Are you thinking about getting a Festool MFT 3?

[Slinger]

Benchwayze

I got used to it Slinger (Woods?)

Yep, but Wood. Ex-Andrew 53 to 59
Slinger

 

[Benchwayze]

Aye Slinger. '54 - '64. Started at Ganges. Hookie or Hooky Walker.

Don't miss it to be honest. (Except my time in 'Ton Class' sweepers) Miss my youth though. Don't we all? (hammer)

 

[Stu_2]

Okeys Stu... Many thanks... Could you put the two runners across-ways. Or are you going to leave that to me? The reason I ask is that I have two Workmates that I will use occasionally to hold the drilled top.

Afternoon John

No worries. I’ll give you a shout to confirm positioning.

Cheers
Stu

 

[Benchwayze]

Okeys Stu... Many thanks... Could you put the two runners across-ways. Or are you going to leave that to me? The reason I ask is that I have two Workmates that I will use occasionally to hold the drilled top.

Afternoon John

No worries. I’ll give you a shout to confirm positioning.

Cheers
Stu

Good Man. Many Thanks

John

 

[petermillard]

Great thread, and many thanks to Stu_2 for posting the video. I've only ever seen the Keter table in Screwfix trade counters, so good to see one that's been set up properly! Also, I've only seen the Lifetime tables referred to on US forums (fora?) - are they readily available here, or was it a personal import? My wife's just bought a folding table with height-adjustable legs from Amazon that looks very similar.

And just as an aside, with all due respect to the OP and IMHO (MFT 1080 owner for ~10 years) the amount of 'wobbliness' of the tables shown *vastly* exceeds that of the MFT - as you'd expect, perhaps, given the difference in price...

 

[No skills]

Hmm.

We use copys of the lifetime 180 tables at work for the site canteens (along with a wooden type as well), when there past best I keep the odd one to use as a bench/cutting table. They dont last long as the legs bend or break with any rough treatment (like dropping on a sheet of ply too hard). Hopefully those branded ones are a bit stronger.

FWIW

 

[Stu_2]

I've only seen the Lifetime tables referred to on US forums (fora?) - are they readily available here, or was it a personal import?

Afternoon Peter

I bought a couple from Costco, nearly 3 years ago. I believe they still sell them, but I think they now stock the ones with height adjustable legs. I haven't played with one of those, but my assumption is that they will be a little less sturdy as they have an extra joint in the leg structure. I could be wrong, so I'll have a look next time I'm in there.

Cheers
Stu

 

[Stu_2]

Hmm.

We use copys of the lifetime 180 tables at work for the site canteens (along with a wooden type as well), when there past best I keep the odd one to use as a bench/cutting table. They dont last long as the legs bend or break with any rough treatment (like dropping on a sheet of ply too hard). Hopefully those branded ones are a bit stronger.

FWIW

Afternoon No Skills

Mine are the genuine LifeTime ones, and have stood-up to a fair amount of being bashed around, over nearly 3 years, and are still in good order. I didn't realise until recently that they carry a 10 year warranty, although I'm unsure whether or not that covers wear and tear from heavy use. However, pretty certain Costco would honour that regardless.

Cheers
Stu

 

[Stu_2]

Evening All

Had a few questions about shipping the table tops, and finally got around to sorting out a sensible solution. As it turned out, it was the opposite of what I had first assumed. Carriage was easy, but packaging materials were a pain, unless you're buying stuff in quantities of thousands

Shipping and packaging should be £15 for the majority of mainland Britain, subject to the usual Highlands and Islands exclusions, which I can confirm individually. I plan to use City Link's Next Day service, as they are a reputable carrier. Each board will be packaged using plastic corner protectors, bubble wrap and an outer plastic wrapping. Breakdown is roughly £12 shipping and £3 packaging.

Collection from Slough is more than welcome if you're local enough. I do tend to get out to Marlow and High Wycombe a fair bit, too, if that helps.

Cheers
Stu

 

[petermillard]

Afternoon Peter
I bought a couple from Costco, nearly 3 years ago. I believe they still sell them, but I think they now stock the ones with height adjustable legs...

