Gregory, thanks very much for keeping this excellent video out there. I had moved three years ago and never got around to resetting my MFT. (Other projects). I found all my parts and reset the MFT. Everything is square again. Now on to my project, a perfectly rectangular backing for a frame to hold my Father’s hand-made star..
Thanks for this video Greg. It has been a while since I attended one of your classes and I was starting to get rusty because I have not had to set up my MFT. This video was perfect, great refresher.
I used your video to setup my new MFT3 last night. I was playing the video on an iPad and following along. For some reason, I thought I saw you put the fence clamp into the back of the table as opposed to the side. I spent the remainder of the night unable to get the darn thing square. Today, when I re-watch the video I saw that you put the clamp into the side of the table. Once I did that everything just worked. Thanks for making this video, it was a huge help! And for what it's worth, putting the clamp on the back rail doesn't work too well. ;)
FWIW - I set my MFT/3 up using this method; however, unfortunately this doesn't leave the fence or rail aligned with the bench dog holes. Perhaps this doesn't matter for you but I'd think we'd want everything in alignment with these holes for various use cases later on. The way I set mine up instead was to loosen the screw on the side of the miter gauge, put bench dogs behind the fence on each end, push the fence tight up against the dogs, and snug down the miter gauge and end stop lock. If you need the fence further back or further forward, you can place 2 bench dogs in front of and perpendicular to the fence, use a square/triangle, ensure it's square, and lock it down ... I used this to verify it was square. Afterwards, I placed 2 dogs parallel with the fence, set my square/triangle against the dogs and guide rail, and continued adjusting the front raiser piece until the guide rail was perfectly square. I then loosened the set screw the front raiser piece butts into, moved it tight against the front raiser piece, and locked it down. I then loosened the bolts on the guide rail to release any tension, tightened them back down, and made sure the guide rail remained square and verified the guide rail came down perfectly on the front raiser block pin. Now the fence and guide rail are square to each other and aligned with the bench dog holes so they can be used to cut 45 degree angle, and etc. Thanks for the video Greg, no disrespect, just another way of doing it I thought I'd share...
Completely agree that the fence and the track saw rail should be square and parallel to the bench dog holes. I often use two bench dogs as stops and then move my track saw guide rail to position my cut off length. This way I have two solid stops to locate my boards.
My problem with this set up method is that it disregards the geometry of the MFT-holes… Ideally one would have the rail and everything perpendicular and square to the holes. For that one just needs a couple of dogs (eg Parf dogs or Precision dogs). And there is no need for a square, expensive or not), apart from checking the result… : ) Cheers, Bert Vanderveen
This is a decent MFT/3 setup video (aside from squaring procedure). I honestly wish it was available when I tried to put mine together for the first time because I fumbled a bit with it. Unfortunately, the big red set up square promoted in this video is almost half the cost of the MFT/3 itself! Use the dog holes instead for squaring up the fence and guide rail. The square is already built into the table top.
Using this method, there is no guarantee that the fence and track are aligned with the dog holes. Kind of defeats the utility of the MFT. I own an MFT and the strength of the table is that the dog holes, fence and track maintain parallelism and perpendicularity to each other.
+123HURST What difference does that make? In my experience none. Squareness of the cut is in the method Mr. Paolini described. If choosing to use the dog holes to secure a board while cutting, their squareness to the fence is unimportant and unnecessary.
+heystarfish100 The difference is that the dog holes can no longer be relied upon as a workpiece reference to cut standard angles (30, 45 and 60 degrees). You have ignored capability for which you paid a lot of money. The MFT is not a small investment , ~$1305, when you consider the cost of the track saw it requires. It's a trivial five minute operation to reference both the fence and track to the dog holes and if you do that you don't even need the square to check if the fence and track are square (saving you $270). If you just want to use the MFT as a 90 degree cutting jig it will do that, but it's capable of much more.
I just spent a week with Greg in one of his Festool classes. All I have to say is WTF are you talking about? We had no problem building cabinets with his method. The only reason you'd use the dog holes is for clamping when making cross cuts, which is what the MFT was built for especially. Greg taught us that the dawg holes should not be relied upon only as accurate angle measures. I'm pretty sure Greg knows a shit load more than you do about the MFT considering he's a professional cabinet maker. Who TF are you?
