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I made my own table tops (3) that are 29" x 45". The holes are 4" on center.
I screwed down a sheet of peg board on the MDF sheeds and drilled pilot holes using a VIX bit. I then followed up by drilling 3/4" holes using a 3/4" auger bit.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009O...UTF8&psc=1
And a 3/4" bushing mounted in a plywood sheet for squareness.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RL...UTF8&psc=1
The hole placement was nearly perfect on each sheet. But I had alignment issues with one hole on one sheet and two holes on the other two sheets. I've marked the out of aligment holes. I can use the rest of them for squaring purposes.
It took well over an hour to drill out the holes (and a half an hour to clean up afterwards. But I got two table tops from each sheet. Two of the sheets were backed up with masonite during the drilling operations and both sides are useful. The first top was done without the masonite and there was a considerable amount of breakthrough on the holes. It is still usable, but ugly.
I really don't know how the alignment became an issue. I did not check the pilot holes for aligment before drilling. So I don't know if the error (about 1/16" in one direction) was from the pilot hole drilling or from the 3/4" hole drilling. I still think is should have been perfect.
I added peg board to 3 sides of my bench and a bottom shelf for storage. The peg board and shelf conspire to make these tables very rigid and stable.
The third one I use as an outfeed table and I have peg board on the back and one side and a piece of 3/4 MDF for the other side. I drilled 1/2" holes in the MDF and glued short lengths of dowels into those holes. They now hold my saw blades and dado blades. Also my saw inserts and misc. accessories.
If money was no issue, I would have purchased three MFT tables. My result is entirely satisfactory, but not at all portable.
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.
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(04-02-2019, 09:36 AM)Mr Eddie Wrote: Hi Doug,
Personally, I still have my regular bench. Although I've wanted a clamping setup for some time I couldn't bring myself to 'swiss cheese' my bench. And the new setup worked out better as I gained additional work space. But there are woodworkers who only use a MFT style bench. Here's a PDF of a guy who has completely converted to using MFT for all of his work. It's a very informative article and worth the time to read it. He is shop based so he has upgraded all of his tables to much larger and sturdier setups.
https://service.festoolusa.com/media/pdf..._table.pdf
Yes, that's a flat screen on the wall of my shop. My company used to rent TVs as part of the services we offered at a local Expo Center. The new owner wasn't interested in TV rentals so there's a nice sized flat screen TV in the living room, my shop, and we gave one to our BIL so he can watch his Cub games.
Lonnie
PS That Bosch jig saw I bought from you a few years back went to my daughter's shop this past weekend - still working fine!
Hi Lonnie,
I did not know this Festool style clamping table existed - news to me! I've wanted to drill a few holes for clamping in my old workbench (built many years ago following the plans in Woodsmith #50). Even bought Veritas hold-down and bench dogs. After all these years (15+) the bench is in need of some repair so maybe when I fix it I'll add some strategic holes for clamping. I've also threatened to build an assembly table for some time now. I like the design of the one you built; it looks sturdy and is a good size for my shop.
A few questions:
1) Does the top have any support underneath, other than on the perimeter?
2) If not, is there any deflection in the middle?
3) Did you have to make any height adjustments for it to double as an outfeed table for your saw?
After replacing one of the flatscreen TV's in the house with a larger one a couple of years ago, we wound up with an "extra."
 It now hangs on a wall in my shop - can't miss those college football games in the fall! Glad your daughter's getting good use out of that jig saw. I just used the Bosch that replaced it in the shop yesterday!
Again, great job on the table!
Doug
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Why not do one of those Paulk style tools on a fixed base?
"Life is too short for bad tools.".-- Pedder 7/22/11
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04-03-2019, 09:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-03-2019, 09:44 PM by Mr Eddie.)
(04-02-2019, 05:32 PM)Tapper Wrote: Hi Lonnie,
I did not know this Festool style clamping table existed - news to me! I've wanted to drill a few holes for clamping in my old workbench (built many years ago following the plans in Woodsmith #50). Even bought Veritas hold-down and bench dogs. After all these years (15+) the bench is in need of some repair so maybe when I fix it I'll add some strategic holes for clamping. I've also threatened to build an assembly table for some time now. I like the design of the one you built; it looks sturdy and is a good size for my shop.
A few questions:
1) Does the top have any support underneath, other than on the perimeter?
2) If not, is there any deflection in the middle?
3) Did you have to make any height adjustments for it to double as an outfeed table for your saw?
After replacing one of the flatscreen TV's in the house with a larger one a couple of years ago, we wound up with an "extra."
It now hangs on a wall in my shop - can't miss those college football games in the fall! Glad your daughter's getting good use out of that jig saw. I just used the Bosch that replaced it in the shop yesterday!
Again, great job on the table!
Doug Doug,
I should have been clearer in my original post about the MFT top I used. Festool sells replacement tops for their MFT tables. IIRC they offer three sizes: Standard size for the current model table, a slightly different size for the earliest tables they offered (MFT 1080?), and a smaller size for the Kapex table.
There is no center support for the top. It's not needed. The long rails on my table have just over a 2" wide lip for the top to rest on. The shorter end rails are about 1 3/4" wide. The outer edge of the top sits directly over the metal rail of the table. The metal rails are 1" wide. In the picture below, I xxxed out the area where the rails are so you can understand what I'm talking about. I also climbed my big butt (185 lbs) up on top of the table to see if it would deflect. It didn't deflect but it did squash the legs down into the floor mats enough that I had to readjust the height of the legs!
