MFT3 is the bees knees

[Steve Jones]

the MFT 1080 left with my workshop equipment when I sold the business (actually it was picked up by it's new owner from my current worksite) and within 10 minutes my new MFT 3 was delivered by my dealer (yes, to the worksite - ask me about excellent service sometime)

What a diferrence! any and all of the problems I had had with the old one have been eliminated.....

Want to align the fence? just release one clamp and slide the fence down to the edge of a row of holes, I can tell by look and feel comparing the edge of the fence to the edge of the holes when the alignment is perfect.

Need longer stopped cuts than the fence? - no problem, release two locks (edge clamp and a nifty fence clamp built into the angle unit and the fence (with stop) slides to the left - far off the edge of the table.

Need even longer stopped cuts? - release the locking knob under the angle unit and the angle unit slides to the left leaving even more fence off the left edge (and even longer rips (I was cutting 54" lengths of ply using the stops)

Need wider capacity? - release a locking knob and slide the fence away from you, right up the far edge of the table.

Need to reach less for each cut? - The same locking knob allows you to slide the fence towards you so you don't have to reach so far to cut up narrow stock

Need really wide capacity? release two allen screws to remove the rail, slip in the longer one that came with your saw and move the rail supports to the short sides (I put them right at the edge so my cuts didn't make new grooves in the top)

Clearing the table take too long? I used to hate removing the fence to use the table for assembly or other non cutting tasks, it takes too long to remove those knobs from under the table, now it's done in seconds without having to reach under the table.

Cutting odd angles just too frustrating? with the old table setting an angle other than 90 only works one way (usually the wrong way) and then the end of the fence moves away from the cut line providing less support for small pieces, now I can rotate the angle unit either way and one knob releases the fence to slide it back close to the cut line. releasing another knob allows me to slide the fence left/right to get the best position for cutting while maintaining the angle set, yet another knob lets me slide the fence closer or further away - it's like a high-tech drafting board for making cuts.

Steve

 

[Red Lion]

I'm kinda new to wood working and I'm really loving my MFT3. It's easy to square the angle unit w/fence to the rail. The first groove cut into the MDF was hard for me to do.

 

[Frank-Jan]

Need really wide capacity? release two allen screws to remove the rail, slip in the longer one that came with your saw and move the rail supports to the short sides (I put them right at the edge so my cuts didn't make new grooves in the top)

Great idea, I hadn't thought of that.

I've been hesitant to use the longer rail for that purpose, and I have an extra set of the allignment blocks aswell (they are on my mft800 basic, that came with the kapex-set).

The kapex extension wings, that are soon to be released in the US can also slide onto the angle unit, for even longer stopped cuts. (downside is the profile won't extend under the guiderail due to the profile's thickness)

 

[Deke]

I'm kinda new to wood working and I'm really loving my MFT3. It's easy to square the angle unit w/fence to the rail. The first groove cut into the MDF was hard for me to do.

Ha! I hear you on that one, but after a while I have started to take some sort of macho pride in the cut up state of my MFT. I did see a video online somewhere where a guy periodically fills in his grooves with putty. Seemed a good idea.

 

[honeydoman]

hey once it is all cut up and scratched up.... unscrew it and flip it over....  then just buy a new top.  because if it is all cut up and messed up then that means that you are busy making stuff and cutting wood and for those professional... you are making money.
here  is a pic of my top on my mft 1080 in my shop.  my mft3 I carry in my van to jobs.

but as you can see it gets used and cut up,, then just flip it and its brand new for a awhile.. this in my 3rd top in about 1 1/2 years

 

[Red Lion]

The first thing I did was buy some mdf - cut it to table top size - poped out the MFT table top - put it on top of the blank mdf - then I used a flush trim bit and routed out the perforated holes into the blank. I'm a cheap SOB.

Thinking about it now I probably could have done something more appropriate with my time...

 

[Deke]

The first thing I did was buy some mdf - cut it to table top size - poped out the MFT table top - put it on top of the blank mdf - then I used a flush trim bit and routed out the perforated holes into the blank. I'm a cheap SOB.

Thinking about it now I probably could have done something more appropriate with my time...

Not to mention your flush trim bit working on all that MDF! See, count the time and the bit life and you broke even. That is only if you also put on that nice little chamfer on the edge just like Festool does!  ;D

 

[Red Lion]

Yeah that bit is pretty much pooched now. I put that chamfer on there too. I'm pretty new to this stuff I had no idea the MDF would destroy that router bit so quickly. Yeah I think I would break even at this point with material / time / tooling.  It's all learning experience for me at this point.

 

[Deke]

Me too Matt. Glad to know I am not the only one around here who has things to learn! Of course I am kidding and even the most hard core veteran guru here will tell you they are always learning. Meanwhile the funny thing about me and my MFT is I always wanted a traditional bench. I will make one some day, but as I think about all this I keep finding new ways to use the MFT. Short of being stable enough to plane on, it does just about everything I need. Then when I see people on this forum who have TWO MFT's I start to salivate.