Hi Christschool I stand by what I said. Using Greg's method will guarantee the fence and track are 90 degrees but does not guarantee either is parallel/perpendicular to the dog holes which is why he taught you not to rely upon them. Having the fence and track both perpendicular and parallel to the dog holes gives you additional cutting capability and accuracy and is why the MFT-3 is worth having. The dog holes are drilled by a CNC machine and are very accurately located for just that purpose. All you really need to align an MFT-3 is an inexpensive pair of Quas dogs or equivalent. I would point out that the video is by Woodpecker Inc. and I suspect it's purpose is to sell you that $270 square. As to who I am, I am an amateur woodworker with about 40 years of experience with no financial ax to grind.
123HURST Contact Festool and see who's correct. Greg is using the method recommended by the manufacturer and the manufacturer has clearly stated that the dog holes should not be used to square cross cuts. Greg's a certified Festool trainer and has been for a long time. Festool has a very rigorous program for their classes and Greg is the only one authorized outside the company to conduct Festool training. Festool doesn't just certify someone and then no longer have contact with them. Greg is audited every year. Also, this video, while for Woodpecker to sale their one time tool, it had to go through Festool before it was approved to be distributed. There is a reason Festool doesn't sell MFT dogs. Why do you think they don't?
I agree MrBigerock. I don't know if my $220 big red 26" aluminium framing square is "square" enough. Maybe i need to pay like 270 bucks to get square. I'm flabbergasted! Are they trying to line their pockets? Looks like R&D is running out of ideas???? I really like my red aluminium tools. I think they are well built and for the most part a good value . And wonder if Pasolini paid 270 bucks.....doubt it.
I have to agree with MrBigerock on this one. But one of the main points that is missed with this tool is why the mft is such a nice table. The dog holes! You can square the fence to the rail, sure. I don't see why you cant do this with a simple carpenters square, maybe with some scrap wood raising it a bit. But just because the fence and rail are square doesn't make them square to the CNC'd dog holes, and if you're going to use the dog holes for any kind of cuts, squareness isn't guaranteed. If you want to cut some material on a 45 degree angle, using dogs to achieve this is really easy. But if your fence/rail are skewed, you have no guarantee. The dog holes are what make the MFT so useful, to ignore them with respect to calibration is a bad idea. Obvious design change - square should have 3 dogs built into it (I know it could be two, but three seems better) that drop into the table. All one solid piece. Once dropped in the square becomes completely immobile, fixed into the dog holes, and the rail and fence get pulled into it which would square them both into each other AND the dog hole alignment. Problem with this is you would really be stuck with certain positions as far as where you set up your track and fence.
That was one of our OneTime tools that has been retired since 2015. We have a new phenolic one Here is a link to the newer one www.woodpeck.com/mft-layout-assembly-square-19.html
All that work then the track has play where the small tab enters, I will never understand why that has play and yes I know there is a product available to remove the play.
And the least costly table from Rob is $400 more than the MFT. I have and love his guide rail bracket set; his products are awesome. Comparing something that's $400+ more is kinda silly.
When you say things like "I am going to lock that there" when making some adjustment on the protactor, while the camera view is 6-8 ft away it is really hard to see what you are doing. Not sure what you did which is unfortunately the part I watched this video for. I know how hard it is to explain and demonstrate something technical with a fixed camera. You either zoom in for the detail and miss the big picture or provide the big picture at the expense of the detail. This time it was the latter. Thanks though.
I do not have the MFT table (yet) but all through the video I was thinking: "Why does he not use the dog holes?" This might do for getting the fence and rail square, but there is no guarantee it they then are also square in relation to the dog holes. If this video is only about promoting an overpriced piece of red aluminum, then that is a very sad purpose, sir!
Frustrating when the top sags significantly three days after it arrived. Wish they had something to support the top in the middle of the table to prevent this. Bummer.
I'm gonna assume you meant the rail is sagging when cutting narrow pieces. Just use a piece of scrap of the same thickness to support the sag. Doesn't cost anything.
Gregory, thanks very much for keeping this excellent video out there. I had moved three years ago and never got around to resetting my MFT. (Other projects). I found all my parts and reset the MFT. Everything is square again. Now on to my project, a perfectly rectangular backing for a frame to hold my Father’s hand-made star..
Thanks for this video Greg. It has been a while since I attended one of your classes and I was starting to get rusty because I have not had to set up my MFT. This video was perfect, great refresher.
