Okay, so shoot me. I bought the MFK700 during the 10% off promotion. I didn't really need it and sure didn't know what I was going to use it for, but I figured I'd know once I got familiar with it. After three days of playing with it, I decided it would make the absolutely perfect dovetail router for me.
I drag out my jig and set up a test to make certain the 700 has all the power needed to handle 5/8" oak drawer sides. P-C bushings screw right into the bottom, so I throw a dovetail bit into it and get ready to go. Then the first bit of trouble arises. My dovetail jig is a VS600 with the flanged bushing that snaps into the bottom of my 1400. It won't fit the 700, obviously enough, nor will any other P-C bushing fit the 600. Okay, I'll order the right bushing off the internet, I'll just buy an entire metric set if that's what it takes. Unfortunately, I can't find the right metric P-C style bushing anywhere. Not even Festool has one to mate the 700 to the 600. Is there a source anywhere for something that would work, even without the flange? A straight-sided bushing is just fine with me.
Foiled temporarily but refusing to lose, I soldier on with the old P-C 4212 dovetail jig I cut my teeth on. P-C bushings fit P-C jigs pretty well, it seems. Okay, now I'm excited. Put the 700 on the jig and think that this has to be the coolest dovetail router ever built. I push it up to the wood in preparation of making the first glorious cut when the router handle bumps up against the hold-down on the jig. The handle end of the base is about an inch too long for it to work with the 4212. It would work if I removed the dust collector and fed it backward with the handle out, but that defeats the whole purpose for using a 700 in the first place, little mess to clean up.
Okay, so whatcha got? What's the best way to do this? Which dovetail jigs have been confirmed to work with a 700? It's obvious the VS600 has been designed to exclude the 700 (with extreme predjudice, I might add), as has the P-C 4212. Which jigs actually do work as advertised? I could be talked into buying a Leigh D4R Pro or an Akeda or most anything else if it makes the 700 the joy to use that I'm certain it can be. I need a good six inches of clearance from the front edge of the board to the first obstruction. What do you use? Thanksamundo.
I drag out my jig and set up a test to make certain the 700 has all the power needed to handle 5/8" oak drawer sides. P-C bushings screw right into the bottom, so I throw a dovetail bit into it and get ready to go. Then the first bit of trouble arises. My dovetail jig is a VS600 with the flanged bushing that snaps into the bottom of my 1400. It won't fit the 700, obviously enough, nor will any other P-C bushing fit the 600. Okay, I'll order the right bushing off the internet, I'll just buy an entire metric set if that's what it takes. Unfortunately, I can't find the right metric P-C style bushing anywhere. Not even Festool has one to mate the 700 to the 600. Is there a source anywhere for something that would work, even without the flange? A straight-sided bushing is just fine with me.
Foiled temporarily but refusing to lose, I soldier on with the old P-C 4212 dovetail jig I cut my teeth on. P-C bushings fit P-C jigs pretty well, it seems. Okay, now I'm excited. Put the 700 on the jig and think that this has to be the coolest dovetail router ever built. I push it up to the wood in preparation of making the first glorious cut when the router handle bumps up against the hold-down on the jig. The handle end of the base is about an inch too long for it to work with the 4212. It would work if I removed the dust collector and fed it backward with the handle out, but that defeats the whole purpose for using a 700 in the first place, little mess to clean up.
Okay, so whatcha got? What's the best way to do this? Which dovetail jigs have been confirmed to work with a 700? It's obvious the VS600 has been designed to exclude the 700 (with extreme predjudice, I might add), as has the P-C 4212. Which jigs actually do work as advertised? I could be talked into buying a Leigh D4R Pro or an Akeda or most anything else if it makes the 700 the joy to use that I'm certain it can be. I need a good six inches of clearance from the front edge of the board to the first obstruction. What do you use? Thanksamundo.
