Workbench top with CNC milled holes for bench dogs

[transatlantic]

I know these are all over ebay as replacements for the Festool MFT, but I was wondering if anyone had come across ones made from something more substantial than bare MDF? Specifically I'm looking for something with a laminate type surface, basically as strong as the stuff you get on kitchen worktops.

 

[Benchwayze]

Tufnol would be great, but 18mm thickness is pineappling expensive!

If you fancy watery eyes, check here!

http://www.theplasticshop.co.uk/tufnol- ... thick.html

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Couldn't you just buy a sheet of birch ply and face it both sides with Formica? Then cut your top? (Don't forget, the MFT top is made as a sacrificial item. Even their replacements aren't all that expensive.

 

[adidat]

It's a weight factor I think, mdf is lighter and easier on saw blades.

Adidat

 

[Benchwayze]

That's a point, although if I used Formica I wouldn't treat the top as sacrificial! :shock:

 

[oakmitre]

Are the holes on the mft incredibly accurate ?

Would you be able to clamp to a sheet of whatever you want, trace the holes,unclamp and using a undersized forstner remove the bulk. Then reclamp, lower the bearing of a template trim router bit to the depth of the base of the mft (so not to cut the mft) and trim to full size ?

 

[adidat]

Lol the tables made by Festool it's more accurate than most woodworkers will ever be!

Adidat

 

[Benchwayze]

Incredibly accurate? No such thing really is there? The holes are either accurate, or they're not! :wink: Just me being pedantic Oak!

I don't think you'd be likely to achieve the required accuracy using the method you outline though.
There's a video on the 'Tube' outlining a method of replicating the MFT top. But you need the Festool Shelf-hole jig and the MFT to make it.

That's okay if you just want a replacement top. Which, to me is the most practical way. The MFT is everything it's cracked up to be, and the need to replace the top occasionally, is just a minor niggle. However, for the sake of £40.00 now and again, it's hardly worth the hassle of making a new top.

If you don't want that hassle you can always put a piece of 5mm MDF just under the saw cut, and maintain a pristine top. You could do the same if you made a separate top to use without the MFT. It's achieving the required accuracy for the drilling that is the drawback.

Have a look at the 'New British Workshop' on YouTube. Peter Parfitt shows how to make the top, without a shelf-hole jig.

Best of Luck

John

 

[novocaine]

There are various degres of accuracy depending on tolerance.
It is accurate to say I spelt a word wrong in the above sentence, it is very accurate to say I spelt degrees incorrectly, it is exceptionally accurate to say I missed an E out of degrees in the above sentence. all of which are intolerable.
:lol:

 

[Eric The Viking]

I'm hoping to get a Valchromat one from Axminster when they come back in. It's High-DF (not MDF), and supposed to be more stable than MDF. I like their frame too.

Thin ply or hardboard will be fine as a sacrificial top for most purposes. I won't bother to drill it, just use pieces slipped under the work.

 

[transatlantic]

I don't have an MFT, I was wanting this as an additional item I can clamp onto my normal work bench when needed. My original idea was just to order one from ebay and then laminate my own 'White Faced Hardboard' onto it, drill a rough hole for each mdf hole into the laminate, and then accurately trim them with a flush router bit. But it would be a lot less hassle to have them just do it on a laminated piece in the first place.

Seems odd they wouldn't. I can't see the extra weight being an issue, and it would be far more resilient to glue and other workshop messes.

Maybe it's just so that they can get more orders. Who knows.

I know about Peter's Jig, but I won't be spending that amount just for a jig, at least for the few times I'll use it.

Another jig I came across was this http://www.cncdesign.co.uk/cnc/Jig-Repl ... e-Top.html

More my price range, but there are no instructions avaliable for download, so I don't know how you're supposed to use it or if it would be as accurate as Peter's Jig. It looks like you'd initially align it with a square edge of your MDF sheet, route all those holes, then drill small alignment holes to position it for the next set.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Your mileage, etc., but for me, even on a strictly limited budget, life is way too short.

