If I get a slider, can I sell my cabinet saw?

[jim mills]

I've had my eye on a euro slider for some time now and am ready to pull the trigger. What I can't seem to get an honest answer on is, will I still want my cabinet saw? Sure, the slider will be a dream for sheet goods, but what about some of the other operations done on a cabinet saw, like small pieces, detailed miters, or creeping up on a crosscut?
I'm considering an OMGA miter saw for crosscuts (face frames, etc.) but I'm still not convinced I wont miss my cabinet saw. What say you?

[Sam Babbage]

Of the operations you mention, small pieces are the only possible problem, depending on the fence system on the slider, but if you have a decent drop saw then that doesn't really matter (or you can jig around the limitation on the slider.) in a perfect world I would keep the cabinet saw as either a dedicated rip or dado saw. It all depends on how much you need the money and, perhaps more importantly, space.

[Rick Lizek]

You don't say what slider you are getting. I had an SCMI SI-15 4' slider and it was dado capable and there was nothing I couldn't do on it from small to big pieces. I'm also very familiar with Omga saws. Just a very heavy duty miter saw. Not anymore accurate than a properly set Makita or whatever. Just holds up better in a rougher environment.

[Peter Quinn]

Why would you need the omega saw and the slider? It's nice to have both, but you can certainly handle miters of all kinds on the smallest of parts with a miter sled on a slider. And you can do very obtuse angles if required with ease. You can buy miter jigs for most sliders, I made one for the griggio at work for about $5 worth of BB and a half hour of my time that works great, though the commercial ones have very good angle measurements and repeatability. For square cross cuts such as FF parts, the slider is king assuming your outrigger is big enough to handle the lengths you need in terms of stops.

I do prefer a cabinet saw for ripping though you could certainly rip on a slider. If space and money were not an issue I'd keep both. Perhaps you could make the cabinet saw smaller bynreducing the rails and making a fold down out feed, throw a mobile base on it? Checkout the felder video for a demonstration of how to accomplish pretty much every wood cutting operation on a slider.

[Mark Rakestraw]

I bought the Grizzly G0623X slider in December. Even though it's a small format slider (60" crosscut) I still wish I would have had room to keep my cabinet saw. I can put a dado blade on the slider, but it's a couple extra steps to do so. Likewise the fence doesn't just lift off like a Bies, you have to slide it off the end, and it's kind of futzy to line up to slide back on. So I can do everything my cabinet saw did, but transitions just take a few seconds, or minutes for the dado, longer. Probably not a big deal if you're doing this for relaxation and aren't really concerned about speed.
Mark

[Steve Griffin]

If it is at all feasible for your workspace/budget, you shouldn't think twice about keeping a cabinet saw. I'd set it up for ripping, and the occasional dado/rabbit. Maybe even a power feeder for ripping. You would hardly ever need to change blades on either saw.

Dang, now I want two saws too.....

-Steve

[Karl Brogger]

Dang, now I want two saws too.....


I want another tablesaw, and a vertical panel saw. I've already got three tablesaws. Don't think because you get a 2nd you won't find a use for a third.

[Frank Drew]

If you do decide to sell your cabinet saw, keep it hooked up to power and in service, if possible; it's much easier to sell a piece of machinery if the prospective buyer can see it working and maybe cut a board or two (or watch you do it).

[Jeff Monson]

I switched to a KF700 last fall. I have not found an operation that I can't do on my slider. After getting used to different techniques required on a slider, there is no way I would want to go back to a cabinet saw. It would be nice to have both, but with the room I have, that is not an option. Slider all the way for me.

[Stephen Cherry]

I started off with a unisaw. I was able to pick up a late model Felder k975 at a good price, and the unisaw was a partial trade. For almost everything, the felder saw is great. It has two good fences, and in my opinion, it crosscuts very well using either of the two fences. (first, by using the flipstop on the sliding table fence, second by using the main fence on the saw table to set length with the aluminum extrusion slid up so it won't cause the workpeice to get stuck between the blade and fence. For anything that comes as a sheet, and for big lumber, it is great.

I did end up picking up an INCA table saw though. And I do use it. It is very precisely made, and fun to use. Great for tenons, etc.

