Share your MFK 700 experience for a chance to win prizes!

[Administrator_JSVN]

Here another easy opportunity to score some sweet Festool prizes.  But act quickly, the contest ends on Friday, August 20th, 2010!  Just share your thoughts, opinions or experiences with your Festool MFK 700 Modular trim router.  Festool employees will select three winners who offer the best stories.

Contest Rules

• Simply post about your experiences with the MFK 700 Modular Trim Router.  Tell what you like about it, share a project you worked on, offer your opinions on how it performs, etc.
• There is no requirement on the length of the post.
• The contest is open to members of the forum in the United States and Canada only who are at least 18 years of age, except where prohibited by law.
• Festool employees, dealers and affiliates, and FOG moderators are not eligible to participate.
• By submitting your testimonial, you give Festool permission to use your comments for marketing and other purposes.

Prizes

• One (1) first place prize winner will receive a Festool Router Bit Systainer.
• Two (2) second place prize winners will receive a limited edition Festool stein

Winners will be selected from the list of entries that adhere to the contest rules above by Festool employees. Winners will be announced on or before August 23rd, 2010.

Feel free to post any questions you might have.  Best of luck to everyone!

 

[GPowers]

Whish I could but I do not have an MFK 700.  [crying]

 

[dmcinstall]

I have been doing commercial millwork installation for the past 13 years from big box stores to donut and ice cream shops. In recent years I have worked mostly close to home in southern California , but in the past I have worked as far away as south Korea.But no matter where we work the product we use comes from far away,this means when there is a problem with the product i.e. damage,or cabinets built incorrectly, because of the distance to the manufacture ,we are the ones tasked with making the repairs or making a new cabinet . This has meant that a trim router has been my constant companion!  
I received my MFK 700 as an anniversary gift from my wife. The first occasion I had to use my MFK 700 was at a Baskin Robbins in a mall ,this was not a traditional mall site but was on an upstairs concourse outside the food court area with no walls, basically a full store in Kiosk form. Without traditional barriers and no real dust wall,and no real desire to clean up a 100' radius around the job, dust control was paramount! The install required the site built storage area to be laminated ,a lot of router work! The MFK 700 allowed me to do this with minimal clean up, because of the vacuum attachment ,and minimal hand filing because of the 1.5 degree base!
I have used my MFK 700 to trim pvc type edge banding,traditional plastic laminate,solid wood veneers and metal bonded laminates all with superior results. As a professional for some time now I appreciate fine tools,and I can say with confidence that the MFK 700 lives up to the Motto of Faster (saves time on clean up,when I'm not sweeping, I am happy), Easier ( the MFK 700 is the  only router I need on site if I have to trim laminate or notch a solid surface top ,the versatility of the MFK 700 allows me to do it, all with precision and quality results ) Smarter, where do I begin( from dust extraction to the versatility of  2 different bases, but for me smarter is more than just those features,this tool is intuitive to use,the soft start feature alone can prevent damage to material when your experience has long since given way to your fatigue) ,if you have ever been 500 miles from home and putting in extra hours trying to finish a job, so you can get back to your family,you know what mean!
I love all of my Festool tools ,but for me and what I do my trim router (MFK 700) has a special place in my arsenal of tools!
Thank you Festool for offering the professional a option for quality ,durable and high performance tools that make my work and therefore my life Faster,easier and smarter! However I am harboring a small grudge about the shuttering of the Goleta CA office,it was very convenient for me, to go there to pick up a part,or for a little shop talk!

 

[Brice Burrell]

DMC, nice post and good luck to you and all that participate in the contest. [thumbs up]

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Welcome to the forum, DMC.  Thanks for sharing your experience with the MFK.  Good luck on our contest.

PS - Cool story. Nobody likes PVC shrapnel in their ice cream. [big grin]

 

[EcoFurniture]

The Festool MFK700

Many people compare this little wonder with other trim routers, like the Bosch Colt. We have both at work. Although I have caught myself grabbing the Bosch several times, but always regretted it? It?s high center of gravity, it?s lag of a soft start feature and very small base makes it less enjoyable to use. Not even mentioning the non-existing dust collection!

Now the MFK700:
Wow, very easy and accurate to set up! The dust collection is very close to 100%! Thanks to it?s well sized baseplate , it?s very easy to control and to guide along the work piece! Did I already mention the well placed on and off button? Ever caught yourself in a situation were you needed to turn the router on/off without letting go? Well, don?t look any further, the MFK 700 is brilliant in that.
Another wow effect will set in after you get to adjust the depth of cut. A simple to use, micro adjustment knob is always in reach and only takes seconds to set up.

