New Product Info

[dltflt]

Shane,
Will the Guide Rail Accessory Kit #492396 work with the MFT 3?  My wife purchased this at Christmas from my wish list,  I decided to keep it because I have every intention of buying an MFT.  If it does not work with or is not needed on the MFT 3 then can I return it since it has not been used?

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Shane,
Will the Guide Rail Accessory Kit #492396 work with the MFT 3?  My wife purchased this at Christmas from my wish list,  I decided to keep it because I have every intention of buying an MFT.  If it does not work with or is not needed on the MFT 3 then can I return it since it has not been used?

Don,

There's no reason you would not be able to use the kit.  The MFT/3 has its own angle unit which is going to be preferred when using the MFT/3 versus the angle unit included with the kit.  You will be able to use the guide rail deflector (and will probably find it quite effective) and the clamps at the very least.  It also includes the hardware for joining together guide rails.  The angle unit and limit stop are going to be more useful in applications when the MFT/3 is not used.

I think you can probably gain some great advice from the group about this topic.  Regarding the ability to return the item, Festool has a 30-day policy but it will ultimately be up to the dealer you purchased it from.

Shane

 

[joraft]

Use the tape & scale ruler with a fixed base.  Extra bases are usually the cheapest & most adaptable.  Save your money to spend on good chisels & other expensive items for your shop.

We're talking about accuracy here, Terp. With the ProLIft I can adjust a cut to a knat's a$$.

Off course I still have to figure out a jig for holding the knat.  

John

 

[dltflt]

Thanks Shane for the information.

 

[Dixon Peer]

John, if you were to go out and purchase another router lift would you get the Bench Dog again? I am looking at manufacturing some six panel interior oak doors in the next year or so, and need to get a 3hp-class router to raise the panels and fabricate the styles and rails. I currently own the Bench Dog Protop Contractor, and am looking at pairing it with a Milwaukee 56254 router, and maybe a lift. Brice has that configuration, and it sounds like it's been a real workhorse for him, and I'm just curious what your experiences have been with the ProLift? Thanks!!

If you're contemplating raising panels in oak, I would suggest you think about buying a shaper.  A good shaper running a powerful motor will raise those panels in one pass.  Put a power feeder on it to keep your hands out of the way.  To me, a router is too small a machine to raise panels; certainly not one pass with oak.

 

[joraft]

If you're contemplating raising panels in oak, I would suggest you think about buying a shaper.  A good shaper running a powerful motor will raise those panels in one pass.  Put a power feeder on it to keep your hands out of the way.  To me, a router is too small a machine to raise panels; certainly not one pass with oak.

All very true. But what equipment is best does depend on how much of this work you're doing, and how often. A 3 1/4 hp router can do a nice job on such panels, but as you say, not in one pass.

It's certainly not the most time efficient way to do it. But if you're doing the work for yourself, and time is not a major issue, the results can be every bit as good.

John

 

[Terp]

Use the tape & scale ruler with a fixed base.  Extra bases are usually the cheapest & most adaptable.  Save your money to spend on good chisels & other expensive items for your shop.

We're talking about accuracy here, Terp. With the ProLIft I can adjust a cut to a knat's a$$.

Off course I still have to figure out a jig for holding the knat.  

John

I have a gnat jig, but it's made to fit the Porter cable
Now, if I can just find it.  It's real small, & in a small box somewhere.

 Seriously, I understand the exactness of such a device.  I've worked with routers at custom woodworking for over 25 years now & never knew of such a device for most of thse years.  They are not used in most professional shops.  Probably because they seem fragile.  Are they?
 I've  just never not been able to acheive the needed accuracy with my router table without one of those prolifts.  It's always worked real well without, & with very close tolerances.
Don't get me wrong here.  I am a nut for accuracy & consistency.  I have to rely on repeatability as well as one time setup.  It's just, well, take a look at 17th century furniture.  Somehow they split hairs in their tolerances.
 It's all in how you use your layout tools & what you use.  My layout tools are for the most part all Starrett, with the exception of the Stanley tapes measures.  I have alot of squares & they all are the most accurate I could find.  One is a Starrett machinist square next to the table saw because I never trust the pointer on the scale below (it's usless).  To set my rail for crosscutting, I use a Starrett combo. square with an 8" head & a 24" blade.  It's dead on & cost a mint.  I trust it though.  For setting angles I have a wonderful tool with a very funny name.  It's called a "WinkleFix" which I think is german for "Angle Finder".  It's dead on.
 Forgive me if I'm just missing the point with this prolift, I never used one, but it only seems to offer the crank adjust from the top & the ability to drop it into the table top from above correct?  Doesn't dust get under the prolift edge in the rabbet below?  
 The only thing I want to see on my router table is the hole for the bit & the screw holes from the base below.  Anything else can cause drag by catching saw dust.
 Probably having many routers is one advantage.  I can leave a router set up in a table all week while using others.  I also have more than one router table.
When you add on the must have microadjustable fence from incra, doesn't it get to fo rfrom the whole idea of creatively jigging & using what is at hand.  I have a chaunk of cherry & two clamps that have served as my router table fence for 15 years or so.  I wish I put a notch on it every time I've had it setup & in use.
 I've had another jig for the routers for years. It is an adjustable beam for routing circles, like a compass.  I do custom work & have to use this alot for curves.  I can adjust this to a dime & make mating curves.  I can also reset this weeks later to the exact setup.
 Accuracy is in how you split the lines with your eye, reading to one side of a pencil line, knowing the ruler you are using.  Repitition brings accuracy & practice makes perfect.  Remember there are no shortcuts.
 Oh one more thing,  I once had a very expensive Holzher Sliding Table Saw with a digital electronic fence scale.  This was a $15,000.00 saw.  The only problem was if you moved the fence scale too fast along the fence, the calibration went wacky.  Nice, huh.  Not always alot either, sometimes it was just an 1/8" or less.  Also you had to replace the batteries before they went bad or you just couldn't trust it.  We tore it of because it was in the way of the "manual scale" below.  It was never missed.
 Again, please for give me, I come from a cabinet shop where these items never existed, nor were missed.  I like to work it out in the shop.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi fellas, thanks for the info so far! I would love to get a shaper, but it's both out of my current budget, and I don't have space for one right now. I still have many months before I get to work on the doors, whichever route I choose I'll set up a gallery to display what I come up with. Thanks!!

