Sliding table for a cabinet saw.

[Marshall Harrison]

I know that SawStop/Grizzly/King/ShopFox and possibly others have sliding table that can attach to a cabinet saw to replace the left wing. I realize that you still wont have the scoring blade so my main question is are they worth the cost and trouble of removing the left wing and moving or cutting the existing fence rails?

Do they have any benefits for ripping or are they just helping with cutting sheet goods?

Thanks.

[Mark Hockenberg]

Hi Marshall

I run a cabinet saw and I've looked into adding an aftermarket slider. For me it doesn't make sense because I can't enough capacity with one of these to run a full 8' sheet. Plus, as you mentioned, I would still be missing the scoring blade.

The other drawback of the aftermarket sliders is that they use legs for support and these would seem to get in the way.

I do see a benefit from a slider for ripping - You should be able to get a very clean cut and it may reduce the risk of kickback since there is no binding against the fence.

My plan is to stick with a track saw for breaking down sheets. Then I sometimes go to the cabinet saw with a good laminate/veneer blade to clean up the edges before banding. This takes extra passes, but I finally get a great edge...

As soon as I accumulate an extra $15K I'll get something like a Felder 700

Cheers,
Mark

[Marshall Harrison]

Hi Mark,

From the after market ones that I have looked at it doesn't appear to me that the slider is used much for ripping as they seem more like a crosscut sled or miter type gadget. I'll probably end up with something like the Kreg Adaptive Cutting System and a track saw for sheet goods. and use my Osborne EB3 or a sled for crosscutting. Doesn't seem like there are any better ways for ripping other than maybe adding a feeder.

[Cary Falk]

I have the JessEm that is no longer made. I love it and it was wele worth it for me to install. It does not have any legs so it works great with my saw on a mobile base. I think it is too far away from the blade for ripping and you don't need theat function on a cabinet saw. I have a track saw but I can get far more accurate and repeatable cuts using the slider.

[David Kumm]

My first saw was a Rockwell 12 and similar to what you are talking about. For occasional use, the slider was OK. The crosscut fence was a pain to remove and then square. If you go the add on route, be sure the fence has a way to automatically set at 90. If you don't want tearout on the bottom, the sliding table must be set within a couple thou above the fixed. It is a fine line between not having the stock hang up on the fixed table but not ride enough above it to chip out the bottom. It is a little easier on a conventional slider as you can clamp the stock to the sliding table close to the blade. My saws have to be mobile so the add table must also be mobile and be anchored enough so moving the saw doesn't knock off the alignment. With a slider a few thou out can drive you crazy as the errors always multiply and never cancel out. Dave

[David Buchhauser]

Hi Marshall,
I have the Grizzly T10233 Sliding Table Attachment installed onto my Grizzly cabinet saw. I think it is simply fabulous. I have built several fixtures/jigs that allow clamping of the work piece in close proximity to the blade. There is some discussion about this in the SMC thread below. I have the slider set about 0.015" above the table saw top, and also parallel to the table saw top. The support legs are not really necessary to support the sliding attachment, but they are adjustable and allow fine tuning of the parallelism between the slider and table saw top. I plan on modifying these support legs so that they attach to the mobile base instead of resting on the floor. This will allow me to conveniently move the saw around in the shop without having to remove, reinstall, and readjust the support legs. It is very quick and easy to square up the fence to the blade when reinstalling the fence. I discuss this in the thread below. Let me know if you have other questions or need more information.
Thanks,
David


https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?273835-can-someone-please-help-with-a-mechanical-problem-with-my-Grizzly-table-saw

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(https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?273835-can-someone-please-help-with-a-mechanical-problem-with-my-Grizzly-table-saw)

[David Buchhauser]

I know that SawStop/Grizzly/King/ShopFox and possibly others have sliding table that can attach to a cabinet saw to replace the left wing. I realize that you still wont have the scoring blade so my main question is are they worth the cost and trouble of removing the left wing and moving or cutting the existing fence rails?

Do they have any benefits for ripping or are they just helping with cutting sheet goods?

Thanks.

