Sliding table owner's regrets?

[Charlie Watson]

Those that have long sliding tables on their machines (saws/combos etc), 8'+, do you ever regret getting a long table? Those that have under 8' tables, how often do you miss the added length of the long bed and if you had a choice would upgrade to the longer table? Seems the few posts I've read over the last few weeks always say to get the longest you can fit, just wondering for those that did, if they ever regretted it. And I know it comes down to the work you do and the frequency, but what is the opinion of the folks that own these sliding tables on the table length?

[Charles Brown]

I have the 6' stroke on my Felder CF 731. I don't regret the purchase because I got it at a really great rice. I work mainly in solid wood so it's not really an issue for me (and if I do need to break down bigger sheets I walk over to my friend's shop next door and use his 8' slider). If I need to straight line rip a longer board, I just lock the carriage and use a jig. I think Rod Sheridan has posted or mentioned this jig in the past with his Hammer. The only disappointment about my combo is the previous owner did not get the outrigger because of the short stroke and therefore only has a short (110 cm) crosscut fence and not the full carriage. Oh well; the extension table makes it alright.

If I were to buy new and I worked in a commercial shop I'd buy a 12' slider. Sheets of solid surface come in 10' lengths and don't quite fit on the slider carriage with the crosscut fence attached. It's also really easy to parallel rip 10' sheets of MDF that I use for baseboard and moulding in house projects.

If I were to buy new and I had a hobby space, I would just get the 8' slider. 99.9999% of the sheet goods a hobby guys uses are 4x8's and fit fine on that size carriage.

I wouldn't buy an Excalibur table, a bolt-on table, or any of the more inexpensive sliding carriage solutions. I've used them. They're too flimsy and unreliable to set back to 90* in a reliable repeatable fashion. I'd rather spend my time working the wood than resetting the fence.

[Chris Fournier]

I have an 8.5' slider and have zero regret about it until I back into it unintentionally and bruise my kidneys. If you use sheet goods at all it is a treat! Or longer lumber rips for that matter...

[David Kumm]

I have a 10' and a 78". Strictly space considerations. The 78" handles most stuff but I don't find it much easier to use than the longer one. If I had the room and only one it would be 9-10 ft. Enough for 8' ply plus room for clamps. I'm a fan of Mac's clamps and like having the big outrigger in the back and a smaller one in the front. It holds the parallel jig that flips up for ripping and allows for a smaller front fence for crosscutting narrow stock. I like two fences so the back one never comes off. Dave

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I have zero regrets on my 8' Felder table. Just because you buy a machine with a long table and big outrigger doesn't mean you have to use it all, all of the time. The 8' table is perfectly capable of making a gazillion 1' cuts. Same with the big outrigger, it can all easily be removed when not in use, or just left on and ignored. I actually intended to buy a longer slider, but the 8' saved me a few weeks delivery time. So far I have not run into anything mine won't do, so I really doubt I actually needed longer. I do use the full 8' a lot though. A longer slider would have required the S series machine, which has a different footprint, and I do like the more compact Pro base.

[ed vitanovec]

I have the smaller Grizzly and I cut full sheets with it. It does take up more space and I do barle have enough space. I am very happy with the slider, it has improved my work and added a safety factor to. The sliders are expensive and if you decided to buy, buy the one that you can most afford space wise.

Regards! Ed

[Mark Rakestraw]

I have the small Grizzly slider, G0623X. I chose it due to both space and money limitations but I've been quite happy with it. I also have the festool track saw with various lengths of track so I generally don't put full 4 X 8 foot sheets on it....I just don't like lifting them up onto the saw. I have no experience with a longer slider, but one other consideration I heard from several others while in the market was that depending on your materials work flow the longer sliders made for much longer walks around it. YMMV. Whatever you decide, you'll love having a slider.
Mark

[Tony Rodoracio]

I have a 78" slider that barely fits into my 2 car garage. Remember, you need to plan for the full length of travel when it is retracted and fully pushed forward. Anything longer that won't fit I use my track saw to break it down. As far as the slider concept, It is awesome but takes some time to get used to.

