I am about to buy a track saw and after lots of research I have decided on the Mafell, BUT, I really want to create a set up similar to the Festoool MFT with a shortish guide ral permannetly fitted to a hinge that fips down into postion over the MFT. I can't find anyone that sells a suitable hinge and receiver mechanism unless I but the whole Festool MFT with accessories st circa £700, just so I can throw away the festool guide rail! What I would really like to do is make my own 2.4m x 1.2m MFT table and fit a hinged guide rail, but the accuracy of the hinge is absolutely crucila to being able to get accurate, repeateable cuts. I can't imagine I am the first persoj to think about how to achieve this with a Mafell so I am hooing someone out there has aklready balzed a trail I can follow? All good ideas gratefully received.
Mafell Track Saw flip up guide rail
- Thread starter jonw1664
- Start date
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Doug71
Established Member
I'm sure I remember seeing someone else who makes a hinge system but think it was American, maybe have a look on the Festool owners group?
You can buy all the MFT parts you need separately, look at Festool Ekat, think you will find the MFT under workplace organisation.
https://ekat.festool.de/login/jsp/m...=Kunde-FT_GB&password=Customer&design=festool
You can buy all the MFT parts you need separately, look at Festool Ekat, think you will find the MFT under workplace organisation.
https://ekat.festool.de/login/jsp/m...=Kunde-FT_GB&password=Customer&design=festool
pe2dave
Established Member
pe2dave
Established Member
Has this forum ever done a collaborative design?
I've seen some cracking ideas here, surely this isn't beyond the group?
Major issues:
* The sliding adjustment for different thicknesses - call it a riser.
* Fastening some form of hinge to the track (different track designs)
* A front 'lock? Again adjustable height wise, to set a true 90 for the track when lowered.
* Fastening the riser to 'my' MFT, since we're likely to have various designed MFTs.
Just a thought.
I've seen some cracking ideas here, surely this isn't beyond the group?
Major issues:
* The sliding adjustment for different thicknesses - call it a riser.
* Fastening some form of hinge to the track (different track designs)
* A front 'lock? Again adjustable height wise, to set a true 90 for the track when lowered.
* Fastening the riser to 'my' MFT, since we're likely to have various designed MFTs.
Just a thought.
Doug B
Shy Tot
You can use the Mafell saw on the Festool rail if that helps
TheTiddles
Established Member
I think I would struggle to make a short hinge that held perfect registration on the end of a lever 1.2m long, in fact I wouldn’t try.
If it’s out by, say 1mm it’s no use? That’s an angular accuracy of less than 1/20 of a degree. Yet you’d be sitting it on an array of holes that should give that accuracy no problem. So maybe design the problem away by having a hinge that’s loose enough to accommodate whatever you use to pull the rail to the dogs that provide the alignment. Though don’t the rail dogs and collars available negate the need for it at all?
Aidan
If it’s out by, say 1mm it’s no use? That’s an angular accuracy of less than 1/20 of a degree. Yet you’d be sitting it on an array of holes that should give that accuracy no problem. So maybe design the problem away by having a hinge that’s loose enough to accommodate whatever you use to pull the rail to the dogs that provide the alignment. Though don’t the rail dogs and collars available negate the need for it at all?
Aidan
The hinge presumably needs to fairly accurate, but locks into a locating pin on the opposite side of the worktop. That needs to be set accurately.
It means you can use the entire width of the table, make repeatable cuts to a known length (Using a fence with flag stop)
I'd like one, but can't justify hundreds of pounds.
Here’s one I made i had some aluminium plates cnc cut short length of extrusion and pivot. I turned a m5 cap head bolt to fit snugly in the rail grove. Like Festool mft/3
petermillard
Established Member
Just posted this in the other thread, worth repeating here I guess??
Festool MFT hinged rail/ rail support reference numbers are :-
497022 Support - this is the locating pin unit at the front of the MFT
497023 Support unit - this is the hinge part at the back of the MFT for the rail
472862 Profile - this is the MFT/3 aluminium profile
If you do a google search for those reference numbers, the spare parts links will pop up at the top of the list. I bought the hinge part to see what needs doing to adapt it to regular t-track; made the purchase through NB tools as I’ve dealt with them happily before. The parts come from Germany, so it’s not a fast process.
