Slop in Parf Dogs

[windmill man]

Any one got to the bottom of this ?
Is it a bad MFT table or a badly manufactured/designed dog?

 

[GarryMartin]

The problem is that there is no magic "one size fits all" when it comes to the MFT over the years.

From http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/mft3-hole-spacing-and-accessories/

It looks like the holes have always been centered on 96 mm. Some of the oldest MFT have hole diameters of 19.85 mm. Then they went to 19.9 and 19.94 mm for a while. 20.03-20.07 mm followed those briefly before it looks like Festool settled on 20.15 mm around 2006 or 2007. MDF is stable stuff so these holes haven't shrunk due to age.

And from http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-how-to/custom-size-mft-table/

Ideally you want a finished hole size of 20.07 to 20.11 mm. These will allow a 20 mm peg (and all Festool accessories) to slide into the hole. 20.2 mm is rather large and I think he got those numbers from the last run of the MFT-1080. The last years those were made they had holes of 20.17 mm. I have one of them tables and the holes are definitely larger than need be.

While I can find no proof that loose fitting dogs are more accurate, I do believe tight fitting dogs accomplish nothing but grief for the user. Allow some slack for the dogs to slip in and out and using them will be more enjoyable. When the dogs are used properly, some slack will not affect accuracy at all.

I have various Qwas dogs (initially very kindly shipped to me by HalfInchShy in 2011 before Steve shipped Internationally and then by Steve himself last year) and have recently got hold of some Parf Dogs too. They both work fine in my 2011 MFT/3, but I do prefer the fit of the Qwas dogs.

But if you want the *DEFINITIVE* data on MFT tops and hole sizes, you have to read this thread and the report by Rob Lee of Veritas.

Awesome piece of research and hands down brilliant customer service.  [not worthy]

http://festoolownersgroup.com/other-tools-accessories/new-product-veritas-planing-stops-for-your-mft/msg255073/#msg255073

 

[grbmds]

I find that all the brands of "dogs" I use in my MFT fit well enough to use without problems. I have Parf Dogs and dogs from Rip Dogs that I got with the Rip Stops I bought. Both work great. I have also used the "dogs" that come with the Festool Clamping Elements set. I do find that there is a very slight inconsistency in hole size across my MFT top. It's so small it really doesn't make any difference, but all dogs fit tight in some holes and not in others. I even found a couple of holes that I had difficulty getting the dogs out. Again, none of this really makes a difference in actual use or accuracy for me.