I have to admit I mostly only use it to trim down veneer edge tape and 2-6mm solid wood edges. A task no other router could get me excited in the past. Please have a look at the attached video.
Festool MFK 700

The task: trim down a 3mm pvc edge, change to a round over bit and profile the same piece within seconds after flush trimming it. This video was put online without any extra editing. My goal was to show just how easy it is to do this.

This leads us to the original Festool router bits. Not only do they stay sharp for a very long time, they also fit the router just perfect in length.

Anyhow, attached you will find some detailed pics of the flush trimming set up.
To be honest, I haven?t used the router for anything else then flush trimming and the occational round over and therefore can?t really say anything about the use of guide bushings  or working with the edge guide. Talking about the edge guide, I?m sure I will order one pretty soon.

Summery: Well balanced ,Soft start, Great dust collection, Very safe to operate, Many different set up options.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Andreas, I had little doubt that I would hear from you...  [smile]  Thank you for your contribution.  It's obvious that you really appreciate and enjoy the MFK.

Just a reminder in case there are members who haven't seen this and would like to participate.

Thanks,
Shane

 

[EcoFurniture]

I wish I would still have my own shop were I could take another better video... This one is getting old!

Do you have my address for shipping the Systainer?  [big grin]

Cheers,
Andreas

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Surely we have some other MFK 700 owners out there that want to take a shot at winning some prizes...  Hello, anyone out there???  [blink]  [smile]

 

[Kevin D.]

Bought mine last fall and just got around to using it last week.  I bought it pretty well solely for cutting away trim off of edge banding.  Have never owned, needed, nor used a trim router before, I could only rely on other peoples comments to guide me on the sublject of trim routers, but what always seemed clear is that the Bosch Colt is the only other real alternative in this group, but if you are looking for the closest class to place the MFK 700 into, it IS in a class by itself as it is the only one that has the 1.5 degree offset base plate for routing off edge trimming.

So last week, after spending about a half hour reading the owner's manual and configuring it for its first time in my eager hands for its inaugrual task of trimming about 50 feet of birch glue-on edge molding onto Baltic Birch ply for my new 1080MFT/SYS containers mobile cart/worktable, I'm ready to go.  I couldn't believe how easy it was to move from my scrap/trial piece to the real McCoy.  The dust extraction was so excellent to my CT22, I could have done this work in a black tux and went straight to a weddng afterwards.  There was nothing missed.  I actually thought initially I had mis-adjusted it properly and it wasn't coming into contact with the material, but when the base plate cleared the area I had just run over, the edge was trimmed perfectly.  The base plate glides as smooth as  a puck on an air hockey table.  I'm very impressed with the end result and how quick it completed the work I wanted, and that's what matters to me.  I don't get a lot of time in my shop, and really hate dealing with edge banding.  Now I'm looking forward to the next time.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Bought mine last fall and just got around to using it last week.  I also bought it for cutting away trim off of edge banding.  Have never owned, nor used a trim router before, so I could only compare/use other comments from others to guide me, but it always seemed clear is that the Bosch Colt is the other alternative on this class, if you are looking for the closest group to place the MFK to which really, IS in a class by itself.  So last week, after spending about a half hour reading the owner's manual and configuring it for its time in my eager hands for its inaugrual task of trimming about 50 feet of birch glue on edge molding onto BB ply for my new  1080MFT/SYS containers mobile cart/worktable.,

Thanks, Kevin.  I hope that you come back and let us know what your opinions are after using it.  [wink]

 

[mike1967]

I recently used the MFK 700 to trim solid maple edge banding on a number of maple-plywood cabinet doors.  See the attached (iPhone) picture.

I used the 8mm shank Festool trimming bit, the set-up was really simple, and there was virtually no dust as far as I can tell.  To get things aligned I saved some excess banding and nailed it to some scrap plywood.  Then I tuned everything on this scrap before working on the doors.  I found the 1.5 degree offset to be very handy, and I did not experience any surface problems on the plywood doors.  

One mistake I made during this project was that my solid edge banding was only 1/8 wider than the thickness of the plywood doors.  This meant that I had 1/16 play on each side of the door---this works but it makes for a very tedious glue-up with no room for bent banding.  Next time I will use edge banding that is 1/4 wider than the door thickness.  This will provide 1/8 on each side of the door, and I suspect this amount of play will remove some of the glue-up stress.  

Mike

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Only a couple of days remain for your chance to win some goodies.  Share your story, thoughts, experiences, or comments about the MFK 700.

 

[Administrator_JSVN]

Reminder: Today is the final day to submit your MFK 700 testimonial.