[Mike Wilkins]

Sold my Unisaw after I got a slider with a 6 foot sliding table. It has dado capacity and does a fine job ripping and crosscutting. It would be nice to have a conventional cabinet saw to perform joinery operations like spline cutting and thin rips, but not much of a chance in my 16 X 24 shop. Space considerations usually dictate these decisions. I am considering a smaller saw, like a bench top for just such joinery operations.
Unfortunately there are not many aftermarket jigs for sliding table saws, except for the high-dollar offerings from Felder/Martin, etc. The owners of sliders usually make their own.

[Rod Sheridan]

I went from a General 650 to a Hammer B3 Winner, and wouldn't go back to the cabinet saw.

Of Course I have a smaller slider (51") so the cabinet is square like a cabinet saw.

That means that ripping is the same as a cabinet saw, except better. Why better?

- 3 position rip fence low for thin pieces, short for solid wood and long for sheet goods

- sliding table often provides infeed and outfeed support.

And of course the slider does all those things that a cabinet saw doesn't such as;

- straight line rip

- crosscut large pieces

Once you get accustomed to using a Euro slider, you won't go backwards to a cabinet saw. It does take some time to gain the familiarity with the machine, however the time savings, accuracy and capacities more than make up for it.

Regards, Rod.

[Mike Ruggeri]

I am in agreement with what the other folks have said. I sold my Unisaw when I got my Minimax. At first I questioned the decision to move to a slider but now that I have used it and have gotten used to it, I wouldn't go back. If $$ are not an issue, I would say keep the cabinet saw as it will come in handy for certain tasks or as a dedicated dado machine. For me, keeping the Unisaw after I got the slider wasn't very practical as my shop is limited to 1/2 of my 2 car garage. I haven't found any issue with small pieces or cross cuts - actually the opposite in that I have found many great uses for the sliding table and found that it is easier to build jig/fixtures for it than my cabinet saw.

Mike

[jim mills]

I find the suggestion of keeping the cabinet saw for a dedicated ripping interesting. The slider has a nice rip fence so why not use it? Also, I'm considering a slider with dado capability.

[Mike Ruggeri]

Jim,

I think the comments to keep the cabinet saw are more for ease rather than function. My slider has a nice rip fence and dado capability, too. Can I rip on it an cut dados - absolutely. If I was in a production environment and not a hobbyist where change over isn't a big deal, would I want to keep the cabinet saw set up with a dado blade - yes.

Mike

[David Kumm]

If you have the room, keep it. You can set it up for left bevels-assuming your slider is too short, dados, and most important to me, the crosscut fence, the clamps, etc are always in the way when you want to rip just one long board. It is decadent, but a good saw with a biesemeyer is never going to seem redundant. If the slider has a shaper, even more so. Dave

[Sam Babbage]

I find the suggestion of keeping the cabinet saw for a dedicated ripping interesting. The slider has a nice rip fence so why not use it? Also, I'm considering a slider with dado capability.

Depending on the stroke of the slider it can be somewhat less comfortable to rip on than a cabinet saw due to the sliding table's track protruding from the front of the saw, this is only an issue with the large sliders. Also, again, depending on the machine, the crosscut fence has to be removed for certain ripping operations. For example; the Martin at work has about 2 inches of space between the blade and the crosscut fence, so if you wanted to rip a long board (short boards can be ripped in front of the fence) with more than 2 inches of offcut then you would have to remove the crosscut fence.

Don't get me wrong, if I had to pick a single saw it would certainly be a slider, but if you have the space then having both is certainly nice.

[Larry Edgerton]

I have three, a slider a 66 and a Delta and right now the 66 is down, and I don't like it. I do mostly architectural details any more, not so much cabinet work, and for me being able to leave a setup in a saw and use another is just part of how I work. If you have the room try it with both and see if you use the second saw. Its yours, so its the cheapest one you can buy.

Larry

[Brad Shipton]

I think it is difficult for anyone to answer the question other than you. It really depends on your volume. Take for example Karl's reply. Clearly he has a squadron of employees hammering away at machines. I went from a contractor saw to a slider, and I would not go back to a conventional saw ever. I am a one man shop (maybe even a little less at times). The only thing I miss is the heavy duty rip fence. Europeans love aluminum to save weight, but it is never as stiff as the good ol chucks of steel many NA companies build.

Brad

[Peter Quinn]

Depending on the stroke of the slider it can be somewhat less comfortable to rip on than a cabinet saw due to the sliding table's track protruding from the front of the saw, this is only an issue with the large sliders. Also, again, depending on the machine, the crosscut fence has to be removed for certain ripping operations. For example; the Martin at work has about 2 inches of space between the blade and the crosscut fence, so if you wanted to rip a long board (short boards can be ripped in front of the fence) with more than 2 inches of offcut then you would have to remove the crosscut fence.

