Question for Festool MFT owners

[Brian Dormer]

OK - I know this will sound crazy - but has anyone taken the Festool "clamping elements (488030)" from an MFT and tried to put them in on a standard workbench (with 3/4" dog holes)?

Festool says the MFT is drilled at 20 mm - which is .78 inches or so. Pretty close to .75 inches.

I'm debating - should I get Veritas Wonder Pups or Festool Clamping Elements?

This would be my first step down the Festool slippery slope. It's going to be a long while before I can justify a $400 drill or a $500 circular saw.

[Dave Falkenstein]

The 20 mm hole in a Festool MFT is .7874" (closer to .79"). The difference between 3/4" and .7874" is a little more than 1/32". A 3/4" clamp will easily fit into a 20 mm hole. I use several 3/4" clamping accessories on my MFT. But, sorry to say, a 20 mm clamp will not fit into a 3/4" hole. Unfortunately, the Clampling Elements fit quite snugly in the MFT.

[john tomljenovic]

I have both the Veritas Wonder Pups and the festool version and I go for the festools every time, they are just quicker to operate. with the veritas you are turning that clamp forever. the only downer with the festools, is that they are not very good for stock thinner than 3/4".

the festools won't fit in a 3/4 'er 19mm hole. it is just 1 mm too small. you either have to enlarge your dog holes or if you have a machinist friend w/ lathe turn down the 488030's posts to fit. I think it would be very possible .

[Brian Dormer]

I have both the Veritas Wonder Pups and the festool version and I go for the festools every time, they are just quicker to operate. with the veritas you are turning that clamp forever. the only downer with the festools, is that they are not very good for stock thinner than 3/4".

the festools won't fit in a 3/4 'er 19mm hole. it is just 1 mm too small. you either have to enlarge your dog holes or if you have a machinist friend w/ lathe turn down the 488030's posts to fit. I think it would be very possible .

The 3/4" (19-20mm if you are metric) height did cross my mind as an issue. I know that the veritas are only 3/8" high. As for machining the posts.... Hmmm.... That's a possibility. Are they plastic or metal?

I may need to go see them firsthand to see how difficult a modification would be. Then again - I haven't drilled my dog holes yet... I wonder where I could find a 20mm bit?

[EDIT]
Rockler has a 20mm forstner bit as part of their "JIG IT" line (so you can get it with a drill guide that ensures a straight hole). AND over at WoodShopDemos.COM, there's some info on the MFT - he shows that 20mm holes work fine with 3/4 accessories. 20mm dog holes are looking better all the time.
[END EDIT]

[Dave Falkenstein]

The 3/4" (19-20mm if you are metric) height did cross my mind as an issue. I know that the veritas are only 3/8" high. As for machining the posts.... Hmmm.... That's a possibility. Are they plastic or metal?...

The Clamping Elements have a plastic 20 mm post.

When sanding material thinner than 3/4" use a spacer under the material to raise it up above the top of the Clamping Elements.

I also have the Wonder Pups, and almost never use them. Cranking makes me cranky. :)

[john tomljenovic]

Brian, if you have not board your dog holes yet then I would just go 20mm and everything else should still work. although I don't know if I would utilize a forstner bit as they don't have good chip ejection. I noticed my local woodcraft carries metric auger bits. prolly a better choice.

I would look closely at the pattern the MFT uses, I know it is alot of holes. but I find the pattern really useful.

[Brian Dormer]

John,

My original plan was to drill dog holes using a 3/4" upcut spiral bit in a plunge router. Good chip ejection AND way more horsepower than my "Big Bertha" 1/2" drill (rarely used, but when you need it - you need it BAAD). BUT NOW.... I'm starting to seriously consider 20mm dog holes.

I haven't seen too many 20mm upcut spiral router bits. The only contender so far is about $345 A tad pricey for one bit.

I agree that a forstner bit wouldn't be my first choice. However, another Creeker reported that s/he used one of those Rockler jig/bits to drill dog holes with great success. Considering that I'm looking at about 40 dog holes (my bench plan looks similar to the Veritas bench) - and I'll only do this ONCE .... I can probably get away with a forstner. It will be slower than the router - but I think the results may be worth it.

An alternate option would be to drill a shallow starter hole with the forstner to establish the path for the bit - switch to the plunge router to hog out most of the wood, then finish up the hole with the forstner.

I will probably experiment a bit on some scrap to see what technique works best.

[ralph fowler]

How about using a standard 1/2 top bearing pattern bit to enlarge the 3/4 bored holes? You would need to create a template with 20 mm holes. Your could even set up a grid of several 20 mm holes in a baltic birch plywood template.

Ralph

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

I did mine with Fostner bit,did not have any problem on veritas bench. I did not drill all holes to accomodate 20 mm, left some with old size. All 20 mm I did mark with black marker inside the hole. Work well so far.