Router system for MFT . . .

[BC6738F5BCE98B4]

My newly received advertisement from Woodcraft has pictures of and a text description of an insert for an MFT table making it a router table.  For a more accessible description/picture go tohttp://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=20442  The physical advertisement places an ad for Pinnacle's "new" coping sled right next to the router table instert.  Seehttp://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=20441 for a description of coping sled (pricey to my lights at 139 and up ).

I find it interesting that they are selling two kits (each for 429.99) for the Porter Cable 7518 and 690/890 bolt pattern but not the Festool base pattern. 

I haven't seen another company use the MFT as a base before, but it strikes me as a sensible idea.  If I wanted a large surface routing table in my limited space garage this would be a great way to accomplish the task.

I am curious whether the experienced router users in the group would drill some Festool sized holes through the top of this insert to facilitate the use of the Festool clamps and other accessories.

 

[Daviddubya]

My experience with a 1" thick MDF router table top with miter slots tells me that the Pinnacle top is susecptible to sagging with the weight of a router in it.  Perhaps the support provided by the Festool MFT sides will tend to lessen the sag?  MDF is notorious for sagging.  It sure would be a shame to spend that kind of money and have it sag a year or two down the road.  Nobody wants a router table that is not flat.  The Woodcraft ad does not say whether the MFT is an 800 or a 1080???

Edit - Looking deeper at the Woodcraft site, the Pinnacle top requires a Festool MFT 1080.

Let's see - $429 for the Pinnacle table and fence plus $345 for a Basic MFT 1080.  That's $774 before you buy a router and the table has no lift.  And cap that with the fact that the MFT is being replaced soon by a new design of a possibly different size.  Hmmm.

 

[Eli]

I second your Hmmmm, I'd think youd be better off with a bench top rig that clamped to the MFT top.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I would expect this to be a dead on arrival product.  If Festool is discontinuing the MFT, then the market for this product will be very limited.  Someone at Pinnacle must be saying "Oh Sh**!"  Wonder if they think enough of the product to redesign it for whatever the MFT3 will be....

 

[Daviddubya]

I second your Hmmmm, I'd think youd be better off with a bench top rig that clamped to the MFT top.

I'm having a hard time imagining why a person would want a router table that used a MFT as its base.  That's a waste of a MFT in my thinking.  And it's far too troublesome to think about switching the top back and forth between a Festool MFT top and a Pinnacle router table top, IMHO.  I have to wonder who does the market research and pricing for Pinnacle???

 

[Hergy]

I saw this ad also and questioned not only the price but the functionality of this setup. If you want to use your saw/guiderail in conjunction with your MFT you're out of luck. To me, you have defeated the versatility of the MFT. Now, if you want a router in your MFT, why not just sink a router plate in your MFT. I'm not talking about a fancy lift and all that, but just a basic router plate and a small router, say a 2-1/4 horse etc. A blank plate could fill the void when not using the router function. I don't think that with 1" thick MDF that sagging would be a big problem, especially if the hole was not much larger than the diameter of the router. With the holes on the MFT, Im sure you could rig up some kind of a fence. This sort of arrangement, having a table mounted router, could be handy on a jobsite.

The upside of this offering is that it is the first aftermarket accessory for anything Festool that I can recall. Could there be more things down the road? Perhaps more reasonably priced than many of the Festool accessories? Also, I believe that the Pinnacle brand is made exclusively for Woodcraft by Woodpeckers, who, as many of you know is a heavy hitter in the router lift game. Verrrrrrrrry interesting!

 

[Daviddubya]

...Also, I believe that the Pinnacle brand is made exclusively for Woodcraft by Woodpeckers, who, as many of you know is a heavy hitter in the router lift game. Verrrrrrrrry interesting!

Hergy - That's very interesting that Woodpeckers is involved in the Pinnacle product.  After you mentioned that I went and looked at the Pinnacle products more closely.  The table insert looks just like a Woodpeckers phenolic plate with twist lock rings, and is the same dimensions.  Woodpecker's Super Fence looks just like the Pinnacle fence, and is priced about the same.  For $139 you can get an Incra Jig Ultra Lite fence with indexing capabilities - a far more versatile fence IMHO.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I have heard directly from employer/owners at a Woodcraft store in my NE Ohio area that Pinnacle brand products are made by Woodpecker (which is also in my locale).  Where similar or identical products are offered under the Pinnacle brand and Woodpecker brans, the products themselves reveal common features and materials (CNC machined aluminum that is anodized after machining).

Dave R.

 

[Corwin]

I have several of Woodpecker's offerings, and I like love all of them.  But when it comes to this product I have to agree with Daviddubya's posts.

Corwin

 

[Eli]

I don't know that it would be totally DOA though, useful or not, the top of the MFT series wouldn't change too much I bet.

