table top thickness to suite Festool FSZ 120/2 120mm Adjustable Clamps

[shu]

Hi all,

I happened to have a 25mm MDF board to do a MFT table top replacement. I know it's thicker than the standard top, but I just want to use the material if it works. I wonder if it will fit the FSZ 120 clamps I'm going to buy?

Thanks in advance.

Shu

 

[Corwin]

Only if you counterbore/countersink the underside of the holes.  [blink]

 

[shu]

Only if you counterbore/countersink the underside of the holes.  [blink]

Can you be more specific Corwin? Does that mean "No"?

Maybe I go for FS-HZ 160, which allow me to have the L shape steel come from the bottom upwards and then apply the clamp.

 

[Bohdan]

In my case I made the panel out of 25mm plywood and to get the clamps to fit thru the top I had to use a router roundover cutter on the bottom edge of the holes. IIRC it was a 1/4" radius cutter with a bearing that just went around inside the holes..

 

[shu]

Thanks a lot. I will do the same.

 

[Corwin]

Only if you counterbore/countersink the underside of the holes.  [blink]

Can you be more specific Corwin? Does that mean "No"?

Maybe I go for FS-HZ 160, which allow me to have the L shape steel come from the bottom upwards and then apply the clamp.

Correct -- that means NO, unless you counterbore.

Going with the longer clamps won't help as the L shape is the same for both size clamps, so either size have the same limitations with regard to table thickness. And, coming up from the under the table will not make any difference either. Sorry.  [sad]

 

[shu]

My understanding is that the L shaped steel can not pass the extra thickness as it give less clearance.
But if we use the 160, which has the quick release so the L shaped steel can be fully separate with the clamp, and come up from a hole should be an ease thing to do. Isn't that a work around?

Only if you counterbore/countersink the underside of the holes.  [blink]

Can you be more specific Corwin? Does that mean "No"?

Maybe I go for FS-HZ 160, which allow me to have the L shape steel come from the bottom upwards and then apply the clamp.

Correct -- that means NO, unless you counterbore.

Going with the longer clamps won't help as the L shape is the same for both size clamps, so either size have the same limitations with regard to table thickness. And, coming up from the under the table will not make any difference either. Sorry.  [sad]

 

[rvieceli]

[member=66123]shu[/member] separating the clamp pieces and then sticking the L piece from the bottom is a work around but it is also one you will tire of very quickly as it's an extra pain to do every time you place a clamp.

 

[grobkuschelig]

Just add a chamfer from the underside and maybe even a slight one from above.

I did that for my mobile worktop, which admittedly is only 19mm, but even there, the chamfer makes getting clamps in and out more convenient...
I used a 45 degree angle instead of a round-over.

 

[Stone Message]

Hi all,

I happened to have a 25mm MDF board to do a MFT table top replacement. I know it's thicker than the standard top, but I just want to use the material if it works. I wonder if it will fit the FSZ 120 clamps I'm going to buy?

Thanks in advance.

Shu

Hi Shu

Try this - Either take an offcut of your 25 mm board or find any other piece of wood of that thickness, drill a 20 mm hole in it and try fitting the clamp.

I think that you will have your answer very quickly. The idea of a counter bore would work but....

With 25 mm thick MDF you will find moving the MFT3 quite difficult despite the fact that you go down the gym 5 evenings a week and do weights. Also, your 25 mm thick top will get beaten up just as quickly as an 18 mm thick top and so the life cycle would be the same. I can't remember buying 25 mm MDF but assume that it is not cheap. Medite MR at 18 mm thickness works brilliantly and you can still move the MFT3 around just as you could when it was new.

Peter

 

[Coen]

I wouldn't use a different thinkness for the MFT top for the simple reason it would end up being a different height than the CMS and the Precisio.... I use all as supports for each other for larger pieces. I can do perfectly fine without one being 6mm off..

Especially if you have the MFT-VL it would be completely irritating to have the top of the MFT stick out 6mm...

Just think about that before you spend a lot of time  [tongue]

One workaround might be so decrease the thickness at the places where it's fitted to the MFT.

 

[Corwin]

...
Maybe I go for FS-HZ 160, which allow me to have the L shape steel come from the bottom upwards and then apply the clamp.

Hmmm... I wasn't thinking of separating the clamp -- probably because my FS-HZ 160 quick clamps do not come apart. The end of the L-shaped pieces have a crimp in the metal to keep them from coming off. I guess one could cut a little off the end or grind away the offending crimp. Then again, mine are 10 years old, and maybe they have changed.