What is so good about the MFT ?

[joiner1970]

That got your attention.

I just wanna get some opinions on why someone should spend ?360 (UK price) on an MFT what can it do and what do you use it for ?

 

[Eli]

I've never been able to clamp things in so many different positions so quickly. Moving from working a piece on top of the table to working one fixed to the side, with no special prep, just pull a clamp out of one of the field holes and slide it into the side extrusion. I'm 5'11", the height is great for working on a drawer or assembling a cabinet, although it feels low when working a flat piece flat on the table. The biggest drawback to using the MFT is that an hour or so after I started using it the first time, I wanted to get another one. I cut stuff using the guide rail, pretty safe, and quick enough you can spend a little extra time making sure it's accurate. You'll need clamps to really use the MFT to it's full potential, so plan budget accordingly.

(edit) Also there are links at the bottom of thishttp://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=1185.0
Check out Brice's animations as well as Jerry's manual (good suggestion)

 

[Robnol]

Hi Jointer1970 ... good year ... I was born in 1970!

Go to Jerry Works web sitehttp://jerrywork.com/ and check out his manuals section.  He has a great paper(pdf) on the MFT and what it has done for him ... I just read most of it this AM ... good stuff.  I am about to order the parts to make a bigger MFT ... I think it would change the ways I do a lot of things and enable me to use my festools more.

Thanks!

 

[Tinker]

My first MFT was the 1080.  I have used it for cutting, routing, temporary layouts, assembly and horizontal storage port (as is the case with every horizontal flat surface in my shop)
I have just recently begun rearanging my shop to make better use of the MFT 1080.  The first step was to remove my Table Saw into temporary storage.  i am hoping i will not have to resort to moving it back into the active shop area.  Previous to that move, i acquired the MFT 800 for use when i move my work outside of the shop or into my living area.  With my other Festool toys and the MFT, the dust collection is so good, i do not get one peep from the "Management" about all the dust in the house, of which there ain't.

Actually, your own immagination and experience are the limiting factors to what you can do with the MFT's.  Oh, and i have just clamped on the VL 700 table extension.  I have not had a chance to use it, but it looks to have been a sensible purchase.  Especially for controling longer cutoffs.  I have mouted it to the 1080 and it looks worthy enough that i will be getting one to increase the size of my more portable MFT 800.
Tinker

 

[Corwin]

Actually, your own imagination and experience are the limiting factors to what you can do with the MFT's.

Tinker

Gotta love Tinker's point of view!  

There are so many good things about the MFT...  First off, it does make a wounder place to work with you Festools.  And, it gets even better with a second one.  To increase capacity further, you might want another -- or, just build a simple leaf to fill between the two.  Really, these MFTs are so nice,  what's not to love?

Corwin

 

[Dave Ronyak]

To increase capacity further, you might want another -- or, just build a simple leaf to fill between the two.  Really, these MFTs are so nice,  what's not to love?

Corwin

Corwin,

A removable leaf to fit between two MFTs sounds like a great idea!  If the side rails of that leaf were made like those taught by Jerry Work, you could join 2 MFTs together, add, space and have all tops in plane at the same time. 

Dave R.

 

[Corwin]

Side rails?  Didn't see any real need for side rails.  Simply build a leaf with the appropriate support for the surface.  Vertical support pieces that support the surface are also required along the two edges that will get attached to the tables.  Drill holes in these support pieces for installing the hardware to attach to side of the MFTs' profiles -- Offset the holes slightly such that you can start the T-nuts into one table's profile at a time and not have to fight aligning both sides at once.  

This isn't the only way to skin a cat, but it is somewhat simple.  Personally, I do like combining multiple MFTs -- with two 1080 MFTs and a custom ~4'x4' MFT (using  4 of the 1080's longer profiles) I no longer need the leaf.  I only offered this solution in responce to Tinker's post where he mentioned having both a 1080 and 800 MFT.  Though it might serve him and others well.

Enjoy,
Corwin