Hi Marshall,
The left wing on my saw was attached with 3 bolts. These same 3 bolts attach the sliding attachment. Cutting the fence rails was simple and straight forward. In the stock configuration this slider will crosscut a little over 48". I mounted my sliding attachment 11" further towards the rear of the saw so it wouldn't be in my way when doing conventional cutting. This still gives me over 36" of crosscut with the slider - which is fine for the work I do. In the stock location, you could rip up to around 50" in length - which may be fine for many applications.
David

[Derek Cohen]

I know that SawStop/Grizzly/King/ShopFox and possibly others have sliding table that can attach to a cabinet saw to replace the left wing. I realize that you still wont have the scoring blade so my main question is are they worth the cost and trouble of removing the left wing and moving or cutting the existing fence rails?

Do they have any benefits for ripping or are they just helping with cutting sheet goods?

Thanks.

Marshall, this photo when I had a contractor tablesaw with a sliding table ...

https://i.postimg.cc/76Ft7xZL/B6-zps95d32b52.jpg
This tablesaw was much used for the 20 years that I owned it. This was replaced by a K3 slider. There is a world of difference between the two formats.

The crosscut wing only did just that - crosscuts. It could not rip. The wing was also quite some distance from the blade - at least 10" - and this would have made ripping of narrow pieces impossible, even if they could somehow be held in position. By contrast, the K3 slider is about 1/2" from the blade ...

https://i.postimg.cc/DfH68GHg/2a.jpg

The crosscut table is very useful as an upgrade to a traditional tablesaw, but it will not turn it into a slider.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Elizabeth Brown]

Awesome. Do you know the cost of this whole routertable?

E.Brown

[Mike Cutler]

Marshall

Yes! adding a dedicated cross cut slider is worth it. I've had the JessEm Mast-R-Slide on my table saw for many years now and just would not want to be without it. It brings a level of repeatability, and functional accuracy, that is well worth the cost. ( It was over $500.00 ten or 12 years ago.) Every now and then one comes up used, but they go quick!
It's not just an addition for panels. I promise you that you will use it every time you use your table saw. For every cross cut you make. I haven't had a miter on my table saw since it went on.
Be warned, they are a little bit finicky to get set up the first time. An extra pair of hands will definitely be useful. But once setup, it's nice.
There is a trick to getting one setup for square using a dial indicator. It only takes a few minutes, but you end up with dead on, no worries, 90 degree cross cuts. Every time!

[Marshall Harrison]

Thanks guys. David, Derek and Mike went way above what I was expecting.

I would love to do something like this as I don't have the room or money for a true slider. I need to decide if this is worth it or not for my hobby.

Also the wife and I are talking about moving to Europe and living in different countries every 3 months (the normal time for a visit visa). If we decide to do that then I won't be taking the saw. Lots of things to consider. From our trip last month to Italy I learned there were some good deals on used equipment over there but that only woks if I take up permanent residence.

[Günter VögelBerg]

I use mine for ripping with I have to make taper cuts. I clamp the wood to the slider and measure the angle in reference to the miter gauge. it is much easier than fiddling with taper jigs. I don't use it much for sheet goods since I cannot bring them into my shop and am usually forced to break them down outside with a track saw.

[John K Jordan]

I put a Robland sliding table attachment on my PM66. I did have to cut a piece off the guide and do a bit of rigging. It required some care in alignment but wasn't difficult. The thing is extremely well made with a heavy cast iron table. I bought it used for a good price.

Was it worth it? Absolutely! I do use it some for crosscutting and precision cuts on plywood broken down beforehand. It has a heavy-duty clamp which makes cutting lots of pieces extremely safe.

JKJ

[Jim Becker]

I would love to do something like this as I don't have the room or money for a true slider. I need to decide if this is worth it or not for my hobby.

If you can fit a cabinet saw, you can fit a short-stroke sliding table saw. :) A good example is in that last photo that Derek posted. Short stroke sliders fit in about the same space as a cabinet saw and because they don't have the massive body to support a long slider, you can "rip normally" on them from the familiar position while getting the wonderful precision and repeatability of the true slider for crosscutting. If I had to give up my 8'6" slider, no question, I'd buy a short stroke slider to replace it.

[Bob Potter]

I have the Grizzly sliding table and love it. I have had it about 5 yrs or so. The legs I have mounted to the mobile base and that works good. I removed the plunge pin and that makes squaring the fence much easier. I am going to try making a flip stop to mount to the movable table on the left side of the slider for the fence to rest again to square it to 90. I do not move that table so once it would be tuned in it should always be set at 90 if that table doesn't get moved.
Bob

[John TenEyck]

Marshall, the frugal approach is to build a crosscut sled. I have one that can handle parts up to about 44" wide by whatever length you want (with outrigger support). Plus you have a built in ZCI. And it doesn't add to the footprint of your TS, though you have to find a place to put it when it's not being used.

