skids said:markorjack said:Tinker, I don't think that is the issue.
The point is that with no wood on the NFT3 at all, if you slightly push on the fence where it is closest to the rail, even then it will deflect.
It's not set up or user, it simply is a poor fence.
As an example I was tinkering with mine a little tonight after reading some of the suggestions in this thread.
Even with the fence not attached, I pushed down slightly on the back of the protractor, the whole aluminium extrusion on the back of the MFT flexes.
Why would you ever want to do that? Makes no sense to me. I mean if you want to prove something has flaws I suppose thats a way to do it, it I have never run into any reason I would have that happen in my work flows. So, at the risk of being blunt, who really cares?
Honestly, I find the fence pretty rigid on the MFT overall. But maybe you are making something that requires more precision than me. My biggest complaint of the fence system isn't the rigidity of the fence, it's the set up of it and the fact it hogs some of the table top space. And the fact some folks think it can replace a table saw, fact is it can't.
If anything deflects on the MFT it's the legs not the fence, it's almost a requirement of the MFT to have the extra leg supports. My fence is easy as pie to set ( i use dogs) and hold square ( I am not mobile).
I'm with Skids on the "why would you ever..." be pushing down on the back. That tail can probably wreck the whole frame if you put enough down pressure on it with the overhang it has. If the fence is set towards the middle of the table, there is little to no overhang, depending on how far in you set it. If the fence is close to the edge, a lot of overhang. Those MFT tables are plenty strong enough to handle what they are designed to be doing. If somebody wants to set out to prove they are not as strong as a Robo table or a cabinetmakers bench, I am sure they can have little trouble proving the point. I am in agreement on the same point. But for what they are made for, I think they are as stable as they need to be, fence, protractor, rail and table.
Tinker