 

[BC6738F5BCE98B4]

I am interested in the idea of using the Incra fence in conjunction with the MFT.  I will confess some unease about putting a router plate in my current table, but I would not be adverse to buying another piece of MDF and drilling some appropriately sized holes and installing that in the MFT.
Alternatively, I might get a piece of melamine covered particle board sized less than the MDF table currently used and cut some appropriately sized and spaced holes in it and then cut a router plate sized hole in the current MDF

I suspect that someone in the group has already done something like the above and would appreciate their comments on how it worked.

 

[John Stevens]

I suspect that someone in the group has already done something like the above and would appreciate their comments on how it worked.

You mean like John Lucas putting a router plate in one of his MFTs?
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/fes-43.htm

Regards,

John

 

[BC6738F5BCE98B4]

exactly.  I hadn't seen it at his website but am in route there now.  Thank you.

 

[Iggy1965]

you can buy a cms with router table insert for that money

 

[gearup75]

    Wish I had found this forum BEFORE I spent all that hard earned credit.  I bought the pinnacle router table system from Woodcraft. I was told it was made to fit the MFT 3.  When time came to do router work....the Pinacle part was too large for the table.  I'm assuming its for the MFT 1080.
    I still needed to get the router table going, so either wrap it back up and return to start over or ?......  So I decided to make use of it instead of wasting more then half a day getting another table.  I just used the packaging wood the router top came in to shim the top from the table and clamped in place. you can make it out in this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/gearup751/3242247209/#
    The vacuum hose is not a snug fit but does an adequate job of keeping chips out of your face. The router lift was a perfect snug fit and a pleasure to use.  There was no wobble or shake from the porter cable 7518 I purchased to save my OF 1400 for lighter duty.
    I was never a woodworker by trade or hobby, I worked with mostly metal and paint, so wood is a new thing for me.  After investing about $6500 worth of festool over a 2 week period...I'm attempting to build my first cabinet with no experience.  While I am not of the caliber of the people in here...I believe it wont be long before I can do as well judging from what I have done so far.I can thank festool for that because of the accuracy their tools can afford me.
    After spending time setting up the pinnacle/festool router table and squaring the pinnacle fence, I was able to turn out all the pieces for my first raised panel cabinet doors.  Now I have to keep the top and find another mount system.  As disgussed in here, It is a pain to swap out tops , you have to have all your stock cut before swapping to router work or it is really a pain.
The objective was to make as small of a footprint in the garage for storage.  The rest of the Festool system takes up less the 8 sq ft.  I can still pack the whole system into my pickup and work wherever I need.  This brings something to mind as a tip as well.  I bought an empty systainer 4 box and placed some 1x2 in the bottom to store the router and lift assembly with other router system parts when the router table is not in use..
    Thanks for all the other helpful advice on this forum......newbie Festool junkie

 

[sw1211]

          After spending time setting up the pinnacle/festool router table and squaring the pinnacle fence, I was able to turn out all the pieces for my first raised panel cabinet doors. 

Unless you're using the miter slot, you don't need to square the fence, sorry if I'm stating something you're already aware of.  I find I rarely use the miter slot.  Others may do it differently.  Coping sled runs against the fence as do the door panels.

 

[gearup75]

    Thank you sir, I am aware now.  I purchsed the pinnacle coping sled as well, it does have  a slide to run in the miter groove.
I suppose I could remove that part and use as you suggest.  I did do the panels without the miter and thought it went smoother.

 

[Jerry Work]

Hi,

I posted this in another thread before seeing this one.  I have had a lot of people ask how best to mount a router in or on a MFT2 or 3.  The easiest, fastest and most flexible way I know is to use the space between two tables instead of hacking into the top of one table.  A simple plate made of 1/2" Baltic birch plywood can rest on the top "T" track of the MFT2 bringing the top of the Baltic birch nearly flush with the tops of the two tables.  Adding a wing like fence insures the plate will be drawn exactly flush with the tops of the two tables.  By resting on the strong aluminum extrusions the plate is held securely and will not warp if you keep it 300mm or less in width.  Better yet, the router controls are right at hand as you are not trying to reach under a table.  I put up a short tutorial on my web site http://jerrywork.com detailing how to do this and showing several examples using several different Festool and other brand routers.  Mounting or unmounting one of these plates takes less than a minute and no modification is required for either the routers or the tables.  I hope this helps.

Jerry

 

[Jimhart]

Jerry,

Thanks. Have you given any thought to making this same thing work on an MFT/3?

Probably a little trickier to get the height just right (flush) while connecting into the lower t-slot.

Jim

 

[nickao]

Jerry I am so silly.

I have 1 mft and 1 - 3 top mft connected  to each other. Last night I was  thinking  one more would be even better and where the heck would I come up with the money for another 1080 top to add to it.

All I need do is split them and put a piece of MDF (with or without holes) in between and I get the fifth without having to buy another table! Of course a thinner piece or a rabbit routed around the MDF insert would be needed to drop it in.

Sometimes things are right there and you need someone to open your eyes, thanks! The timing on this was just perfect, why I did not think if  this when I have a split table on the other side of my shop is beyond me.

Nickao

Actually, anyone that has two mft together can just make it a 3 top by splitting them and adding a piece of mdf in between, dah, I feel so stupid!