MFT top, make one or buy in?

[basssound]

I'm wanting an 8x4 mft for my home projects, I have the space to store the mft on its side and use it on a table which breaks down.

Now my dilemma is that I've been messed around on a second hand UJK parf guide kit and I really don't want to spend the £150 for a new kit and then the extra on top for the dogs ect...

What's the chance of finding someone near to Doncaster who would be able to cnc one, I am presuming it would be cheaper than buying the sheet and the guide kit separately.

Anyone on here got a parf guide kit for sale?

 

[Mrs C]

Cncdesign at Wrexham do them or there are other suppliers on eBay. Postage is very reasonable.

 

[marcros]

I wouldn't even consider making one. The eBay sellers are charging little more than I could buy a sheet of MDF for.

I think it would still be cheaper to ask then to do an odd size, but doing a full 8*4 is a no brainer for me.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I have a CNC Designs one (as above). I like it a lot.

I bought the plywood version, and it is really nice quality, but I suspect the MRMDF one would be even more stable. I should have asked them before buying. It was well packaged for shipping and overall really reasonable.

If you do go for their products, the dogs are inexpensive as an accessory but they don't sell them separately. The only issue is that they're a different diameter to the Festool and Parf dogs etc. (above the table - obviously the peg part is the same), which means the Axminster rail clips don't fit. So you may still need Parf Dogs too, but overall I think it's brilliant value for money.

 

[shed9]

You could buy a template jig. Easier to use than the UJK fiasco and reusable.

I think CNCdesign sell them.

 

[Lonsdale73]

+1 for CNC

 

[Distinterior]

If you can find a company local to you that will CNC one for you, that's the route I would go.
I say local, coz the cost of shipping an 8' x 4' sheet of MRMDF will put the overall cost up quite a lot.

I had one made for me by a local company and it's dead accurate.....! I also added 4 hand holes to it myself after moving it about a few times.......It weighs quite a lot. (About 27kg)

I already had a set of Tall and Short stainless steel dogs and lent them to the CNC guy to measure to ensure they were a nice snug fit in the holes he was going to drill. They fit perfectly with absolutely no slop and no need to fix them from underneath.

It cost me about £100 if I remember correctly, including the sheet of MRMDF. I've had mine nearly 2 years now.

Looking at their website, It looks as though this company may be able to make one for you. They are in or near Doncaster.

http://www.ckjjoinery.co.uk

 

[Doug71]

These guys aren't that far away from you (30 miles?) and I seem to think they did an 8x4 MFT top for someone on this forum but could be wrong.

http://agschofieldjoinery.co.uk/#home

I used 3 of the standard MFT tops from CNC Design joined together for a bench top, it's gives you about 1.1m x2.1m

Doug

 

[basssound]

Cheers for the replies, the two links you two have supplied are going to be called tomorrow morning, I'm praying the Doncaster one will do one as they are only 20 minutes from me.

 

[Eric The Viking]

CNC Designs's shipping to Bristol was ridiculously inexpensive, to the extent I was worried it might arrive damaged. In fact it was very well packed and in perfect condition.
Why do you want such a large area as 8'x4' - it doesn't sound like normal usage. The CNC designs table is bigger than an MFT top (has an extra one or two rows), and for me is plenty.

 

[basssound]

If I'm honest it's for breaking down full size sheets, I'm presuming I'll need a full size MFT to comfortably break down full size sheets... Or do I?

 

[Steve Maskery]

I bought the template to make my own. It works perfectly, but, TBH, I wish I'd just bought one ready-made. This will see me out, I don't see how I shall ever see the need to make another.

 

[basssound]

To revive this thread, I contact CKJ near me who have stated they want £200 to create a one off mft top.
They also require me to supply the CNC file... So for £200 they will buy the board, mount it and set the program going, I've kindly refused the quote.

I've contacted another cnc shop but that's 40 mile away, let's hope they can sort me out or its a case of waiting up to 9 days delivery off ebay.

 

[marcros]

Your time and money, but I think I would wait on the eBay one.

 

[basssound]

My main issue is the size of the ebay offerings, I don't think they are large enough.

 

[Mrs C]

Why not cut your full size sheets down using your tracksaw, clamps and guides (two equal size bits of 2” wide mdf make amazingly accurate parallel guides) to manageable sizes, have a look at Peter Millard or Gosforth Handyman on YouTube).

Or put two tops together side by side using dogs on each piece and straightedges between the two to fix in place?

I think if anyone had a need for a very large mft top, someone, somewhere would be making one. You also have the issue of keeping something that size completely flat, as soon as it sags in the middle you lose your accuracy.

 

[Farmer Giles]

I bought a seconds Parf mk 1 kit from Axminster, I bought it January last year, I thought it was less than a ton but looking back at my orders it was £130 quid! It was seconds because the anodising of the jig was a bit dodgy.

I have used it 3 times now, last weekend being the latest, I made an 8 x 4 sheet, I have the blister to prove it Here it is in progress. I had drilled the 3mm holes, now on the 20mm.

and completed, only one hole cocked up where I lost concentration and thought I had the pin in a 3mm hole when it was in a 20mm hole - doh! Can you spot it? Let's play spot the balls up, copy the picture and draw a circle around the hole you think is a wrong 'un

I could fill the dodgy hole with car body filler and re-drill but this top is only temporary until I make my MFT style bench.

It's sat on some Axi trestles with 4 x 2 between them so no sag.

The proper bench will be birch ply, I hate MDF with a passion. Ripping a full sheet is a guide rail and clamp job so the holey top is not necessary

But handy once you have cut it in half

But you only need 8 x 4 if your going to avoid the clash of saw on bench dog by having a large table. Both the Festool and Mafell saws clash with dogs when plunging, but you can use a parallel spacer between track and dog, or use an MFT style hinged blade, or low profile dogs, or dogs that slide under the track in the t-slots to avoid this.

The table I'm making after this 'orrible MDF monstrosity is 2.4 x 0.9m and will have a hinged track, but using Mafell /Bosch not Festool track as I have it already.

Basssound, what part of Donny are you from, I was dragged up in Armthorpe

Cheers
Andy

 

[basssound]

After having a rethink I reckon I'll get away with half a board size instead.
@Farmer Giles I'm in Denaby, born and bred in Rawmarsh so only 5 miles between areas.

 

[basssound]

I've decided to cut my chances of a full sheet and ordered two CNC designs birch ply tops with two sets of the dogs.
They'll be here in the morning, can't complain at that service!!

 

[Eric The Viking]

I don't think you'll regret it.

If you bought the tables, the only thing I've _needed_ to do to mine was to take a block plane to the little rectangular pegs that protroude through from the legs. I needed to take off about 0.25mm to get them dead flush with the surface.

The dogs are _very_ tight in the holes though. I've used Liberon machine wax on the top surface, and that has helped (worked into the holes). I might try a bit of Briwax instead when I next do it. Not quite sure why they are so tight, but that's better than sloppy. I had a set of Parf dogs, which I gve away. They were too loose in my table, but OK in one of CNC Designs MFT replacement tops. Couldn't see why that was, but hey.