Carpenters and woodworkers who want a work table that can be used for clamping would do well to consider the MFSlab, a one-inch MDF top that can be placed on whatever sawhorses are handy. The brainchild of Steve Olson, a remodeler in San Francisco, it is intended to be a job site alternative to the Festool MFT Table.
Olson uses an MFT in the shop but finds it too heavy and bulky to be easily carried onto urban job sites and too expensive to leave there overnight. An MFSlab can be made for a fraction of the cost of an MFT and is more easily stored and transported.
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The 20mm holes in the top of the MFSlab accept a variety of specialized clamps and dogs for horizontal and vertical clamping. Standard clamps can be inserted through slots at the perimeter and used to clamp material to the edge.
Shallow troughs near the edge of the top hold small parts and tools. An open slot in the edge holds a Festool vacuum hose when it’s not connected to a machine; there’s no reason it couldn’t be sized to fit other brands and types of hose. The design includes a lower shelf that is slotted to hold circular saws and other tools in an upright position.
The MFSlab could have been made with hand-held power tools but Olson chose to subcontract the most tedious part of the job, giving a CAD file of the design to a shop with a CNC machine and having them cut the holes and slots. Olson did the finishing touches himself, using a router to ease the edges and cut troughs. Those parts of the job could have been done by CNC, but the setup charges would have added disproportionately to the cost.
Including the CNC work Olson spent $250 for two such tops and shelves, which is just over half the cost of the least expensive MFT. It would have cost even less if he’d been willing to drill and cut everything himself. The CAD file is available for purchase on his website.
Source: core77