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(12-26-2022, 10:56 AM)Woodenfish Wrote: The MFT table was designed to be brought to a job site for various projects and accomplishes its intent well. Although not a necessity in a fully equipped workshop it is still very nice for woodworkers who have limited space. When I first looked at it I thought it was a Workmate on steroids. I came to appreciate it more by Peter Millard and a few other European woodworkers usage of it.
I added one to my unheated garage woodworking shop where I can only do my crafts in the warmer months. Throughout the year my 3 car garage has to store my car, two motorcycles, all my shop equipment, machines, supplies, various shop vacuums, materials, large Snap On tool box, floor jack, motorcycle jack, jack stands and more. Having a large folding work surface that has many capabilities has been a blessing. Although I would love to have a traditional woodworkers bench I just don’t have the space. The MFT has been a fantastic addition to my work and I would not be able to do many of the things I need and want to do so easily.
This thread is quite old now and I wonder what the original poster has chosen to do?
I have avoided getting an MFT. most of my work is in my heated and cooled 30x60 shop, so I don’t need a portable bench like the MFT.
I have a df500 domino, a couple festool sanders, and 2 of their vacuums as well, in addition to a dewalt track saw so I really appreciate the ingenious design of well thought out tools, but when they are designed for a workflow other than mine, like the MFT purchasing doesn’t seem to make sense.
Duke
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There are three articles (so far) on my website regarding my WIP of a MFT.
Go to this Index page and scroll to the bottom:
http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Powered%20T...index.html
Regards from Perth
Derek
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Duke
You made a great point about workflow and mft.
Simon
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In a YouTube video completely unrelated to woodworking, the personality made the statement
" This is a hobby. There is no best way. Whatever puts the biggest smile on your face is right for you".
Words to live by IMO.
I'm a pretty big festool fan, but I don't have nor want an MFT.
I do favor the festool track over a home built solution because of how well it works with festool routers. And I'm sticking with my festool tracks because I had them long before they had any competition in that space, and I haven't seen any improvements dramatic enough to cause me to reconsider.
I did recently pick up a used festool carpentry saw with the mini spring loaded track, and I like that a LOT!
You are frequently puzzled by things you tell us you fully understand. - Bob10 to EH 9/22/16
Too much has been made out of my mostly idle comments - Cletus 12/9/15
You sound like one of those survivalist, hoarder, tin foil hat, militia, clinger, wackjobs. - Fear Monger 1/30/13
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I like to leave a ripping blade on my tablesaw as much as possible and use the Festool track saw for sheet goods and cross-cutting stock wider than my mitersaw can handle. The MFT handles that quite well.
Any free advice given is worth double price paid.
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I have been debating a trac saw go back and forth several times a day. I have a centipede that I have 2x's that I added dowels to quickly setup. Back the truck up, slide the sheet out and get the cutting jig out. Break the sheet down close but use the TS to final cut.
Works for me. Still argue a trac with myself, but there are many ways to complete a task. It's a hobby and how I go about it makes me happy.
Roger
Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of Jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your rear tomorrow.
9-11 Never forget
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I agree that MFT doesn’t offer much in a well equipped shop. Its main use is away from shop, onsite work. I once owned an MFT and learned the hard way that it is very finicky to get square cuts with it. I purchased it to make wider crosscuts more accurately than one could make on a cabinet saw without a sled. It proved to be not very accurate. It was better to mark the panel and cut to the line over the foam board. I sold it off and haven’t missed it one bit for my use.
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(01-09-2023, 09:13 PM)wrb Wrote: I agree that MFT doesn’t offer much in a well equipped shop. Its main use is away from shop, onsite work. I once owned an MFT and learned the hard way that it is very finicky to get square cuts with it. I purchased it to make wider crosscuts more accurately than one could make on a cabinet saw without a sled. It proved to be not very accurate. It was better to mark the panel and cut to the line over the foam board. I sold it off and haven’t missed it one bit for my use.
That sounds like your set up needed a proper calibration and not the fault of the equipment. Not everyone will get instant gratification without performing a few simple checks and adjustments. The whole tracksaw and MFT was designed for high accuracy, repeatability with excellent quality of cut.
Any free advice given is worth double price paid.
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Certainly true that machines or setups need to be tuned up to deliver the desired results. But the mft/tracksaw combo is notoriously finicky to get tuned. I can't even count the no of times the mft cutting problems were brought up for discussion and the no of third party accessories that were suggested as part of the solution in the fog forum. There seems to be 2 groups of mft owners there.......those who love it, and those who resort to using it mostly as a work or assembly table.
Simon