 

[Corwin]

Wow.  You guys have great odds of winning.  Hardly even a contest.  [sad]

 

[twang120]

I bought my MFK this spring and put it to work on some recent projects. 

The MFK shines for trimming thin edge banding.  Due to the limitations of the bit size in the horizontal baseplate mode, I believe the max edge banding that can be trimmed is 1/2" to 5/8".  The horizontal bit is angled at a 1.5 degree angle so that when the bit runs past the edge banding, the tip of the bit is not likely to gouge the substrate.  I used the MFK to trim 1/2" corian edge banding on a formica laminate top.  One nick on the formica and the top and the top would have to be redone.  So I ended up making sure the bit left a little corian edging standing proud and then dialed the bit in on a second pass using the micro-adjustment. The results were great.  Another feature of the horizontal base is that the baseplate is large and registers on the face of the substrate, providing excellent stability in making the cut with little chance for the bit to rock.

After trimmng the corian banding, I switched to the vertical base to do a 1/8" roundover.  The vertical base is an offset base, much larger than a laminate trimmer.  Again due to the large, offset base, the stabiity of the router when making the cut is excellent.

In the horizontal trimming mode, its best to use the Festool router bits with 8mm shanks since the dimensions of the bit are critical in being compatible to the base and its adjustments.  The MFK comes with a 1/4" collet as well, which is what I primarily use in the vertical orientation for grooving, trimming and edge banding.  One negative on the router is that there is not much vertical adjustability, so you need to be careful in what bits you purchase.

The MFk is what I would consider a "splurge" item, but if you do a lot of edge banding, it could be well worth it.

 

[junk731]

My Festool purchases started with my desire to make my working environment a lot more dust free. When the CT22, RO125 and ETS150 arrived, this changed the tedious chore of sanding into something I actually enjoy. Then came the OF1400 and soon after the 1010 router with the assorted rails and accessories. This made routing a lot cleaner. Now the last frustrating task to deal with was trimming edgebanding. Any one that has done any wood veneer or solid wood edging for large projects understands the problems associated  with trimming. One slip and you're either replacing a panel or an edge. Then one day Eco/Andreas shows a 30 sec You Tube video on his latest purchase, the MFK700, a light goes on, the purchase is made at Mississauga Hardware (New Festool Dealer, Longtime Makita Dealer and friend) and one more level of frustration is removed. The tool is not inexpensive but I make money every time I use it. Will it replace or do everything my OF1400/1010 can do, no. Like every tool Festool makes it's designed around a use and to be very good at that use. It's really good at trimming. If you have to do frequent banding in your shop or on site and can't justify the high cost of a dedicated Edgebanding Machine the MFK might ease your frustration or remove it like it did for me. You got 30 days to decide. Thanx  Andreas.

John

 

[EcoFurniture]

Hey John,

I'm glad to hear that you got good use/info out of my videos!
The MFK 700 is a very hard to explain router... As mentioned above, almost every woodworker knows and uses a Bosch Colt router. They all "like" them. Therefore, when ever I tell them about the MFK they don't "get" it.... Until, you demonstrate it.

The only thing, I don't like is the limitation to flush trim edging only up to 5/8 thickness... At my workplace, we use a lot of 3/4 edging and I usually have to use our VERY loud and messy (spanish made) flush planer. 

Anyhow, while I was self employed, this router made me money, now that that I'm working for someone else again, Festools are just nice to have and a pleasure to use!

 

[junk731]

Andreas

I agree about the limitation but it is what is. I am fortunate in that I can design what I build for my customers and can work around 3/4 edging. Most times I can use a reveal and not have to flush trim. Just a question out of curiosity to you or any of our across the pond members, does European cabinetry use 3/4" thick edging to the extent North America seems to? I would think a lot of the tools designed by Festool are based on the German/European ways of use initially and then sold to other markets based on marketing research. I hope you have a chance to get into happier work conditions.

John

 

[EcoFurniture]

3/4 edging was not very common in Germany. Anything smaller, yes. But then again, it all depended on the design of the furniture/cabinets and the company you worked for. But in general, I would say that furniture/cabinets made in Germany, are more modern style and high tech. Here on Vancouver Island we are using WAY too much moldings and profiles on cabinet doors, crowns and such.

In terms of tools/machinery, a woodworking shop in Germany is more modern and (I would say most of them) are outfitted with Festool, Protool, Mafel, Felder and such. You will not find cabinet saws... But well outfitted sliding table saws that are also used to trim rough lumber. Before I moved to Canada, I have never used anything else than the tools I mentioned above.