And then there's the accuracy issue - unless I can guarantee squareness and everything being in line properly, there's no point.

And part of the value of the thing is being able to apply clamps as needed (in the optimum place), which you can't do unless there's space underneath for the clamps.

I think you'd be going to a lot of effort for something that frustrates in the end. I got the collars for my 146 holdfasts in the wrong places on my bench - I've regretted it for three decades!*

E.

* yes, I know, but it never quite makes the top of the todo list...

 

[Benchwayze]

There are various degres of accuracy depending on tolerance.
It is accurate to say I spelt a word wrong in the above sentence, it is very accurate to say I spelt degrees incorrectly, it is exceptionally accurate to say I missed an E out of degrees in the above sentence. all of which are intolerable.
:lol:

The word 'very' is the Grammarians' pet hate. It's a redundant word; especially when used before the word 'unique', as I have heard it. We know what unique means, so why bother to qualify it with very? A thing or person is either unique or not. Same goes for accurate. Whether generally or specifically. Accurate is accurate. 'Very' accurate is tautology!

Usually it's abstracts that have scales of 'being'. For instance. I am happy, or I can be extremely happy. Better to be ecstatic though!

Very, again is a redundant word. It really, really, really is! Honest! :wink:

John

 

[novocaine]

Ok, so in order reduce the stress for you John (because I wouldn't want you to be very stressed)

"It is accurate to say I spelt a word wrong in the above sentence, it is of greater accuracy to say I spelt degrees incorrectly, it is exceptionally accurate to say I missed an E out of degrees in the above sentence. all of which are intolerable."
we still come down to a defined tolerance, accuracy is often stated as the degree of relative divergence of a series of measurements. It can also be the degree of closeness to a measurement when observed. both of which are a dividable value, so something can be accurate as well as more accurate than.

 

[transatlantic]

..ffs

People on this forum seem to have a very hard time of keeping threads on track

 

[novocaine]

hehe. sorry boss.
heres how I'd do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpJyqLoqV04
he does it somewhere in there, honest.

 

[Benchwayze]

Ok, so in order reduce the stress for you John (because I wouldn't want you to be very stressed)

"It is accurate to say I spelt a word wrong in the above sentence, it is of greater accuracy to say I spelt degrees incorrectly, it is exceptionally accurate to say I missed an E out of degrees in the above sentence. all of which are intolerable."
we still come down to a defined tolerance, accuracy is often stated as the degree of relative divergence of a series of measurements. It can also be the degree of closeness to a measurement when observed. both of which are a dividable value, so something can be accurate as well as more accurate than.

Someone is struggling here. It isn't 'more accurate' to point out the actual misspelled word; it's just more specific.

Whether you point out the actual mistake or not, you still made it!

I'm off.

Off-threading it isn't my hobby! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Is it too early for :ho2 , or would that be a mistake? :mrgreen:

John

 

[oakmitre]

What I don't understand is why the method I described would not produce an acceptable replica top.

If you have the original top clamped to the board to be trimmed. Template cut the holes and then go round the edge ( I only suggested the drill bit to save having to plunge ).

 

[transatlantic]

What I don't understand is why the method I described would not produce an acceptable replica top.

If you have the original top clamped to the board to be trimmed. Template cut the holes and then go round the edge ( I only suggested the drill bit to save having to plunge ).

That would work fine. That was my original idea too. Only I would glue the top laminate on first and route out after. The reason for the thread was to see if they already exist to save on work

..and proper store bought laminated mdf would have a much better lamination that I could probably do.



Edit : oh wait, I see what you mean now. Using the mdf as a template for an already laminated piece of MDF! *smacks head*

 

[novocaine]

You are right. Someone is struggling here. You aopear to be confusing accuracy with precision. One is a range one isnt. You arent the first and you wont be the last.

Now back on track. Enough semantics pleasr.