 

[joraft]

Forgive me if I'm just missing the point with this prolift, I never used one, but it only seems to offer the crank adjust from the top & the ability to drop it into the table top from above correct?  Doesn't dust get under the prolift edge in the rabbet below? 
  The only thing I want to see on my router table is the hole for the bit & the screw holes from the base below.  Anything else can cause drag by catching saw dust...

Terp, I use to have a plunge router mounted under an open table, but I got tired of fiddling with the height adjustment under the table, and of all the dust and chips. So I decided to kick it up a few notches.

Hence the PC 7518 and the ProLift mounted in a sealed cabinet. The Bench Dog cast iron table top has a machined surface where the ProLift sits, the ProLift mounting plate is also machined to a very smooth finish, and it is held down tight with countersunk screws. There's nowhere that dust can get in.

There's also a 4" dust collection port on the back of the router compartment, as well as a Fein Turbo III hooked up to the Incra fence. There's very little dust going anywhere I don't want it.

John

 

[Terp]

  It sounds great.  I looked again at them since I wrote to you, & I can see how they are very attractive to alot of people.  I guess I don't revisit some of my techniques & consider what's new sometimes, but my poormans router table has made alot of parts for me over the years, & never left me wanting more features.  I'll probably stick with what's best for me & promote my methods, but so should we all.  If you're not confident in your approach then you should stop, eh.
  Then again, I love learning about what works for others.  That's why I enjoy these forums.  My approach didn't exist until I saw many other approaches & settled on my own.  We should enjoy that we all do things differently.
  P.S. I believe I first saw the router table design I prefer in a publication called Woodsmith in 1982 or so,  I built it, & have had to replace it but once.  It has the high tech ideas of the day which was to just fasten the router base to the underside, & two clamp pads on the sides to fasten to the benchtop.  It hangs on my wall when not in use & I'm sure does everything yours will do. 
  I think that publication is now called Shopnotes.  Shopnotes still shows alot of this type of shop made equipment.  It's creative & a fun process.  I always love learning about others shopmade solutions.  I see alot of the shop made jigs, which I've known in commercial shops for years & were made from scraps, in catalogs, made of plastics & aluminum.  They look expensive to me, that's all.  I'm sure they work, but I try to spend my money on the essentials for my shop.  I make a lot of furniture, not alot of money.  Chisels aint cheap either  :-\

P.S. I'm still getting used to this dust collection on everythig.  But I like it & I'm hooked.

 

[joraft]

We should enjoy that we all do things differently...

 

I do enjoy those differences, and I appreciate the fact that we are all in different situations. For me, woodworking is a hobby only, and it's unlikely that I'll never make a penny from it. I understand that those who make their living from woodworking must consider their ROI (return on investment) for every piece of equipment they buy, no matter how much they love what they do. I had to do that with every business I was ever in. If a piece of equipment didn't make money for me than it was an expense, and not an investment. And I always strived to keep the expenses to a minimum.

As it is a hobby I don't have to worry about ROI in woodworking. I can just buy things just because they're cool and I want them (as long as I can afford them). For me, this kind of spending is no different than that of my friends who are fanatic about golf, fishing, boating, car racing, etc. etc. They all cost a lot of money, but are worth every penny because they bring joy and relaxation to that person's life. Whether it's building something, thinking about building something, buying new tools, or just cleaning my shop and maintaining the tools I have, woodworking puts me in a world where nothing else matters. And I love having places where I can talk about it with others who feel the same way.

