jonny round boy
Member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2007
- Messages
- 3,227
I had an interesting afternoon today - had a few hours spare, so went to my dealer, knowing he'd got a delivery last week of some new goodies to play with.
In his demo area was a new MFT3, with the new (and as yet NAINA) extension module bolted to the side:
[attachthumb=1]
(Note: I didn't have a camera with me, so you'll all have to make do with stock images, I'm afraid).
In it was a brand new, just out of the box CMS router module, but no router attached. "The OF2200 router is over there - I haven't had time to look at it yet, let alone fit it in the table. Do you fancy setting it up for me?" - Well, it'd be downright rude to refuse an offer like that.... ;D
The router module comes with all the required hardware to mount any of the three main routers, OF1010, OF1400, and OF2200. I was fitting the OF2200.
The instructions were clear, though a little daunting at first - there are a LOT of bits to assemble, and at first glance it looks quite complicated, but once you read them properly it's quite straightforward.
This isn't a full review (without pictures to illustrate it, there's little point in me describing the procedure!), but suffice to say that within 5 minutes (well OK, maybe 10 - but that included a tea break) the router was in the table with THIS router bit in it.
I didn't realise at the time that it was one of the 'special' cutters, or that it was such an expensive router bit - it costs more than most routers - if I'd known I wouldn't have dared use it! My excuse is that my dealer had it kicking around, and said it was OK to use.
He found a bit of timber from out the back somewhere, and I set up a few test cuts - Cutting a dado, a rebate, and also extending the bit right out & setting the fence to operate it as a planer (albeit sideways on).
First impressions
Downsides
There weren't many, but a couple of things had me slightly worried - the router lift sticking at the bottom (mentioned above), though that might ease with use; the second, and more serious thing, was that the right-hand section of the fence (the adjustable portion) had some play in it, which didn't seem to be right. The outer edge could be moved around 2mm forwards & backwards even when everthing was fully tightened. I'd be interested to see another one & see if that's the same, as it did seem to possibly be a manufacturing fault rather than a design fault (my dealer's going to check this out with the rep).
Overall, I really liked it, and it's now firmly on my wish list. Some people will prefer to have this module in the dedicated CMS base rather than permanently attached to the MFT, but I think that's purely down to personal preference based on how you work & the size of your shop.
I really wish I'd remembered to take my camera, and some router bits...
Sorry.
Edit - I forgot to add: For some reason best known only to Festool in Germany, the OF2200 ships in the UK with 3 collets - 1/2", 12mm, and 8mm. No 1/4" collet is included. This used to be the case with the OF1400 too, but they swapped the 12mm one out & shipped it with 1/4" instead. I'm surprised that they haven't done the same with the 2200, since (to my knowledge) 12mm shanked bits are not available at all in the UK...
In his demo area was a new MFT3, with the new (and as yet NAINA) extension module bolted to the side:
[attachthumb=1]
(Note: I didn't have a camera with me, so you'll all have to make do with stock images, I'm afraid).
In it was a brand new, just out of the box CMS router module, but no router attached. "The OF2200 router is over there - I haven't had time to look at it yet, let alone fit it in the table. Do you fancy setting it up for me?" - Well, it'd be downright rude to refuse an offer like that.... ;D
The router module comes with all the required hardware to mount any of the three main routers, OF1010, OF1400, and OF2200. I was fitting the OF2200.
The instructions were clear, though a little daunting at first - there are a LOT of bits to assemble, and at first glance it looks quite complicated, but once you read them properly it's quite straightforward.
This isn't a full review (without pictures to illustrate it, there's little point in me describing the procedure!), but suffice to say that within 5 minutes (well OK, maybe 10 - but that included a tea break) the router was in the table with THIS router bit in it.
I didn't realise at the time that it was one of the 'special' cutters, or that it was such an expensive router bit - it costs more than most routers - if I'd known I wouldn't have dared use it! My excuse is that my dealer had it kicking around, and said it was OK to use.
He found a bit of timber from out the back somewhere, and I set up a few test cuts - Cutting a dado, a rebate, and also extending the bit right out & setting the fence to operate it as a planer (albeit sideways on).
First impressions
- The height adjustment from above the table is great, and a delight to use, although when wound fully down it did stick a little & require more force to bring it back up again;
- The router lifts up far enough to get the collet higher than the table top, meaning that you can get the spanner onto it easily above the table to change bits;
- The OF2200 is a beast, and in the table is probably enough to handle anything you want (I didn't get a chance to use it freehand);
- The procedure for fitting the router in/taking it out again is quite straightforward, and with a bit of practice would literally be a 2 minute job;
- With the fence attachment removed (just 2 thumbscrews) and the router wound down or removed, the module works as a great extension table for the MFT3;
- the built-in featherboards/guards work well, though they restrict the size of stock you can feed through - anything bigger than aound 4"x2" and they'd have to be lifted out of the way;
- Dust extraction works well, particularly with a Y splitter & 2 hoses, one above and one below the table.
Downsides
There weren't many, but a couple of things had me slightly worried - the router lift sticking at the bottom (mentioned above), though that might ease with use; the second, and more serious thing, was that the right-hand section of the fence (the adjustable portion) had some play in it, which didn't seem to be right. The outer edge could be moved around 2mm forwards & backwards even when everthing was fully tightened. I'd be interested to see another one & see if that's the same, as it did seem to possibly be a manufacturing fault rather than a design fault (my dealer's going to check this out with the rep).
Overall, I really liked it, and it's now firmly on my wish list. Some people will prefer to have this module in the dedicated CMS base rather than permanently attached to the MFT, but I think that's purely down to personal preference based on how you work & the size of your shop.
I really wish I'd remembered to take my camera, and some router bits...
Sorry.
Edit - I forgot to add: For some reason best known only to Festool in Germany, the OF2200 ships in the UK with 3 collets - 1/2", 12mm, and 8mm. No 1/4" collet is included. This used to be the case with the OF1400 too, but they swapped the 12mm one out & shipped it with 1/4" instead. I'm surprised that they haven't done the same with the 2200, since (to my knowledge) 12mm shanked bits are not available at all in the UK...