The legs will adjust from 31" to 39" so no problem getting it to sit level with the table saw. Here's a pic of the legs so you can see how they work:
Also, here's a couple of pictures of the sliding dust covers I installed so stuff doesn't fall through the holes into the storage are. This makes it easy if you need to move them so you can gain access directly below the top.
Lonnie
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(04-02-2019, 01:53 PM)Cooler Wrote: I made my own table tops (3) that are 29" x 45". The holes are 4" on center.
I screwed down a sheet of peg board on the MDF sheeds and drilled pilot holes using a VIX bit. I then followed up by drilling 3/4" holes using a 3/4" auger bit.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009O...UTF8&psc=1
And a 3/4" bushing mounted in a plywood sheet for squareness.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RL...UTF8&psc=1
The hole placement was nearly perfect on each sheet. But I had alignment issues with one hole on one sheet and two holes on the other two sheets. I've marked the out of aligment holes. I can use the rest of them for squaring purposes.
It took well over an hour to drill out the holes (and a half an hour to clean up afterwards. But I got two table tops from each sheet. Two of the sheets were backed up with masonite during the drilling operations and both sides are useful. The first top was done without the masonite and there was a considerable amount of breakthrough on the holes. It is still usable, but ugly.
I really don't know how the alignment became an issue. I did not check the pilot holes for aligment before drilling. So I don't know if the error (about 1/16" in one direction) was from the pilot hole drilling or from the 3/4" hole drilling. I still think is should have been perfect.
I added peg board to 3 sides of my bench and a bottom shelf for storage. The peg board and shelf conspire to make these tables very rigid and stable.
The third one I use as an outfeed table and I have peg board on the back and one side and a piece of 3/4 MDF for the other side. I drilled 1/2" holes in the MDF and glued short lengths of dowels into those holes. They now hold my saw blades and dado blades. Also my saw inserts and misc. accessories.
If money was no issue, I would have purchased three MFT tables. My result is entirely satisfactory, but not at all portable. Hi Cooler,
I looked at a lot of different ways to drill the holes but in the end went with the Festool top. I really wanted the holes to be dead on. After looking at the cost for material and finding a cnc guy it was the easiest and not much more than doing it myself. However, if I was in your position and doing three tops I probably would have gone a different route.
Lonnie
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04-03-2019, 09:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-03-2019, 09:57 PM by Mr Eddie.)
(04-02-2019, 07:59 PM)Scott W Wrote: Why not do one of those Paulk style tools on a fixed base?
Scott,
I considered that as there are some nice Paulk style tables out there. For me, time was a big factor. Also, the size of the MFT replacement top was perfect for the space I had.
If you're interested in the Paulk table here's a link to a really well executed portable top. It was designed by Steve Olson, owner of Rise Construction in San Francisco.
http://www.multifunctionslab.com/
Lonnie
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(04-03-2019, 09:52 PM)Mr Eddie Wrote: Scott,
I considered that as there are some nice Paulk style tables out there. For me, time was a big factor. Also, the size of the MFT replacement top was perfect for the space I had.
If you're interested in the Paulk table here's a link to a really well executed portable top. It was designed by Steve Olson, owner of Rise Construction in San Francisco.
http://www.multifunctionslab.com/
Lonnie
I would say that adding the peg board and the 1/2" dowels to hold the saw blades was the best part of my outfeed design. I rarely use it for any assembly work, so all that drilling was for nothing. But having everything handy on the outfeed table helped organize the shop. The other two tables do get used for assembly so that was handy. I also have a welding table with perfectly located holes, but not the 3/4" size so none of the pegs will fit. I have to use welding fixtures instead.
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.
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(04-03-2019, 09:01 PM)Mr Eddie Wrote: Doug,
I should have been clearer in my original post about the MFT top I used. Festool sells replacement tops for their MFT tables. IIRC they offer three sizes: Standard size for the current model table, a slightly different size for the earliest tables they offered (MFT 1080?), and a smaller size for the Kapex table.
There is no center support for the top. It's not needed. The long rails on my table have just over a 2" wide lip for the top to rest on. The shorter end rails are about 1 3/4" wide. The outer edge of the top sits directly over the metal rail of the table. The metal rails are 1" wide. In the picture below, I xxxed out the area where the rails are so you can understand what I'm talking about. I also climbed my big butt (185 lbs) up on top of the table to see if it would deflect. It didn't deflect but it did squash the legs down into the floor mats enough that I had to readjust the height of the legs!
The legs will adjust from 31" to 39" so no problem getting it to sit level with the table saw. Here's a pic of the legs so you can see how they work:
Also, here's a couple of pictures of the sliding dust covers I installed so stuff doesn't fall through the holes into the storage are. This makes it easy if you need to move them so you can gain access directly below the top.
Lonnie
Hi Lonnie,
Thanks for the additional pics and again, a very nice job! I'm working on the "build-out" of my basement shop right now. When I get around to repairing my WW workbench, I'll probably drill a couple of strategic holes in the top just to see how they work with the hold-down and dogs I bought from Lee Valley.
Since I'm tight on space, I've considered building one of those hinged outfeed tables for my cabinet saw. With that design it would be able to go with the saw when I need to move it (saw on caster set).
Doug
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