After a weekend of heavy use with this fence (100+ cuts), I wanted to post a short update. I am so happy with this purchase as the accuracy and flexibility with multiple flip stops made it easy for me to make repeatable cuts in various order. Given that I was breaking down 3 full sheets of ply/MDF and sometimes required a full flat surface on my MFT, the fence dogs (vs. quad dogs) gave me the ability to easily remove and replace the fence while maintaining accuracy and flip stop positioning. Additionally, I'd like to correct my thoughts on the right side support as this was borderline critical in allowing me to squarely cut long pieces. In the video I noted that I didn't think I'd need it, but after heavy use I am so thankful that I have it and would highly recommend purchasing it if you buy the main fence - plus, it comes with another flip stop!
Another trick: I started using 2040 extrusions for jigs and fixtures, and use the fence dogs a lot. So rather than having to recalibrate my fences after the dogs are "borrowed", I picked up another pair. I run my fence like you in tall orientation. Once I have both fences calibrated, I lock down the fence dogs closest to the cut with two M6 caps crew on each dog and leave them attached permanently. As long as those stay put, I can "borrow" the other two if I need them without having to recalibrate the fence. Plus, having one fence dog loose makes removing and reinstalling them much easier. Also, as much as I trust the PARF guide jig for my hole layout, I still make sure I use the same dog holes for track saw work to make sure I'm always registered on the same spots.
When I have a lot of cross cutting I add another two foot piece of 2040 extrusion to the right side. This let's me square up the first end (work piece on the right, waste under the rail), then move the work left to the stop to cut to length. It saves time because I don't have to flip the board over or fiddle with the flag stop. The downside to this method is the first cut isn't using the splinter guard. But as long as the blade is sharp and the veneer isn't paper thin, it's worked out pretty well.
@@stevebriggs9399 Great advice! I've been doing a couple of bigger projects that needed my whole MFT top and I've found that having my fence dogs locked down has allowed me to get the same placement each time, like you mentioned.
@@stevebriggs9399 I can see how that would speed up doing a lot of cuts. I have a project coming up that'll required a couple hundred cuts and I'm thinking I'll take the approach you noted. Thanks!
Quickly becoming my favourite woodworking channel! Question - I’m making a large CNC cut MFT 2400 long; are you happy with the fence length you purchased or would you go longer if you purchased again?
The main purpose of the right-hand side support fence is to allow thinner strips to be cut and supported on the opposite side of the guide rail’s cut line. That’s why it comes with a flag stop.
Hey great video. Glad you like the fence. As for the right hand fence this has a few uses 1. It’s great for the support if lo have a long board to cut down. 2. Once calibrated it’s ideal for narrow cuts
Woo! Thanks for making such an impressive product. I was using the fence for 100+ cuts this weekend and I must say that I was so happy I had the right side fence! It offered stability when cutting longer pieces and I even used a stop on it a couple of times to use pieces cut on the right side of the track. Definitely a worth addition.
I have the Bench Dog and the UJK fence , The Bench Dog Fence is fantastic piece . I used that system for 4 years . I recently in the last 6 months converted my work flow to a sawstop pcs cabinet saw. I made thousands of cuts using the MFT style system . If you ever think about getting a hinge for your track look at the Dashboard his hinge is top notch I used that for years . I wish you the best of success with your channel .
Thanks for sharing! The Dashboard hinge is on my short list of potential additions to my MFT setup, thanks for the recommendation. If I end up building a shop down the road, I do plan on moving to a full-size cabinet saw like the SawStop PCS, but for now it's amazing how functional the MFT + track saw is in a small shop.
I've also upgraded to the Dashboard hinge system. Best on the market imho. The Benchdogs fence is excellent as well, I kinda regret having previously invested in Incra due to the lack of workpiece support under the guide rail as the Benchdogs has. I see you're walking nearly the same path I've taken: mft dogs with the UJK clips, which I pretty much never use anymore since I have the Incra fence and Dashboard hinges. Anyhow, best of luck to you.
@@TheLastPharm Funny enough I just finished installing the Benchdogs Quad Hinge and will have a video out on it next week. While a little different from the Dashboard, both seem to be very well built quality products. Definitely a much cleaner and premium solution over the UJK clips (although those were wonderfully simple and inexpensive).
Nice addition to your shop made MFT! I have the same system and I love it hard. All you need now is a guide rail hinge and you'll be set. I have the Bench Dogs quad hinge and it is excellent. I like that it references off of the same grid of holes as the fence so you don't need additional extrusions mounted to your bench. If only Bench Dogs could get the shipping costs down, I'd order more stuff from them. Now that I say that, maybe it's a good thing that shipping to Canada is so expensive... keep the videos coming!
Thanks for watching and commenting! It’s amazing to hear how many people have this similar setup. Thanks for the suggestion on the quad hinge, it’s something that I’m certainly going to consider down the road. Haha, you’re right that shipping might help keep me from buying their entire product lineup!
I’ve been breaking down a couple of sheets of plywood and the fence has been amazing as far as getting repeat cuts. Very happy with this purchase! For rips, I have the TSO parallel guides.
You probably will find the right hand fence very useful...if you set it up at 90 degrees to the main fence, you can use it to square up your work. Also you can flip it by 90 degrees to make a low profile fence...useful for access with pocket screws.
I bought the orange UJK one. But I haven’t used it a lot yet. I think it’s because of the dogs I got for it. I didn’t get the clip ones like you have. I think I would have liked them better. I have an MFT3 table and I love it. However… I find it too small for my needs. And I do get frustrated having to fiddle with it every day to make sure it’s still square. This week… I’m getting the UJK Parf Gude system and making my own bench top. Still deciding on what kind of fence I will use on it. Definitely going to look into the Bench dogs one.