[Mike Ruggeri]

Charlie,

As I have mentioned to you previously, I am a big supporter of the longer sliding tables. My MM slider is 8.5'. While a shorter slider would work for me 80% of the time, having the ability to straight-line rip longer boards without an additional jig and being able to keep multiple jigs on the slider at once (I sometimes have multiple jigs because the longer length has enough real estate to accomodate them). I am pretty short on space and I don't think the longer slider takes up that much extra room vs. a shorter slider. For me, keeping the big outrigger table on takes up the most space so I often remove it and hang it on the wall so it takes up no floor space but I can have it back on the saw if I need the larger capacity in 2 minutes. On the longer stroke, I just have my saw positioned so if I really need to use the full length of the slider, I have to move my bandsaw on the outfeed side (its on a mobile base so no big deal) and open the garage door on the infeed side. Again, I would say if you have the space, get the longer slider and even if you are tight on space, see if you can still fit the longer slider as you won't regret it.

Mike

[Rod Sheridan]

I bought the 4 foot slider since that fit my shop.

It does everything I want, I don't make anything that even requires a 4 foot crosscut....................Rod.

[Ralph Butts]

I also have a smaller Grizzly G0623X model. I like the saw and all things considered it was a great purchase. I cannot break down a full sheet with it but I knew that before I purchased. My previous space was my 2 car garage so it was the largest saw I could comfortably fit in my work area. I now have a 36 X 48 building and I will be upgrading to a larger machine that can handle full size sheet goods now that space is not a factor.

[Erik Loza]

Based on the feedback I have gotten from customers, the only regret I have heard is, "Wish I would've gotten a longer slider". That's not to say that you could not be happy with a short-stroke saw, just that I tell all my customers to weigh that decision heavily, since it is so cost-prohibitive to make a small slider into a big one.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Steve Milito]

Where can you find the footprint requirements, preferably in dwg format, to see if the machine fits in your space?

[Erik Loza]

Where can you find the footprint requirements, preferably in dwg format, to see if the machine fits in your space?

Not sure how it is for other mfrs. but I have data sheets that call out the exact dimensions of all my machines. That being said, the general guideline I give customers is that for a 5.5' slider, the max footprint you will ever use is approx. 12'x16' and for 8.5' saws, figure 20'x16'. Those are max working footprints, or "biggest cut I would ever make on any dimension with a 4x8 panel". Obviously, when the saw is just sitting there or being used for smaller cuts, it won't take up anywhere near that much area in the shop.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Stephen Cherry]

I've got an 8' slider and it fits into a two car garage.

One thing to remember is that the footprint is related to the material you want to cut. For example, if you want to rip an 8' sheet on a unisaw, you need a foot for the blade, 8 feet in front of the blade, 8' behind the blade and a couple of extra feet to line things up; that's about 19 feet. If you want to trim the edge of an 8' sheet, you need 8+ feet to the left of the blade. I've got an 8' slider in my garage, and I do occaisionally need to move things to make a full cut, but the plus side of this is that I can make an 8' cut on the slide. This is great for solid lumber, for example table tops. With a good rip blade, stock can be strait edged on the saw well enough for glueups.

[Bas Pluim]

One thing to remember is that the footprint is related to the material you want to cut. For example, if you want to rip an 8' sheet on a unisaw, you need a foot for the blade, 8 feet in front of the blade, 8' behind the blade and a couple of extra feet to line things up; that's about 19 feet. If you want to trim the edge of an 8' sheet, you need 8+ feet to the left of the blade.
+1. G0623X owner, Goldilocks feelings with respect to slider size (just right!). Trimming large panels, straightlining rough stock, sheet goods, everything that used to be hard is now easy.

[Kelby Van Patten]

I have the Laguna 6' Pro series slider. No regrets.

A bigger one would be a problem. First, it wouldn't fit in my shop. Second, rip cutting becomes more awkward when the table extends too far past the front of the saw.

The 6' is also plenty large enough for me. You can cross-cut a full sheet of plywood on the sliding table. You can't rip a full sheet of plywood, but I generally don't need to do that anyway, and on those few occasions when I do, I simply use the rip fence the same way I would on a cabinet saw.

[Brent Ring]

+1. G0623X owner, Goldilocks feelings with respect to slider size (just right!). Trimming large panels, straightlining rough stock, sheet goods, everything that used to be hard is now easy.


+2 Go623X owner. No problems breaking sheet goods - I just flip it. :) Not perfect, but I plan for a little waste. Does everything else I ask it to. Has a learning curve if you are used to a regular table saw. But otherwise it is great!

[Mike Wilkins]

Plus one with Kelly, I also have the Laguna Pro 6" slider. This is the max size for my 16 X 24 shop and it has performed great. I can still rip just like a standard cabinet saw, but using the sliding table to edge a solid wood board is a great use for a slider. I rigged some Bessey hold-down clamps to hold the board for its travel through the blade. I think these shorter sliders were made just for the smaller shops. The pros do not have to worry about this with their warehouse size shops.