Don't get me wrong, if I had to pick a single saw it would certainly be a slider, but if you have the space then having both is certainly nice.


I agree with what Sam said except I don't find some of the smaller sliders any more comfortable to rip on than the larger ones. The carriage support for the Griggio at work will nail you right in the hips and groin when you try to rip. You wind up playing a strange game of twister to get around the thing, and if something goes wrong there is no easy way to dive out of the way. So nobody rips on that. The 10' SCMI is even worse, you would almost have to stand to the left of the slider and reach for it. That great rip fence is pretty much just a fancy inboard stop system for use with the slider in most shops I've been in that have a cabinet saw. I've seen these long push sticks that look like something off a shuffle board game that allow the slider user to push the wood past the blade, but I prefer a standard cabinet saw and a push block for control on narrow rips.

[Sam Babbage]

To clarify; I meant large by home workshop standards, not commercial ones. That is to say, any slider where the carriage support protrudes from the front of the saw, pretty much anything bigger than the small Hammer/Felder, Minimax et al.

[Larry Edgerton]

I agree with what Sam said except I don't find some of the smaller sliders any more comfortable to rip on than the larger ones. The carriage support for the Griggio at work will nail you right in the hips and groin when you try to rip. You wind up playing a strange game of twister to get around the thing, and if something goes wrong there is no easy way to dive out of the way. So nobody rips on that. The 10' SCMI is even worse, you would almost have to stand to the left of the slider and reach for it. That great rip fence is pretty much just a fancy inboard stop system for use with the slider in most shops I've been in that have a cabinet saw. I've seen these long push sticks that look like something off a shuffle board game that allow the slider user to push the wood past the blade, but I prefer a standard cabinet saw and a push block for control on narrow rips.


Agreed.....

I have a power feed on the 66, and it is just a part of my stock prep ritual to have that saw where it is. I had kind of forgotten how bad it is to rip on the slider until my 66 took a dump. I would say it is borderline dangerous to use it like a conventional cabinet saw because of the position you are in.

[Bijesh Jacob]

I've had my eye on a euro slider for some time now and am ready to pull the trigger. What I can't seem to get an honest answer on is, will I still want my cabinet saw? Sure, the slider will be a dream for sheet goods, but what about some of the other operations done on a cabinet saw, like small pieces, detailed miters, or creeping up on a crosscut?
I'm considering an OMGA miter saw for crosscuts (face frames, etc.) but I'm still not convinced I wont miss my cabinet saw. What say you?

I am not a professional, but got the Hammer K3 winner with a 78 inch slider last year. It may be due to the fact that the slider table is not too wide but I am able to stand to the left of the slider and rip quite easily. The rip fence is also quite solid - so not a lot of issues putting pressure on it while standing to the left. The slider was a dream since I moved up from a portable.

[jim mills]

I have been through the entire spectrum of sliders from grizzly to Martin, and still haven't made a choice. :confused: It feels like buying a used car at times. :eek: I am looking at a used slider on Ebay:

http:// cgi.ebay.com/SCMI-SI15WF-SI-15-WF-SLIDING-TABLE-PRODUCTION-PANEL-SAW-/290574392778?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a7955dca

I figure for a couple grand, I can "test drive" a slider and then make an informed decision. Any opinions on this saw? How do I find out if parts are available? (If needed) What about the motors? Can they be rebuilt if needed? If I do a restore on this saw, maybe I can get my money out of it if I try to sell it in order to upgrade. Maybe it'll be a great saw and all I need. Then I can spend my money on a shaper upgrade. :rolleyes: Comments Appreciated!!!

[Chris Fournier]

Last fall I bought a MM CU410 Elite S which has an 8'6" slider. It replaced three other pieces of equipment for me, one being my General 350. I didn't have the space or really the money to keep the General. Space was the kicker, money I can always figure out. I knew that I would miss it, not just because I had many dedicated fixtures and jigs based on the saw but for ripping and bevel work.

It has taken a while but I now don't mind ripping on the slider, it's still not as nice as the cabinet saw though.

I would agree that the slider really cuts into my compund mitre saws duties but the CMS can cut smaller parts easier than the slider so it stays on the wall in my shop until I need it.

Keep both if you can and should you find out that you don't miss your cabinet saw then sell it.