John

[David Buchhauser]

.

The crosscut wing only did just that - crosscuts. It could not rip. The wing was also quite some distance from the blade - at least 10" - and this would have made ripping of narrow pieces impossible, even if they could somehow be held in position. By contrast, the K3 slider is about 1/2" from the blade ...

The crosscut table is very useful as an upgrade to a traditional tablesaw, but it will not turn it into a slider.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek,

Thanks for your photos.

I use my sliding table attachment in conjunction with a home built fixture to do ripping. In my current configuration - I am limited to slightly over 36". If I reposition the sliding attachment to the stock mounting location, then I can rip to 48". This fixture allows for the work piece to be clamped very close to the blade, and the fixture provides the equivalent of a zero clearance insert as well. Since this is "just a hobby" for me, I am very happy with my current setup. If I was in it professionally, then I would certainly consider spending the 20-40K or more cost for one of the top quality large format fully equipped real sliders.

David

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[David Buchhauser]

Marshall

Yes! adding a dedicated cross cut slider is worth it. I've had the JessEm Mast-R-Slide on my table saw for many years now and just would not want to be without it. It brings a level of repeatability, and functional accuracy, that is well worth the cost. ( It was over $500.00 ten or 12 years ago.) Every now and then one comes up used, but they go quick!
It's not just an addition for panels. I promise you that you will use it every time you use your table saw. For every cross cut you make. I haven't had a miter on my table saw since it went on.
Be warned, they are a little bit finicky to get set up the first time. An extra pair of hands will definitely be useful. But once setup, it's nice.
There is a trick to getting one setup for square using a dial indicator. It only takes a few minutes, but you end up with dead on, no worries, 90 degree cross cuts. Every time!

Hi Mike,
I agree completely! What a joy to use, plus it adds a great degree of safety by keeping the hands away from the saw blade. To date, I have been setting my miter fence to 90 degrees using a machined insert for the miter slot along with a large framing square (see photo 1). I thought about your comment on using the dial indicator - so I thought I'd try that approach to see how accurate my original method is. I used a large precision ground fixturing block banked against the miter fence and mounted the dial indicator to the table saw surface. The result is that I am measuring around 0.005" to 0.006" per foot of slider travel. So for my current setup with 36" length of cut, this would give me around 0.015" to 0.018" of taper over the 36" cut distance. This is not bad for most applications, but it is easy enough to go ahead with the final adjustment and "dial it in" for the best accuracy. I would be interested to see photos of your dial indicator setup - perhaps you have an easier method.
Thanks,
David

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[Edwin Santos]

Doesn't seem like there are any better ways for ripping other than maybe adding a feeder.

You could do what I do - never ever rip hardwood on a table saw, that's what a bandsaw is for. Almost all my wood preparation happens at the bandsaw and jointer/planer. The only uses for the table saw in my shop are for precise crosscutting, usually on a sled, cutting sheet goods, dadoes/grooves, and maybe a few jigs for special purposes.

After jointing one edge, I run the workpiece through the planer upright on the jointed edge to bring it to final dimension, both long edges parallel. I was told this method of working is common in Europe. Once I tried it I never looked back. Just another option.

[David Buchhauser]

Hi Edwin,
Say you are planing a long board that is 6 inches wide and 1 inch thick. How do you support the board in the vertical position as you pass it thru the planer to bring it to final dimension? Do you use a special holding fixture? If you use a special fixture, could you show a photo please?
Thanks,
David

[Mark Carlson]

I also have the jessem slider which I love. Its for cross cutting only and replaces a sled and a miter gauge. I still use my miter gauge for angled cuts. Cutting 8 inches off the rail never bothered me, and I use the left extension to the right of the blade.

[andy bessette]

I have had the Laguna sliding table on one of my Unisaws for decades. It is extremely rarely used now that I have a Festool track saw.