Festool MFT hinged rail/ rail support reference numbers are :-
497022 Support - this is the locating pin unit at the front of the MFT
497023 Support unit - this is the hinge part at the back of the MFT for the rail
472862 Profile - this is the MFT/3 aluminium profile
If you do a google search for those reference numbers, the spare parts links will pop up at the top of the list. I bought the hinge part to see what needs doing to adapt it to regular t-track; made the purchase through NB tools as I’ve dealt with them happily before. The parts come from Germany, so it’s not a fast process.
Jester129
Established Member
A certain Peter Millard of this site has a video showing a sacrificial piece if mft in his workbench, underneath a hinged piece of said track.
He maybe kind enough to do a short video showing how he mounted it/what type of hinge he used????
He maybe kind enough to do a short video showing how he mounted it/what type of hinge he used????
blusnapper
New member
Interesting video on YouTube (link below) by Conkcat.
He uses two easily available hardware hinges to form a automatic rising hinge for his track saw rail.
Ollie78
Established Member
I would say that, first HDC83 has done an amazing job there. It looks very well made.
I have the mft version and I don't set up the hinged thingy all that often. My main issue with it is not the fact that the hinge is quite flexible, but it's more the other end that is the design weakness, the small peg that sits in the rail just isn't good enough and it all feels a bit flexible in general.
I will use it if doing a flooring job or something with many similar cuts thay make the setup worthwhile, but day to day just use some dogs in the holes.
I think there is certainly room for a better design here.
Ollie
I have the mft version and I don't set up the hinged thingy all that often. My main issue with it is not the fact that the hinge is quite flexible, but it's more the other end that is the design weakness, the small peg that sits in the rail just isn't good enough and it all feels a bit flexible in general.
I will use it if doing a flooring job or something with many similar cuts thay make the setup worthwhile, but day to day just use some dogs in the holes.
I think there is certainly room for a better design here.
Ollie
PeteBowen
Established Member
I've got the MFT and have given up on using the hinged rail in favour of using dogs because there is too much slop on the pin on the nearside end of the system. There are aftermarket solutions to this slop but it seems like when you've spent all that money it should just work.
I've been thinking about a hinged with the rail loosely attached so the back can be butted 2 fixed points on the table. That way you get the convenience of being able to flip the rail out of the way without having to rely on a steel pin forever fitting tight into an aluminium slot.
I've been thinking about a hinged with the rail loosely attached so the back can be butted 2 fixed points on the table. That way you get the convenience of being able to flip the rail out of the way without having to rely on a steel pin forever fitting tight into an aluminium slot.
pe2dave
Established Member
No need? Alignment is done by catching the rail at the front of the MFT (See Peter M's videos). Once calibrated, no need to check?
The front catch needs to be carefully positioned (e.g. wrt a bench dog rail) then locked. The guide rail then locks to that each time
it is dropped.
pe2dave
Established Member
At £153 for the Festool bits, I do like the hinge pair idea in the Youtube video from @blusnapper though the front 'fastening' doesn't
seem robust?
seem robust?
houtslager
Established Member
Damn , that imho knocks the fessie system out the park , wel done there. Just outta curiossity, how long did it take you to make the rail hinge and capture plate ? What would you ask for a set €/$ 150 ? and would you be interested in making more ? Karl
That is absolutely what I'm after! Did you get the pivot specially made or is it an off the shelf part you can point me towards? Is the extrusion 8040?
thanks, Jon
petermillard
Established Member
Have a look at Dave Stanton's solution; he uses the standard Festool MFT hinge but locates it against a quad-dog in the front of the MFT using a tapered bracket. Very neat. This was the original plywood experimental version, he's done another in acrylic:-
Re the MFT front pin wearing the rail, I don't disagree that it should better than it is - especially given the price - but this has been a long known issue, with 3rd party solutions like the 'slop stop' available to put it right for pocket-money. The alternative is to move the rail along on its hinge 5mm at a time, whenever the wear gets significant enough to cause issues.
petermillard
Established Member
That looks solid!
Where was the pivot/angle bracket(s) from? And presumably it locates on the t-track under the rail rib? Thanks! P 
