Should I Buy a MFT

[Ed in Tampa]

Given the pricing, I expect Harbor Freight's low priced hydraulic lift carts to be made in China.

Dave R.

Interesting that Harbor Freight comes up in a Festool forum.  Now there are the opposite ends of the tool spectrum!!!    My policy on Harbor Freight is buy to nothing from them that has ANY moving parts.

Even that policy can come back and bite you. I bought some bolts from Harbor Freight and the first two I used failed. Broke!  I don't think I ever had a bolt that I installed break before that. I took all that I bought and tossed them. Frankly I didn't need the aggrevation of trying to remove a broken bolt.  My new policy is to let Harbor Freight keep everything they have and to live life enjoying woodworking, not fighting junk
Ed

 

[Ned]

So far, I've been satisfied with Harbor Freight's cheap, nearly disposable tarps.  They pass David's complexity test and any factory defects can be repaired with duct tape.

Ned

 

[Steve Jones]

There is a place for everything, even cheap shoddy stuff from Harbor Freight. I've already talked about the advantages of their wonderfull sawzall (that being a brand, I should probably use some other term, maybe "reciprocating saw"?

The advantage (in case your memory is even worse than mine) is it's cheap!, I don't care if some ham fisted helper breaks it or loses its (leaving it on site).

Now if fairness to Harbow Freight, I brought from them about a year ago an assorted case of allen screws, they're all the same size, but kit contains screws of veried length, flat and split washers, lock nuts, and a few wrenches. The screws have a large, flat head. This kit is one of my best purchases (although I did not have a specific use for it when purchased)

Those screws have been used for:
Making the frame that supports my bags on the motorcycle (aluminum strips from H/D)
Making various jigs around the shop (EG: home made 32mm shelf hole jig)
They also turned out to be ideal for leveling of router plates on my various shop built router tables (drill a hole right through mounting plate and support, remove plate to screw in allen screws, drop plate back and adjust with Allen key through the hole.

More to come, taking better pics is on my "to-do" list today.

Steve

 

[Mike_Chrest]

Jerry,
 

I just finished a very large, complex conference table for a customer in Las Vegas.  It is 8' in diameter with a top made from 40 tapered sections of 45mm thick solid Oregon big leaf maple assembled into ten segments of 40 tapered sections each.  8mm wide bloodwood inlays cover the joints between each segment

Doesn't exist unless we see a picture.

Mike

 

[fidelfs]

There is a place for everything, even cheap shoddy stuff from Harbor Freight.

I agree with Steve.  The only difference for me at this time is that US economy is not good so I don't buy anything from China or India.
The only tools I don't have a problem being not in USA are Festools and Felder.

 

[Mike_Chrest]

Fidelfs,
 

I don't buy anything from China or India.

Is that possible?

Mike

 

[fidelfs]

I am doing my best.  If I cannot find it made in USA, I question myself do I really need it?

;D

 

[rjhidaho]

I am doing my best.  If I cannot find it made in USA, I question myself do I really need it?

;D

The problem is that the Made in USA label is made in China!  ;D

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Given the pricing, I expect Harbor Freight's low priced hydraulic lift carts to be made in China.

Dave R.

Interesting that Harbor Freight comes up in a Festool forum.  Now there are the opposite ends of the tool spectrum!!!    My policy on Harbor Freight is buy to nothing from them that has ANY moving parts.

Even that policy can come back and bite you. I bought some bolts from Harbor Freight and the first two I used failed. Broke!  I don't think I ever had a bolt that I installed break before that. I took all that I bought and tossed them. Frankly I didn't need the aggrevation of trying to remove a broken bolt.  My new policy is to let Harbor Freight keep everything they have and to live life enjoying woodworking, not fighting junk
Ed

Ed,

I learned about some of the differences in quality of fasteners and automotive parts long ago.  My first shocking experience was about 30 years ago while reattaching the front bumper onto a Corvette I had repainted.  I was using new, no-name 1/2 shank bolts.  I sheared a couple of them off while tightening them with a ratchet having a handle only about 12 inches long.  It wasn't my superior strength (5' 8", 150 lbs).  At the opposite end of the spectrum, on that same car, I needed to remove the rear brake calipers, and some of the bolts apparently had never been removed since the car was built several years earlier.  Although the bolts were no larger than 3/8" shank, I had to use a ~2 ft long breaker bar to crack them loose.  Those bolts wound up nearly 90 degrees before breaking loose, yet none became permanently deformed or cracked.  Today I seek quality fasteners when I am doing most jobs.  You cannot accurately judge the strength of a fastener only by its appearance.  And counterfeiting of fasteners is also practiced.  I have some Spax fasteners that I wonder about.  Their packaging and their brand markings are not the same as some other Spax fasteners of the same size I purchased from another vendor.  Don't go with unknown quality fasteners if you are using 6 mm screws to hold your Festool 1400 router in a table!

Dave R.

 

[alg]

Yikes, bringing the conversation back to MFT. I just bought a second one. Woodcraft was kind enough to sell me a basic kit, removed the hardware which I didn't need. And bought the table connectors.
I know can appreciate what Jerry and others have said about the benefits of having the larger workspace. I wish people would post more pictures (I need to do likewise) of their multiple MFT setups.
I setup my 66" rail (that I cut from a 106" rail) on the bridge going across the 45" section. Then I joinded the 40" rail (remainder of the 106" rail) and 42" rail came with my 1st MFT 1080 to form a 82" rail for ripping across the 60" section of the connected tables. This will work well to cut down Baltic Birch plywood which comes in 60" square panels.

I like the height and flexibility of the current MFT 1080.