John

 

[Terp]

John,
  I envy you.  Once upon a time woodworking was just my hobby.  I decided I liked it so much I would make it my career, at a young age.  I know about hobbies though.  I have a few purely for indulgence as well.  The boat was a huge hole in the water, now it's just my hot rod, looked at more than driven, & the yard/house.  I am a builder in my hobbies as well though, & I never was a golfer type.  Some things never change. 

 

[dltflt]

Shane,
Will the Guide Rail Accessory Kit #492396 work with the MFT 3?  My wife purchased this at Christmas from my wish list,  I decided to keep it because I have every intention of buying an MFT.  If it does not work with or is not needed on the MFT 3 then can I return it since it has not been used?

An update on the guide rail kit.  I called Woodcraft yesterday and explained the situation and they waved thier 90 day return policy.  That will give me some money for other tools or a down payment on the saw and MFT

 

[robtonya]

John, I have the Benchdog router table too, and I love it, I have the triton 3 1/2 hp, (maybe 3 1/4), any way, it works great, but i would like to get the pc 7518 and lift someday, I have made some raised panel cabinet doors with mine, turned out great. My question to you woulb be that, I cannot lower my panel bit low enough to make more than one pass on my door, so I have to do it in one pass, can you get the large bit lower than the enough to make multiple passes?

 

[billybokay]

make multiple passes by moving the fence a little further back each time. The router stays the same height.

 

[Terp]

  That, or add some removable faces to the fence, so that it may always remain in the same location throughout the operation.
You could also raise the work piece up with a scrap 1/4" plywood panel, (double taped or pinned), but I think I like the fence approaches better.

 

[joraft]

My question to you would be that, I cannot lower my panel bit low enough to make more than one pass on my door, so I have to do it in one pass, can you get the large bit lower than the enough to make multiple passes?

Rob, if this answers your question, my 3 1/2" ogee raised panel bit will drop completely below the table's surface.

John

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Forgive me if I'm just missing the point with this prolift, I never used one, but it only seems to offer the crank adjust from the top & the ability to drop it into the table top from above correct?  Doesn't dust get under the prolift edge in the rabbet below? 
  The only thing I want to see on my router table is the hole for the bit & the screw holes from the base below.  Anything else can cause drag by catching saw dust...

Terp, I use to have a plunge router mounted under an open table, but I got tired of fiddling with the height adjustment under the table, and of all the dust and chips. So I decided to kick it up a few notches.

Hence the PC 7518 and the ProLift mounted in a sealed cabinet. The Bench Dog cast iron table top has a machined surface where the ProLift sits, the ProLift mounting plate is also machined to a very smooth finish, and it is held down tight with countersunk screws. There's nowhere that dust can get in.

There's also a 4" dust collection port on the back of the router compartment, as well as a Fein Turbo III hooked up to the Incra fence. There's very little dust going anywhere I don't want it.

John

I have a very similar setup, except that my router lift and fence came from JoinTech.  Their router cabinet has a plastic base plate with a 4" dust collection port and a sliding door of clear plastic (?acrylic?), and their fence has a DC port overwhich I can connect my Festool 36 mm hose.  But for many operations, I prefer a simple shopmade fence from a length of 2" thick stock.  Joint one side flat, joint one edge square to that flat side, and use a hole saw (or jigsaw) to cut a hole that intersects the straight edge so you can push fit the end of a DC hose in from the top.  I don't think you can buy a more effective fence and DC setup for edge molding.  If you need an offset between the input and output sections of the fence, e.g. for edge jointing of boards, all you have to do is take your shopmade fence to your jointer and joint off 1/32 - 1/16 from the output fence section.  These shopmade wooden fences also allow you to use the your router bit to premachine a profile into the end of the input section of the fence, thus providing an excellent chip breaker when running your molding.

Dave R.

 

[robtonya]

Thanks, that cleared it up, I could drop my 3 1/2" bit below the surface too.... well if I lower it while it as on, that would prabably work. As simple as it sounds, I never thought of adjusting the fence, and leaving the bit at the same height. I always was trying to hit the bearing and let it ride. So far the panels have still come out looking good, but I was wanting to take it easy on the bit, and router, so I will give it a try.

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Festool USA will be taking an entirely new approach to new product introductions this year with micro websites prior to their launch. These micro websites are product focused and media rich providing the most detailed overview of our products ever.  Learn about the features, specifications, accessories, models, packages and much more!  Definitely plenty of content to fill your appetite for info on new green goodies.

I am excited to announce that we will be launching three micro sites for new products on March 1st on the Festool USA website including one for the completely redesigned MFT/3.  What will the other two products be...? 

More information will be made available in an upcoming SysNotes email newsletter.

Everyone,
Just wanted to jump in here and say that the forum will work in step with Festool on new product releases.

Based on the strong response to the "Member Feedback" discussions on the OF 2200 Router, the MFK 700 Router, and the MFT 3 I think it's a good system to time Shane's announcements with a sticky topic where we can collect various responses.

This system should help clarify members' questions about new tools, and give Festool ideas they can consider for engineering and other aspects of new releases.  This connection between the forum and new tool releases is, in many ways, the crux of the forum!
Matthew