The Parf guide system will be a great thing for you to play around with and while it can get a little tedious making hundreds of holes, it’s such a good system and the end result is worth it. I still have no regrets on purchasing the UJK fence, but the Benchdogs has been a little more convenient since I got it. I’d say the only thing slightly annoying about the Benchdogs is storing it when I need a full flat table.
Nice video. A couple of things to bear in mind with the Benchdogs fence - I have the same set up and the rail hinge. Firstly your saw blade will hit the support fence under the Festool track if you do bevel cuts and forget to remove it!. The right hand support is very useful - set it up and calibrate it and use a flip stop on it and it allows you to do repeatable waste side cuts on the occasions you need it (obviously allowing for blade kerf) I have flip stops on both sides. Being in the UK costs are generally better for us for shipping etc - buts it’s just the reverse of buying Woodpeckers from US. I love Benchdogs tools and am slowly equipping my workshop with them.
Great comment, thanks for the warning on bevel cuts! The right support very helpful in a bunch of work I did on the weekend and I’m thankful that I had it. I definitely take back my comment on potentially not getting it.
You can use the stops in either direction. Useful if you are cutting nearly square rectangles so you can use two stops. With metric its best just to use metres and milimetres. If you have something with a 20 dimension then you know its the thickness of a board, small off cut etc (20mm) or the side of a building, very large roof truss (20m). With centmetres there is more room for confusion if you do not state the unit. When you look at your fence you have to just know that 2 is 20mm when you say what it is.
Great point on using the stops in either direction! I’m getting closer to using mm all the time, which can sometimes be hilarious when I say 2140mm but it’s so much easier!
so funny you are responding to my comments in real time.... You will use the right side when you need to make thin cuts . Oh one more thing The TSO lock dogs are awesome Along with the toggle clamp on a lock dog those are fantastic . I have the Festool quick clamps , Those I dont care for they are a huge pain in the neck to pull out of the dog holes. There are so many things you can do on an MFT top . I will always have an MFT top around . Ok I am done writing lol have a FANTASTIC WEEKEND!
Haha, your comments are great!! Funny enough I was doing a rip cut earlier today and the right side support made it possible - something I wouldn't have done before. Thanks for the suggestion on the TSO lock dogs, those look really quite impressive and are yet another innovative tool from TSO. Thanks again for the comments and have a great weekend yourself!
That 200mm fence extension looks so much better than the one piece fence I was supplied as it’s easy to replace, I put my track saw thru it within a couple of weeks and now looks like a banana, been part of the main fence extrusion makes it pretty much unfixable.
Oh wow, sorry to hear that happened to you. The main reason I didn’t go with the V2.1 with that lower part attached was because I often cut thin material. I didn’t even think about what would happen if I damaged it and it impacted the rest of the fence.
I had similar issues with the fence, my setup is the same as yours, and the way I managed to get the fence right next to the track dog was to off set the hole back towards the edge and not parallel with the rest of the dog hole. Only needs to be 20mm. Your cut line does not have to be between two dog holes.
I have one and love it, especially once the humid weather hits Southern Ontario. Once I find where I will typically use the low profile dogs, I'll remove those out a bit more generously.
Thanks for the video. I have the bench dog fence mounted on the track tubes quad mft top, and don’t have to remove it, because you can just lay the whole top aside when you need to move it out of the way. I’m working in a small garage shop so I have to tear down every day. I left the under track extension off. Couldn’t really see what it does for me. I did have to calibrate the fence location first time, because of that, but I was afraid of hitting the under rail piece with the blade otherwise. I did not buy the right side extension, but maybe I should’ve.
Thanks for sharing your implementation and experience. While I originally didn't think the right side extension would be that helpful, I'm so glad I got it as it's really helped keep smaller pieces stable as the blade goes through it.
Question with this setup. Say you need to cross cut a 2.5” or a 3.5” piece. How is that possible when the guide rail/track is wider than the cut?? Meaning you can’t use the fence or a stop to make a repeatable cut.
Great question! If the piece I’m cutting is 3/4” or thicker I do this by using the Festool Clamping Elements to hold the small piece in place against the fence and I’ll put another piece of the material further down the rail so it doesn’t sag. Any other low-profile table top clamp should work, but it would need to be thinner than the material.
@@MasonWoodshop got it.. thanks! So you are using the low profile clamp at opposite end of fence (other end of material) to make sure it remains in place. Putting track over the top and just making the cut.
@@mfrankoo8045 Yup! The low-profile clamp is under the track when cutting very small pieces. I could do most at the mitre saw, but track saw is much more fun, haha!
To allow the fence to go back against the rail support dog when using the UJK rail clips just grind the back corner of the fence off where the clip catches it. I'll do a video and publish.
Ooh, that’s an interesting idea and I can see how you wouldn’t have to take much off to accommodate the clip. Since posting this video I have since gotten the Benchdogs Quad Hinge (video soon) so my use for the UJK clips is going to be minimal now.
Thanks for watching! Here’s the link to the product I purchased (I also added the right hand side support and an additional fence dog): benchdogs.co.uk/collections/fence-systems/products/1200mm-fence-system-mk2
Doesn’t anyone know the difference between the Mk2 fence and the version 2.1? I have a Kreg ACS track saw and can’t tell the difference from their videos. Thanks.
The main difference is how the part of the fence that goes under the track is attached. On the MK2 that I show in the video, the 200mm piece that goes under the track is attached to the main fence using a bar and set screws. On the 2.1 version that piece is part of the main fence itself and cannot be removed.