I used your video to setup my new MFT3 last night. I was playing the video on an iPad and following along. For some reason, I thought I saw you put the fence clamp into the back of the table as opposed to the side. I spent the remainder of the night unable to get the darn thing square. Today, when I re-watch the video I saw that you put the clamp into the side of the table. Once I did that everything just worked. Thanks for making this video, it was a huge help! And for what it's worth, putting the clamp on the back rail doesn't work too well. ;)
FWIW - I set my MFT/3 up using this method; however, unfortunately this doesn't leave the fence or rail aligned with the bench dog holes. Perhaps this doesn't matter for you but I'd think we'd want everything in alignment with these holes for various use cases later on.
The way I set mine up instead was to loosen the screw on the side of the miter gauge, put bench dogs behind the fence on each end, push the fence tight up against the dogs, and snug down the miter gauge and end stop lock. If you need the fence further back or further forward, you can place 2 bench dogs in front of and perpendicular to the fence, use a square/triangle, ensure it's square, and lock it down ... I used this to verify it was square.
Afterwards, I placed 2 dogs parallel with the fence, set my square/triangle against the dogs and guide rail, and continued adjusting the front raiser piece until the guide rail was perfectly square. I then loosened the set screw the front raiser piece butts into, moved it tight against the front raiser piece, and locked it down. I then loosened the bolts on the guide rail to release any tension, tightened them back down, and made sure the guide rail remained square and verified the guide rail came down perfectly on the front raiser block pin.
Now the fence and guide rail are square to each other and aligned with the bench dog holes so they can be used to cut 45 degree angle, and etc.
Thanks for the video Greg, no disrespect, just another way of doing it I thought I'd share...
Completely agree that the fence and the track saw rail should be square and parallel to the bench dog holes. I often use two bench dogs as stops and then move my track saw guide rail to position my cut off length. This way I have two solid stops to locate my boards.
My problem with this set up method is that it disregards the geometry of the MFT-holes… Ideally one would have the rail and everything perpendicular and square to the holes. For that one just needs a couple of dogs (eg Parf dogs or Precision dogs). And there is no need for a square, expensive or not), apart from checking the result… : )
Cheers,
Bert Vanderveen
Bert, the dog holes are not milled to the same precision as the protractor and Festool does not recommend using them in the way you stated.
This is a decent MFT/3 setup video (aside from squaring procedure). I honestly wish it was available when I tried to put mine together for the first time because I fumbled a bit with it. Unfortunately, the big red set up square promoted in this video is almost half the cost of the MFT/3 itself! Use the dog holes instead for squaring up the fence and guide rail. The square is already built into the table top.
Thanks for a great and easy to understand instructions video.
Using this method, there is no guarantee that the fence and track are aligned with the dog holes. Kind of defeats the utility of the MFT. I own an MFT and the strength of the table is that the dog holes, fence and track maintain parallelism and perpendicularity to each other.
+123HURST What difference does that make? In my experience none. Squareness of the cut is in the method Mr. Paolini described. If choosing to use the dog holes to secure a board while cutting, their squareness to the fence is unimportant and unnecessary.
+heystarfish100 The difference is that the dog holes can no longer be relied upon as a workpiece reference to cut standard angles (30, 45 and 60 degrees). You have ignored capability for which you paid a lot of money. The MFT is not a small investment , ~$1305, when you consider the cost of the track saw it requires. It's a trivial five minute operation to reference both the fence and track to the dog holes and if you do that you don't even need the square to check if the fence and track are square (saving you $270). If you just want to use the MFT as a 90 degree cutting jig it will do that, but it's capable of much more.
I just spent a week with Greg in one of his Festool classes. All I have to say is WTF are you talking about? We had no problem building cabinets with his method. The only reason you'd use the dog holes is for clamping when making cross cuts, which is what the MFT was built for especially. Greg taught us that the dawg holes should not be relied upon only as accurate angle measures. I'm pretty sure Greg knows a shit load more than you do about the MFT considering he's a professional cabinet maker. Who TF are you?
