No, I was
not acquired by Woodcraft, but a nice thought, none-the-less. I decided to copy the
Woodcraft catalog I just received to show the popularity of the Festool MFT worktables.
That is what you are looking at but with a new, very different router table top.
We have had two MFT tables here in the shop and love them, but they are badly
in need of under table storage. In addition, I want to be able to have them on casters so
that one or the other could be brought out to the center of the
shop.
By the way, if you like the router table top that is on top of a Festool MFT,
we will have one here to review in a couple of weeks. It sure looks neat.
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Old
friend Sal is visiting and he joins Elena in the shop — I get to direct and shoot
pics. Their first task is to remove the MFT's legs. We could have simply folded them down,
but I wanted them to be totally out of the way. I can always put them back later.
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It would be nice to be able to use the holes that fixed the legs but unfortunately, they
are on the other side of the bracket. Drilling new holes was surprisingly easy.
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This is the swivel set we will be using. I don't particularly like the small casters but
the unit has a foot on the other side that can be screwed down raising the a caster off
the floor and locking the MFT in position. You will see that we will make a remote leveler
out of this.
Sal and I made this sample so that we could develop a hole drilling template
and see how it worked. It is the Benchdog Cab-Loc Mobile Leveling System. I bought it at
my local Woodcraft, but I do not see it in their on-line catalog.
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Elena
measures the distance between the corner brackets so she can cut stock for the end
panels.
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She has
found some "scraps" of white melamine particle core board that she will cut to
exact sizes of the end panels.
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They use
3/8" bolts, washers and a locking nut to secure the end panel to the brackets of the
Festool MFT.
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Having
clamped the drilling jig in place, Sal drills holes for the caster set.
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With the
one end complete, it will be easy to complete the other end.
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And it is
done. Now Elena can take an accurate measurement of the space between the end panels.
These panels are mounted solidly and are totally square with the top, so we want an exact
measurement for the various structures that will be mounted in between.
At the same time, she will cut a "storypole" to this measurement
and that is what will be used to cut each of the pieces.
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She finds
a spare stick and marks the exact dimension of the inside between the ends. Why do this if
she has gotten a measurement? That is almost the answer — numbers have a way of
getting used incorrectly. This is a very important measurement. We will build the under
table cabinet to fit between the ends — ± Ø. You might argue that we do not do
anything "± Ø" in woodworking. True, but in this case, the steel table ends
are not going to move and if there is a gap between the cabinet and the ends, it is going
to require shims and they will weaken the cabinet so "± Ø" it is. And that is
why we are using the story stick.
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