MFT - wossit all about?

[Jacob]

.... I don't do much with hand tools, because of an injury to my right shoulder using something like a hand plane or hand saw is not something that I can easily do, I also have a problem with my right leg which means that any operation that involves shifting my body weight from one side to the other is out of the question. ...

OK if you have special needs - I have too, deaf, eyesight going, can't pick things up from the floor (arthritis) , so I sympathise! If this kit helps then of course it's a good idea.
But in general:
I never queried the usefulness of a track saw and the plunge cut is a smart bit of design.
But I don't see the point of all the other gubbins. Parfman even demonstrates (8.30 minutes in) how easy it is to use a straight edge with a couple of clamps, without even the track. He doesn't seem to show how you align the second cut (I might have missed it) which presumably you do in the old fashioned way with a tape measure and pencil marks.
Anyway it's clear that it's only about cutting sheet and not some sort of universal woodwork system - which is implied by all the promos and expensive add on gadgets - and unconvincingly demonstrated on some of the vids. So I got the answer to my original question!

 

[porker]

One question though, if I place an MFT style top directly onto my bench will the blind holes be a problem? - I appreciate I won’t be able to put a clamp through the holes to act as a hold down clamp but will there be any other limitations? - at least the screws and drill bits won’t fall through

One way to get around this is to lift the top off the bench with short feet. David Stanton on YouTube does this with his system. You just need to raise it enough to give clearance for the clamps.

 

[HamsterJam]

One way to get around this is to lift the top off the bench with short feet. David Stanton on YouTube does this with his system. You just need to raise it enough to give clearance for the clamps.

Thanks , I had considered whether a gap between the MFT style top and the bench could work. Just worried the height increase might be awkward - I find the bench an ideal height for me as it is. It will also need some type of structure or frame under it for support.

 

[Hornbeam]

I think there is more to it than cutting sheet goods. It can also be used as a radial arm type saw set up, with pre sets at 90@ and 45'. I think you could just proove the concept with a piece of MDF, sove large dowels and some carefully positioned holes. Then use a standard circular and a batten

 

[Jacob]

One question left! How do you cut the second parallel line, after having achieved the first perpendicular cut? Do you measure/mark with a pencil or is there an MFT way?

 

[Doug B]

One question left! How do you cut the second parallel line, after having achieved the first perpendicular cut? Do you measure/mark with a pencil or is there an MFT way?

More add ons is what you need Jacob, parallel track guides or a fence on your MFT table with a fence stops or just mark it with a pencil.

 

[MikeK]

One question left! How do you cut the second parallel line, after having achieved the first perpendicular cut? Do you measure/mark with a pencil or is there an MFT way?

Depends...if I am making a several identical pieces, I'll use the parallel guides on the rail or the flip stop on the fence. If I'm making one piece, I measure and mark with a pencil.

 

[Recky33]

One question left! How do you cut the second parallel line, after having achieved the first perpendicular cut? Do you measure/mark with a pencil or is there an MFT way?

I take it that even after 5 days you still have not bothered to have a look at Mr Millards site ?

 

[Jacob]

I take it that even after 5 days you still have not bothered to have a look at Mr Millards site ?

Yes I have. He does a very neat job, woodwork and youtube.
Which one would you particularly recommend?
n.b. If he's promoting £100 set squares or £40 dog holders I'm not interested, but I don't suppose he is.

 

[stuart little]

Thanks , I had considered whether a gap between the MFT style top and the bench could work. Just worried the height increase might be awkward - I find the bench an ideal height for me as it is. It will also need some type of structure or frame under it for support.

Stand on a pallet!

 

[HamsterJam]

Stand on a pallet!

Oooh no - that would be work at height and surely I’d need a harness and fall-arrest?

 

[Jacob]

Thanks , I had considered whether a gap between the MFT style top and the bench could work. Just worried the height increase might be awkward - I find the bench an ideal height for me as it is. It will also need some type of structure or frame under it for support.

Have you tried New Products ? If there's a need they'll come up with something. Probably not cheap though.

 

[stuart little]

Oooh no - that would be work at height and surely I’d need a harness and fall-arrest?

And trip over it!

 

[HamsterJam]

Yes I have. He does a very neat job, woodwork and youtube.
Which one would you particularly recommend?
n.b. If he's promoting £100 set squares or £40 dog holders I'm not interested, but I don't suppose he is.

He does review £100 rail squares but he also shows how to make one from a few offcuts too.

 

[Jacob]

He does review £100 rail squares but he also shows how to make one from a few offcuts too.

Had a look

Looks insane to me - the system that is, not Mr Millard, nothing personal!

And if you were going to make your own square from ply, why not instead make a large T square; a lot simpler to do and you wouldn't need any of the other gubbins at all. Dog free world!
T square potentially more precise in that it would involve far fewer components butting up to each other, each one with a slight error, increasing with use and wear

 

[HamsterJam]

Had a look

Looks insane to me - the system that is, not Mr Millard, nothing personal!

Agreed, that sort of kit is well outside my budget but a £40 MFT type top and a few dogs probably are not.
One advantage of the rail square vs T-square is it connects to the rail so the whole assembly becomes one unit to move about. Must admit at the moment I use an old (imperial and apparently quite accurate) roofing square to line up the guide rail which mostly works well but can be a faff at times.

Did you see this….

 

[Jacob]

Agreed, that sort of kit is well outside my budget but a £40 MFT type top and a few dogs probably are not.
One advantage of the rail square vs T-square is it connects to the rail so the whole assembly becomes one unit to move about. Must admit at the moment I use an old (imperial and apparently quite accurate) roofing square to line up the guide rail which mostly works well but can be a faff at times.

Did you see this….

If it was me I'd look at making a large set square from ply, with a rail tacked on the bottom edge to engage with the starter straight edge on the board to be cut, so it'd align tight with just one hand. Big knob in the middle to hold it with.
No reason why it shouldn't be even more accurate than the fussy MFT/dog set up, as there would be fewer components needing to be close fitting, resulting in fewer random/systematic errors.
The term "multi function table" seems to be misleading - it's clearly a "single function table" - namely cutting sheet material.

 

[nosuchhounds]

Im transferring over to Festool finally as I want to take cabinet making more seriously. There's a lot of haters out there but I will be going with the MFT 3. For me its all there, out of the box with the exception of calibration. I'm a huge fan of Mr Millard and his approach. I love the ability of repeat, consistent and efficient cuts and its an investment 2nd hand prices of Festool aren't far off the original prices.

I maybe be a sucker, 'saw me coming' etc but hey ho

 

[JobandKnock]

Oooh no - that would be work at height and surely I’d need a harness and fall-arrest?

No, just a podium and a padded hard hat with chinstrap! And what about the rescue plan you'd need for the harness

 

[JobandKnock]

Another question; why not align the track saw with a large T square, then you wouldn't need any of the gubbins at all?
You could make your own with size/angles to suit.

Last year into this we laid probably 30,000+ square feet of plywood sub-floor. A big mill conversion with loads of cuts around pillars, stair openings, odd angle walls, etc. A plunge saw with rails and an Insta Square was just so much faster than any other way of doing things (very important when working on price and to tight deadlines), so those "bells and whistles" are far from a waste of money in that environment. Similarly on lots of interior fit-out jobs having a plunge saw/rail set-up saves time and the effort of cleaning up edges - especially when you are doing stuff like installing wall panelling, etc. But that is intensive trade usage - which is what these things were designed for. I've never had much use for an MFT, mainly because I have almost always had access to a panel saw, but if I were making a lot of, say, kitchen cabinets and had no sliding carraige panel saw I'd certainly consider an MFT. It's just the price...