[Edwin Santos]

Hi Edwin,
Say you are planing a long board that is 6 inches wide and 1 inch thick. How do you support the board in the vertical position as you pass it thru the planer to bring it to final dimension? Do you use a special holding fixture? If you use a special fixture, could you show a photo please?
Thanks,
David

Hi David,

No holding fixture. I just carefully make sure the edge is registered to the planer infeed bed flat, pushing from the top edge with my thumb and feeling it. The rollers grab it and feed the board through. I have done this frequently with boards as thin as 1/2" (in fact, did so last evening). I think I've gone down to 3/8" a few times also. I have never had a misfeed or had the board topple over for some reason. Of course the bottom edge is the one that has been jointed. I am using a Hammer A3-31 with a spiral cutterhead but I don't know that it should make a difference as long as the planer feed rollers are in proper adjustment. I generally cut my workpieces about within 1/8" of final dimension width at the bandsaw and finish in the manner described above. The table saw is not involved until it comes time for crosscutting.

I cannot remember the last time I actually ripped a board of wood at the table saw. I have come to really enjoy milling this way. Hope this helps

[David Buchhauser]

Hi Edwin,
Thanks for this information. I will need to try your method to see if it will work for me.
David

[Elizabeth Brown]

Hey,
Please someone help me.
I'm searching for the price of routertable (http://routertable.me). Could someone tell me?

[Mike Cutler]

Hi Mike,
I agree completely! What a joy to use, plus it adds a great degree of safety by keeping the hands away from the saw blade. To date, I have been setting my miter fence to 90 degrees using a machined insert for the miter slot along with a large framing square (see photo 1). I thought about your comment on using the dial indicator - so I thought I'd try that approach to see how accurate my original method is. I used a large precision ground fixturing block banked against the miter fence and mounted the dial indicator to the table saw surface. The result is that I am measuring around 0.005" to 0.006" per foot of slider travel. So for my current setup with 36" length of cut, this would give me around 0.015" to 0.018" of taper over the 36" cut distance. This is not bad for most applications, but it is easy enough to go ahead with the final adjustment and "dial it in" for the best accuracy. I would be interested to see photos of your dial indicator setup - perhaps you have an easier method.
Thanks,
David

David
I use the same basic method to set the fence, as you do, but I use a large precision triangle made by Brian Lamb.
When I first set it up I also made sure the slider by itself was running parallel to the blade in basically the same manner. That took a bit of doing as I had to make sure the slider base portion was parallel to the blade, and that it was running even with the table saw surface.
I know some folks had problems with the JessEm Mast-R-Slide, but luckily I never did. I've actually been looking for a second one, or something similar for y second table saw.

[David Buchhauser]

David
I use the same basic method to set the fence, as you do, but I use a large precision triangle made by Brian Lamb.
When I first set it up I also made sure the slider by itself was running parallel to the blade in basically the same manner. That took a bit of doing as I had to make sure the slider base portion was parallel to the blade, and that it was running even with the table saw surface.
I know some folks had problems with the JessEm Mast-R-Slide, but luckily I never did. I've actually been looking for a second one, or something similar for y second table saw.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your reply. I used a similar method to check the parallelism between the Grizzly sliding attachment T-slots/table travel and the table saw miter slots/blade and it was pretty much dead-on. Maybe I got lucky, or perhaps this particular item is a quality item. Without the legs attached, the slider table was not parallel to the saw table by a very small amount - probably around 0.010" to 0.015" over distance from the edge of the slider where it attaches the the table saw to the blade, maybe 10" or so. I used the adjustable legs to put a slight upward pressure on the slider to bring it to parallel. I was checking this with a Starrett machinist straight edge and feeler gauges. It is now pretty close to parallel (within a few thou.). Per the suggestion in the slider attachment manual, I set the top surface of the slider about 0.015" above the top surface of the table saw. This does keep the work piece, sled, or jig from rubbing on the table saw top surface and seems to make for a smooth operation.

I could probably use some thin shim stock between the lower portion of the mating surfaces to correct this. Right now - I have the support legs resting on the shop floor. I intend to modify the legs so that they use the table saw mobile base for support to facilitate moving the saw around in the shop without having to readjust the legs each time. I just checked out Brian's website and it looks like he has some "top-notch" products. If I didn't already have some precision fixture blocks, I would consider purchasing one of his precision squares.

The Grizzly sliding attachment is currently priced at $750 plus shipping. I think that this is a pretty fair price for the quality of the product and what it can do to help improve the functionality of the cabinet saw.

Thanks,
David

[Marshall Harrison]

Hey,
Please someone help me.
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We need more information. Are you looking for a particular router table? Search for router table on Google and you will usually see prices.