Adjustable-height Festool MFT

[Cary Swoveland]

I have had a couple of requests to post pics of my main workbench, a modified Festool MFT (Multifunction Table). Here they are:

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(If the resolution of the first pic were a little higher, it would show the top is about 80" long.)

I started with a Festool 1080, whose top is 28" x 45" ( http://www.festoolusa.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=9&prodid=492652# ).

To form the top of a bigger MFT, I removed the short sides and bought 2m (79") long front and back rails ( http://www.festoolusa.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProdID=488555&ID=9 ) and two more 1080 tops ( http://www.festoolusa.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProdID=489396&ID=9 ). The original long (45") rails become the side rails. Two of the three tops are used as is, the third has to be reduced in width a little.

For the base, I replaced the MFT folding legs in favour of the height-adjustable Noden Adjust-A-Bench base ( http://www.adjustabench.com/about.asp ).

Here's a pic of the base and underside of the top. You can see I've reinforced the top with aluminum angle iron.

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Other woodworkers who have made these large MFTs have used the original MFT folding legs, or have used fixed-height bases, such as those sold by Lee Valley ( http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=40575&cat=1,41637 ).

...continued in next post to this thread...

[Cary Swoveland]

...continued from post above.

It is often convenient to raise the bench for some joinery operations

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or lower it for assembly

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(These pics show the bench at its highest and lowest positions.) Height can be adjusted in increments of about one inch.

The main limitation of the bench is that it's really not suitable for hand planing or the heavy use of other hand tools. For those operatons I use a small, conventional (i.e., massive) bench that I built.

I expect there are other uses of my height-adjustable MFT that I haven't yet considered...

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Cary

[Dan Clark]

Cary,

Can you repost this on the Festool Owners Group (FOG) forum? There are a lot of Festool Owners who would be VERY interested in this!

Thanks,

Dan.

[Roy Wall]

Cary,

You've got a beautiful shop...nice Lathe and General (CA) DP!!

I notice you have the air hose and elec reel above the MFT. Now, I may be WAY off, but I thought I read on this forum about operating the coiled elec hose for extended periods can cause some "overheating/ melting" of the coiled wire itself....perhaps? If I am giving mis-information I apologize - just something to check out. I don't know how you are using the the reel cord in the first place.....just being cautious I suppose.......
Unwind the cord all the way for use....then reel back up for storage --- that is what is in my mind anyway.

[Jim Becker]

Thanks, Cary! As you may know, I'm an Adjust-A-Bench fan and owner as well an MFT owner. The combination is very interesting adaptation and yours is really great with it's increased size. Thanks for posting this thread with the details! BTW, I really like your clamp accommodation at the end of the bench...very handy placement!

[Cary Swoveland]

Cary,

Can you repost this on the Festool Owners Group (FOG) forum? There are a lot of Festool Owners who would be VERY interested in this!

Thanks,

Dan.
Thanks for the suggestion, Dan. I just did that. Cary

[Cary Swoveland]

...I thought I read on this forum about operating the coiled elec hose for extended periods can cause some "overheating/ melting" of the coiled wire itself....perhaps? If I am giving mis-information I apologize - just something to check out. I don't know how you are using the the reel cord in the first place.....just being cautious I suppose.......
Unwind the cord all the way for use....then reel back up for storage --- that is what is in my mind anyway.
That's a new one on my, Roy, but I can imagine why that might be true. I'm not worried, though. I rarely use that cord, and when I do I have it unwound a fair bit and don't use it long. Also, it's 14 gauge, so it shouldn't heat up as much as a smaller wire. I bought it from Lee Valley. I'd think if there were a potential problem there would be a warning message with the product.

Cary

[Cary Swoveland]

Thanks, Cary! As you may know, I'm an Adjust-A-Bench fan and owner as well an MFT owner. The combination is very interesting adaptation and yours is really great with it's increased size. Thanks for posting this thread with the details!...

When I had just the MFT 1080 I also had Lee Valley's large, conventional bench with front and tail clamps. The LV bench is very nice, but I found I was mainly using the MFT, and the two were together taking up an awful lot of room.

You'll recall that Jerry Work prepared a MFT guide for Festool a couple of years ago. In it he has a section on 2m-long MFTs. That got me to rethinking my needs. I sold my conventional bench and built the big MFT and the small, heavy bench I mentioned above. No regrets.


...I really like your clamp accommodation at the end of the bench...very handy placement!

Thanks, Jim. As you may have noticed, the clamps are held in place with a magnetic bar, and the assembly is held to the MFT rail with cam clamps, so I can move it different location on the MFT. I use those magnetic bars to hold most of my other clamps (e.g., Besseys) as well.

Cary

[Jason Creager]

Very cool table! Too bad the legs are $430.


Now, I may be WAY off, but I thought I read on this forum about operating the coiled elec hose for extended periods can cause some "overheating/ melting" of the coiled wire itself....perhaps?

If the wire's overheating, it's because the wire is being overloaded not because it's on a self retracting reel. In the theatres where I've worked, I've seen reels holding two hundred feet of wire carrying multiple 20A dimmed circuits. There were never any issues because the wire was properly sized and rated.

If coiled wire is getting hot enough to melt, then it's not appropriately sized or rated for the application and it's turning into the world's worst fuse. If the additional heat generated by it being wrapped in a coil is enough to push it over the edge, then you're running way too close (most likely past) the capacity of the wire.