[Jeff Monson]

8' slider also, my shop is narrow so my J/P sits next to my slider. 90% of the time my outirgger is off the machine, at that point I move my j/p and install my outrigger. I have no regrets, I can rip a sheet of plywood without a jig. One thing to remember is a slider without the outrigger takes up no more width than a standard tablesaw. I thought long and hard, measured many times, before I purchased my machine as my shop is small. I'm very glad I ended up with a longer slider.

[Steve Milito]

8' slider also, my shop is narrow so my J/P sits next to my slider. 90% of the time my outirgger is off the machine, at that point I move my j/p and install my outrigger. I have no regrets, I can rip a sheet of plywood without a jig. One thing to remember is a slider without the outrigger takes up no more width than a standard tablesaw. I thought long and hard, measured many times, before I purchased my machine as my shop is small. I'm very glad I ended up with a longer slider.

What machine do you own?

[Jeff Monson]

What machine do you own?

I have a Felder KF700S, saw/shaper

[Chris Fournier]

It is important point to remember as has been pointed out that moving a full sheet over a TS pretty much takes up the same room as the slider. I only haul out the large "wagon" if I am doing full sheet work otherwise it hangs on the wall out of the way. My Cu 410 Elite is actually narrower than my old TS beside my 12" jointer planer set up yet the J/P is 16", bonus. The mitre accessory does 80 percent of my cross cutting work and it is compact.

At first ripping gave me fits due to the slider being in the way for my usual TS stance. I am used to this now but it is one drawback over the TS for ripping so I'd say 10 steps forward, 1 step back.

[Erik Loza]

One of my customers in Brooklyn has a very limited space but needed a long slider with scoring. He has one of our 8.5' saws but had a machine shop bob off most of the round steel guide bar for the rip fence, so the machine can sit flush against the wall on the right side. Can still rip and crosscut panels just fine and as others have pointed out, he removes the frame table and outrigger and just uses the accessory short mitre fence a lot of the time. His machine is actually narrower in footprint that the cabinet saw it replaced.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Frank Drew]

My short stroke (53") saw was such an improvement over any non-slider I'd ever used that I was one happy camper, and I used sheet good so infrequently that I really never missed the capacity of a full-size machine. I wouldn't have minded a bigger shop though!

[Richard Scholl]

I have an 8'+ slider (MiniMax) in a two car garage, with the saw positioned with the infeed end toward the garage door, and about 4 ft from the door. If I need to use the full 8' stroke, I open the garage door. For the few times I use it, the 8' stroke is invaluable. If I had a shorter slider, there would be times I would sorely miss it.

[Richard McComas]

I have a 10' slider (not one single regret) It gives me room for an 8' sheet of plywood and an air clamp on both ends. Great setup for sheet good and straight line ripping.

[Jim Becker]

No regrets. Ever. About having the 8'6" wagon on my MM slider. Shorter would not suit my need for either working with solid stock or with sheet goods. If there was one thing I would change with my saw...and I actually plan on doing this...it will be to shorten the right-side table so I can move the machine to the right about a foot more to provide more room when I have the full outrigger on the machine. The only thing that right side table gets used for is for "stuff" and dust to sit on 99% of the time.

[johnny means]

+1 on Jim's comment about rip capacity. I never liked thst larger sliders have 5' of rip capacity. Sure larger production shops may work with 10 and 12' sheet goods all the time, but I could really use the extra space.

[ian maybury]

8ft Hammer K3 Perform and no regrets, even for smaller stuff where the slider length opens up the possibility of leaving e.g. two fence set ups in situ. The only downside i've found is that it takes up space, needs a little more walking around, and the start/stop buttons can be awkward to reach on occasion.

I'd have gone for an even longer slider and relied on opening the door for the longest of cuts if I had the choice again in that the Hammer 8ft slider (which just fitted in my shop) is just that, and it could use a bit more length for ease of clamping of long stuff etc. i.e it's literally 8ft long, not sized to handle an 8ft length.

I bought separates, but in retrospect the saw/shaper option may have a lot going for it especially on a long slider saw - should it be useful/needed it's not that realistic to have a long slider and fence on a shaper as well unless you have a very large amount of floor space available...

ian

[Andy Wojteczko]

I have the Format 4 Kappa 40 with a 10.5 foot slider. No regrets whatsoever. It took a little time to figure out how to make it fit and work in my space.
The only regret is that I should have bought a slider much sooner.
No going back.

Andy