UJK PARF guide and MFT top - few questions

[kitui]

Hello, I got the Parf Guide and started making few holes to tray some materials and the performance of my cordless drill I have. My material of choice is Baltic Birch Ply however I am not sure it is the right choice. The table top will measure 60"x24". Here the issue:
1) I drilled a couple of 3mm holes in 3/4 BB ply and the 3mm pins do not get in easily. Actually, it is a struggle. They are very hard to go in and they have a lot to resistance to be taken off the holes. Am I doing the right thing? Did you have the same problem? Do I have to use  3-in-1 oil for the 3mm bit too? Is the Baltic Birch the problem? Is it the drill?
2) Is Baltic Birch an over kill for a MFT kind of top? Should I use MDO instead?
3) I do not have the option of getting a good MDF sheet (like Ultralite), what is the second best after MDF?
Thanks in advance for your help. K

 

[mjdehart]

i made my first top (and only so far) with baltic birch.  The fit was tight which I considered a good thing because it kept the "error" minimized.  The tightness didn't seem extreme.  I was amazed how square everything came out. 

 

[Ivan T]

I built a Paulk style workbench, using 3/4 plywood for the top. Yes the 3 mm pins do fit tight in the Parf Jig and the plywood. You do not have to push the 3 mm pins all of the way through the jig and into the plywood. Just push them in far enough into the plywood that the jig does not move while you are drilling. I think I did use the 3 in 1 oil on the 3 mm drill. I did find that 1of the 3 mm pins was tighter than the other 2 so I used the 2 that were loosest for most of the holes where I only needed 2 pins in the jig. They seemed to get easier to use after I drilled some holes but maybe my technique got better. I did put oil on the 3 mm pins every so often. The pins are also a tight fit in the rulers.

 

[android]

I just built a 12 hole by 6 hole portable worktop from 18mm Baltic birch like the Dave Stanton bench.
The tightness of the pins is good and assured it was extremely square.

The only downside is the baltic plywood tears out like crazy from the forstner bit and that made the backside kind of ugly. Also the screw in receptacles for the legs were splitting out really badly, so I just ended up epoxying them in. I can screw them in from either side. I will use the top as a good side and the other side when I might end up cutting into the surface.

I bought a cheap $30 drill with a cord, I didn't want to fuss with a bunch of battery changes.

The parf guide system is rock solid and worked exactly as advertised in Peter's videos.

View attachment 1

 

[kitui]

Thanks for reassuring me that I was not doing the wrong thing. I did not try all pins. I was just quickly playing around with the material and the drill. I assumed that all pins were equally made to the same tolerances. I think it is more related to the way I drill ( I guess I am not really consistently drilling). I hope it gets easier as I drill because I cannot think about pulling that hard 48 or so times.  [scared]. Thanks again

 

[BarneyD]

I used Peter's system to drill the holes in my rolling cart with extension wings. Yes, the pins were a bit tight.  I chucked them in my drill press and very lightly filed a slight taper on the bottom 1/4" or so.  As others have mentioned you want them to be tight to maintain the accuracy. I believe I used oil on them as well. I used MDO for my top (just because I had some) and I applied 3 coats of GF Arm-R-Seal before drilling. I used my little CXS to drill all the holes. Peter mentioned that it's best to clamp the jig when drilling the holes to ensure that the holes are perpendicular to the top.  I tried to skip this step on a few holes so now I have a few suspect holes. Good luck.
Barney

 

[GoingMyWay]

I also found the pins to be extremely tight (which I guess is a good thing for accuracy).  Trying to extract those pins from the hole and also the rulers took quite a lot of effort.  My fingertips were sore from trying to twist/pull them.  I tried putting some 3-in-1 oil on the pins, I didn't think that helped any.  I actually thought it made more of a mess than anything.  The good news is that I found that the pins got a lot easier to extract the more holes I drilled.

 

[grobkuschelig]

I also made a bunch of holes (120) with the Parf Guide System just before Christmas.
I used leather gloves to pull the pins. Gave a better grip...

As others have stated, I also prefer them to be tight rather than loose, to ensure the tolerances.

Results were great. But I also did not skip clamping. @BarneyD  [poke]

 

[Stone Message]

Hi Everyone

I think that almost everyone now understands the reason things can be quite tight when using the PGS. I will produce a new video in a month or so with some up to date tips.

I think the key advice for "spot on" results is below:

  - When first used, the 3 mm pins can be very difficult to get into the holes of the Parf Sticks. If you have tight holes on the Parf Sticks run the 3 mm drill bit through them.

  - The recommended material for a bench top is good quality MR MDF. In the UK Medite MR is excellent and I am sure that there are similar quality products available in the ROW. Plywood and blockboard are not ideal as there can be voids in the material and the outer layers tend to splinter and look untidy after drilling.

  - When drilling the 3 mm holes into the bench top they must go the whole way through. This is because the 3 mm spike on the 20 mm drill has been specially designed to follow the 3 mm drill hole. This method adds accuracy to the finished result.

  - When inserting a 3 mm pin in a hole in the bench top it only needs to go in about 6 mm (1/4") in order to achieve good registration.

  - The new UJK Parf Super Dogs are designed to be a very snug fit in a 20 mm hole drilled with the PGS. The holes on the Festool MFT3 are larger and so the Parf Super Dogs will not appear to be quite as tight in them.

  - Most people will have just a small number of holes on their tracksaw cutting station that get used with the Parf Super Dogs. If you really find it a challenge to insert or remove a Parf Super Dog try a tiny wipe of Vaseline in the 20 mm hole (not on the Dog).

Finally...

If anyone has what they consider to be a fault with any Parf product please contact the customer services department of the supplier as I am not responsible for manufacture or distribution.

If anyone needs help or advice then please do not hesitate to PM me or send me an email. Also, I always do my best to respond to every query and acknowledge every comment placed on my YouTube channel.

Many thanks.

Peter

 

[smartins]

From this thread:
http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-jigs-tool-enhancements/festool-20mm-router-bit/

I found such information:
"
The MFT/3 seems to have a hole size that is staying consistant each year, but varies by 0.1 mm  on the same table top. The older MFT-1080 or 800 had holes sizes that varied each year but were the same size within 0.01 mm on the same table.

The ideal hole size should be 20.1 mm so any 20 mm diameter object can fit in them. 20.2 mm will feel very sloppy. Several years ago, a customer was kind enough to have me test the Festool router bit 491-072. Back then it measured 20.0 mm and made holes of 20.1 mm when the router speed was right (I don't remember the speed any more) and 20.2 mm if you didn't have the speed right and held the router very firmly.
"

So, before to make holes with Festool 491072, router bit must be measured, if that's true!
As well as those, owning and using Festool MFT surfaces, probably have to measure what hole size actually they have.

...
  - The new UJK Parf Super Dogs are designed to be a very snug fit in a 20 mm hole drilled with the PGS. The holes on the Festool MFT3 are larger and so the Parf Super Dogs will not appear to be quite as tight in them.
...

 

[BarrySumpter]

...
  - The new UJK Parf Super Dogs are designed to be a very snug fit in a 20 mm hole drilled with the PGS. The holes on the Festool MFT3 are larger and so the Parf Super Dogs will not appear to be quite as tight in them.
...

Would this be the same for the PARF system 2?

 

[Stone Message]

...
  - The new UJK Parf Super Dogs are designed to be a very snug fit in a 20 mm hole drilled with the PGS. The holes on the Festool MFT3 are larger and so the Parf Super Dogs will not appear to be quite as tight in them.
...

Would this be the same for the PARF system 2?

The 20 mm cutter is the same.

Peter