MFT - wossit all about?

[Spectric]

Yes I can see where Jacob and Daniel are coming from as I have been there and like them could not see where having lots of holes in my workbench would help, but could forsee crawling around under the bench gathering items that had fallen through.

It took some time but looking at the Hooked on wood site made a difference, just holes was not for me but holes and microjig slots is another ball game, the holes allow for alignment and slots for clamping but not directly in my workbench, I use tops that sit on my workbench. I now have a good solution for aligning and clamping but do not use my tracksaw on the system, just as easy standalone.

 

[Lonsdale73]

 

[Jacob]

That's a bit reductionist. Your tablesaw is just a table with a slidey bit and a circular saw - it doesn't even have the bit of MDF...

No - one of the vids shows the table being really wobbly like a paste table. You couldn't plane or saw on it.

 

[Spectric]

@MikeK very neat and tidy workshop, see you have the Woodpecker one time dial gauge sitting there which is a nice solid tool.

That shop is so clean and tidy you could live in it , do you have a bed tucked away in there!

 

[Adam W.]

No - one of the vids shows the table being really wobbly like a paste table. You couldn't plane or saw on it.

My bold.
That's not the point dude. Where's the facepalm emoji ?

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

No - one of the vids shows the table being really wobbly like a paste table. You couldn't plane or saw on it.

Why would you? You don't fry eggs on your tablesaw.

 

[Adam W.]

 

[Jacob]

Thanks for that. Says it all really. Not for me. Some expensive kit there!

 

[Jacob]

Why would you? You don't fry eggs on your tablesaw.

Frying eggs isn't woodwork.

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

Frying eggs isn't woodwork.

Planing and handsawing aren't what an MFT is for.

 

[Jacob]

My bold.
That's not the point dude. Where's the facepalm emoji ?

2 of the vids showed people planing bits and bobs, with difficulty! Dropped in dogs, cam levers , packing pieces etc. And there are general hints about other uses.
It's OK I've got it it's for repeated cuts of man-made board.

 

[MikeK]

@MikeK very neat and tidy workshop, see you have the Woodpecker one time dial gauge sitting there which is a nice solid tool.

The gauge is the Multi-Gauge by Oneway. The frame is cast iron and is one of the two dial gauges I use in my shop for alignment. The other gauge is an inexpensive dial gauge on a magnetic base.

That shop is so clean and tidy you could live in it , do you have a bed tucked away in there!

Thank you. This comes from a life-long habit of cleaning up and storing tools at the end of every shift. This was a requirement in the military to make sure all tools were accounted for and not left in a piece of equipment. There used to be a full-size couch, but I moved that into my wife's music room next door to make room for the computer table.

 

[Adam W.]

2 of the vids showed people planing bits and bobs, with difficulty! Dropped in dogs, cam levers , packing pieces etc. And there are general hints about other uses.
It's OK I've got it it's for repeated cuts of man-made board.

I didn't bother to watch the videos.

 

[Jacob]

I didn't bother to watch the videos.

I couldn't tear myself away.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I hadn't seen an MFT in action before. Lots of food for thought - even though I only do sheet work occassionally, the time saved and accuracy (square and dimensions) improvement with a tracksaw or router would be worthwhile.

At £40 for a sheet + possibly the same again for a few dogs and clamps it may be worthwhile even for occassional use. Due to space constraints would need to be mountable/demountable from the top of my existing workbench - probably an easy fix.

 

[DBT85]

At £40 for a sheet + possibly the same again for a few dogs and clamps it may be worthwhile even for occassional use. Due to space constraints would need to be mountable/demountable from the top of my existing workbench - probably an easy fix.

Terry, this is why many of us have it in some kind of assembly table or outfield table or whatever, it's just there when you need it and when you don't, it's still fine for many other tasks. One might say it was multifunctional.

 

[Droogs]

I divided my workshop into two areas. The original 5x4.5 meter area has all of the large chip producing equipment that connects to the fixed dust collection system, such as the table saw, bandsaw, router table, and miter saw. The newer 5x4.5 meter area has my woodworking bench, MFT-style workbench, and all of my Festool equipment that connect to the portable dust collection system.

I use everything on some projects and would never consider eliminating one in favor of another. I could live without the Minimax SC2 Classic sliding saw now, but before I built the MFT-style workbench, it was my primary saw for lumber and sheet goods. I would have loved a combination slider like Jacob has, but it would never fit down the stairs into my basement. I had to disassemble the SC2C, and it barely fit around the corners.

The new section of my shop is in a bit of a mess now, as I am in the middle of a major rebuild of my P/T, but here is an image that shows peaceful co-existence of the Sjöbergs workbench and my MFT-style workbench.


View attachment 123073


I can easily and quickly transition the MFT workbench from a tracksaw station to an assembly or work surface by removing the FS 1400/2 track and lowering the track guides. I have a storage area above my clamp rack to store a FS 3000/2, FS 1400/2LR-32, and two FS 800/2 tracks. The FS 1400/2 and fence that goes with the MFT workbench stows in the space under the worktop when not being used.


View attachment 123074

You got to love German Dungeons. I miss my Kellar

 

[Hornbeam]

I'm a bit with Jacob on this one. I totally get the tracksaw for cutting sheet materials and particularly faced boards but for most people doing non repetitive cuts I cant see it. If I need to cut something at 90 degrees I can set the rail at 90', My biggest use of a track saw is to break down 8 X 4 sheets. Once in half for repetitive \I would use the TS even for laminates, If I want to use an MFT to cut a board up the outer row odf dog holes has to be outside the dimensions of the sheet being cut. I just couldnt justify the space

 

[TRITON]

II always thought those wee holes were too ideal for the countersink to fall through.

 

[pgrbff]

Sorry Jacob,....But that's just not good enough!! The finish achieved by a normal table saw when cutting this type of material is nowhere near the quality that can be achieved by a tracksaw or router.
A panel saw with a scribing blade, Yes.....But not a standard table saw!

I dont understand. Why does the panel saw need a scribing blade and the MFT doesn't to achieve the same finish? I have always been under the impression a scribing blade produced cleaner cuts where laminate was involved.