Hi Christschool
I stand by what I said. Using Greg's method will guarantee the fence and track are 90 degrees but does not guarantee either is parallel/perpendicular to the dog holes which is why he taught you not to rely upon them. Having the fence and track both perpendicular and parallel to the dog holes gives you additional cutting capability and accuracy and is why the MFT-3 is worth having. The dog holes are drilled by a CNC machine and are very accurately located for just that purpose. All you really need to align an MFT-3 is an inexpensive pair of Quas dogs or equivalent. I would point out that the video is by Woodpecker Inc. and I suspect it's purpose is to sell you that $270 square. As to who I am, I am an amateur woodworker with about 40 years of experience with no financial ax to grind.
123HURST Contact Festool and see who's correct. Greg is using the method recommended by the manufacturer and the manufacturer has clearly stated that the dog holes should not be used to square cross cuts. Greg's a certified Festool trainer and has been for a long time. Festool has a very rigorous program for their classes and Greg is the only one authorized outside the company to conduct Festool training. Festool doesn't just certify someone and then no longer have contact with them. Greg is audited every year. Also, this video, while for Woodpecker to sale their one time tool, it had to go through Festool before it was approved to be distributed. There is a reason Festool doesn't sell MFT dogs. Why do you think they don't?
Brilliant, better than the festool video
Great vid!
I agree MrBigerock. I don't know if my $220 big red 26" aluminium framing square is "square" enough. Maybe i need to pay like 270 bucks to get square. I'm flabbergasted! Are they trying to line their pockets? Looks like R&D is running out of ideas???? I really like my red aluminium tools. I think they are well built and for the most part a good value . And wonder if Pasolini paid 270 bucks.....doubt it.
Greg, another great video, thank you. I just have a 10" contractor table saw, will the MFT table be precise enough for making cabinets?
I have to agree with MrBigerock on this one. But one of the main points that is missed with this tool is why the mft is such a nice table. The dog holes! You can square the fence to the rail, sure. I don't see why you cant do this with a simple carpenters square, maybe with some scrap wood raising it a bit. But just because the fence and rail are square doesn't make them square to the CNC'd dog holes, and if you're going to use the dog holes for any kind of cuts, squareness isn't guaranteed. If you want to cut some material on a 45 degree angle, using dogs to achieve this is really easy. But if your fence/rail are skewed, you have no guarantee. The dog holes are what make the MFT so useful, to ignore them with respect to calibration is a bad idea.
Obvious design change - square should have 3 dogs built into it (I know it could be two, but three seems better) that drop into the table. All one solid piece. Once dropped in the square becomes completely immobile, fixed into the dog holes, and the rail and fence get pulled into it which would square them both into each other AND the dog hole alignment. Problem with this is you would really be stuck with certain positions as far as where you set up your track and fence.
Where do I purchase the square you’re using?
That was one of our OneTime tools that has been retired since 2015. We have a new phenolic one
Here is a link to the newer one
www.woodpeck.com/mft-layout-assembly-square-19.html
Of paolini ruler fame?!?
That's the guy.
I had to stop when he started talking about calibrating the protractor head...I'm going to use bench dogs in the holes with a TSO square.
Hit that stop!
All that work then the track has play where the small tab enters, I will never understand why that has play and yes I know there is a product available to remove the play.
Mft3 is so 2015. “Dashboard portable workshop” does laps around Festool’s MFT3.
And the least costly table from Rob is $400 more than the MFT. I have and love his guide rail bracket set; his products are awesome. Comparing something that's $400+ more is kinda silly.
Question, you do know what the holes on an MFT table are for, you seem to have missed the point lol so funny
When you say things like "I am going to lock that there" when making some adjustment on the protactor, while the camera view is 6-8 ft away it is really hard to see what you are doing. Not sure what you did which is unfortunately the part I watched this video for. I know how hard it is to explain and demonstrate something technical with a fixed camera. You either zoom in for the detail and miss the big picture or provide the big picture at the expense of the detail. This time it was the latter. Thanks though.
I do not have the MFT table (yet) but all through the video I was thinking: "Why does he not use the dog holes?" This might do for getting the fence and rail square, but there is no guarantee it they then are also square in relation to the dog holes.
If this video is only about promoting an overpriced piece of red aluminum, then that is a very sad purpose, sir!
Frustrating when the top sags significantly three days after it arrived. Wish they had something to support the top in the middle of the table to prevent this. Bummer.
I'm gonna assume you meant the rail is sagging when cutting narrow pieces. Just use a piece of scrap of the same thickness to support the sag. Doesn't cost anything.