Stu, thanks for clarifying - I had no idea that Costco were a 'thing' here - always assumed they were US only! They have the height-adjustable tables on their website, if anyone's interested:-

http://www.costco.co.uk/view/product/uk ... 3.3/142137

As an aside, there's also a Keter folding worktable that's height-adjustable, the Keter EX; again, if anyone's interested:-

http://www.keter.com/products/folding-work-table-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ketec-FOLDING-W ... ding+bench

Different basic height to the Screwfix version, unfortunately, but it comes with '4#holding clamps' instead of a pair of one-handed clamps which might be a bit more versatile.

Anyway, thanks again for all the info and vids.

Cheers, Pete

 

[pcb1962]

Hi Stu,
I would definitely like to order one from you. Will you be able to do custom sizes? My outdoor bench (2 Draper trestles and an Ikea coffee table top ) is 1120 x 700 so an extra row of holes on the long side would make better use of the available space. I think you mentioned earlier you would need some pins made up to do bigger sizes, I can machine those for you if you send me a drawing of what you need, alternatively could you not use the long Parf dogs upside down to align the template with the already drilled part?
Cheers, Peter

 

[Stu_2]

Hi Stu,
I would definitely like to order one from you. Will you be able to do custom sizes? My outdoor bench (2 Draper trestles and an Ikea coffee table top ) is 1120 x 700 so an extra row of holes on the long side would make better use of the available space. I think you mentioned earlier you would need some pins made up to do bigger sizes, I can machine those for you if you send me a drawing of what you need, alternatively could you not use the long Parf dogs upside down to align the template with the already drilled part?
Cheers, Peter

Afternoon Peter

You have a PM

Cheers
Stu

 

[Stu_2]

Afternoon All

Thanks to those who have sent a PM. I've now responded to everyone and have started making the tops and various supports

Just wanted to post an update regarding the Keter workbench which I had included in my earlier video. I spoke to Keter yesterday. Rather disappointingly they have confirmed that they are unable to provide any spare parts, including the proprietary clamps, for either the original bench, or the newer 'EX' version (see Peter's earlier post in this thread). They were also unsure about the warranty period, and were going to call back, but didn't. A real shame, as the idea is a great one, let down by a non-existent level support.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
Stu

 

[Skeety]

Afternoon All

Thanks to those who have sent a PM. I've now responded to everyone and have started making the tops and various supports

Just wanted to post an update regarding the Keter workbench which I had included in my earlier video. I spoke to Keter yesterday. Rather disappointingly they have confirmed that they are unable to provide any spare parts, including the proprietary clamps, for either the original bench, or the newer 'EX' version (see Peter's earlier post in this thread). They were also unsure about the warranty period, and were going to call back, but didn't. A real shame, as the idea is a great one, let down by a non-existent level support.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
Stu

Agreed, they have some brilliant products but very much under supported in the UK.

If my original clamps were to fail we could router 2 more clamping into the front rail and secure to the underside of the Keter tabletop or just drill a couple of holes and use MFT clamps.

Jon.

 

[No skills]

Seeing as this is all the rage on here at the moment, have any of you considered building a bench like Ron paulks?

He has a few variations, might be of interest to you MFT'ing folks.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... +workbench

FWIW

 

[Benchwayze]

Ron Paulk's bench is as big as my workshop! :mrgreen:

 

[Slinger]

Stu
Many thanks for the 'table top'. Just what I wanted & very well made.
Slinger.

 

[Stu_2]

Stu
Many thanks for the 'table top'. Just what I wanted & very well made.
Slinger.

Thanks Ray

Glad you like it.

Cheers
Stu

 

[divein]

I know this is an old thread but has anyone tried the mft or equivalent with a B&d 625 workmate? I presume that there would be stability issues with the overhang.

 

[marcros]

not as such. I did look at the option though, and I think that if you were to make some supporting bearers then it would work. If I had a tracksaw, my plan was to use the top and a workmate.