all together! Maybe down size to a Bosch contractor saw or such. There are times were you still need a TS.

 
terrystouf said:
Thanks,some great ideas,ill definitely be keeping the table saw,so maby ill hang on to the cross cut slide table till i try the mft3 ? off the cross cut topic ,I was thinking about making  some type of parallel guide similar to the festool but fastening to the back edge of the track and indexing over the top of the sheet as opposed to under the track and side edge,(?)and ripping on a collapsable cut table,then crosscutting on the mft3, so maby a permanent cross cut set up? but i have yet to buy and fall in love with the ts55, april for sure...
Click to expand...

You can make either a single-piece or two-piece jig as you describe.  In this photo I have a jig made from a u-shaped piece of ply that uses Incra track and stops -- please note that the jig was placed on the MFT for the photo and is really used on a cutting table instead.  This one-piece jig is great for sheet goods and the rail is attached via piano hinges so it also works well for cutting pieces narrower than the guide rail.

normal_Incra_Track_Jigs_001.JPG
 
Such an encouraging site! I was just going to ask about parallel cuts, track indexing, parallel guides, eye to pencil ? That pic says it all ,IMHO,I like this guide setup more than festools,(in concept)I thought that having to readjust the guides to different lengths of material was just silly. As for narrow pieces ,table saw?...
 
terrystouf said:
... As for narrow pieces ,table saw?...
Click to expand...

I don't have a table saw.  With this setup I can cut a 10" wide piece of ply with the jig, then reset the stops for a narrow cut to 10" more than the desired piece, say 12-1/2" to get 2-1/2" pieces.  For multiple narrow cuts, flip the guide back on its hinge to remove the cut piece and place another for cutting.  Quick, accurate and easy...

Being one piece, this jig is easy to remove from the top of your material and set aside while you place another piece of material on your cutting table.  The jig in the photo works with either my 1900mm (shown) or 3000mm rail.
 
terrystouf said:
Thanks,some great ideas,ill definitely be keeping the table saw,so maby ill hang on to the cross cut slide table till i try the mft3 ? off the cross cut topic ,I was thinking about making  some type of parallel guide similar to the festool but fastening to the back edge of the track and indexing over the top of the sheet as opposed to under the track and side edge,(?)and ripping on a collapsable cut table,then crosscutting on the mft3, so maby a permanent cross cut set up? but i have yet to buy and fall in love with the ts55, april for sure...
Click to expand...

Festool gives you 30 days to try out the MFT (it counts as a tool, according to the dealers on here).
Keep your sliding table for at least that long and then your pocketbook is "at peace".  Don't want to sell something prematurely if the MF T doesn't work out for your needs. 
 
Here is my set up I talked about earlier:

[attachimg=#]

With the scrap piece of Ply as an underlay:

[attachimg=#]

Ready to cut!

[attachimg=#]
 
I am curious,how do you parallel your long tracks for ripping,pencil mark or story sticks? I guess a guy could clamp a pair stops that accounted for the track width ? Thanks , i am really looking forward to not manhandling large sheets on the table saw any more,looks like i might be able to stop fighting chipout on the melamine to ... cant wait....
 
terrystouf said:
I am curious,how do you parallel your long tracks for ripping,pencil mark or story sticks? I guess a guy could clamp a pair stops that accounted for the track width ? Thanks , i am really looking forward to not manhandling large sheets on the table saw any more,looks like i might be able to stop fighting chipout on the melamine to ... cant wait....
Click to expand...

Pencil marks were good enough so far!
As for loading the sheets on the table: I took a very short clip today to demonstrate how easy it is. Will post later.

Cheers,

Andreas
 
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