Sliding Tables

[Corey Pionk]

Hi I've been lurking long enough and decided to make my first post and introduce myself. Ok about me I'm from Michigan and and have been fascinated with wood working since I was about 10 years old and I'm now 27 and still love wood working. So now on to my questions

Ok I'm I ready to upgrade my sears contractor saw to a cabinet saw. I have made my decision for a General 650-T50 with a 5 hp motor and have a few questions. Now I've been hearing alot about sliding tables and how great they are to use. Before I think about buying one and attaching it to my table saw what are they good for. Would a normal everyday woodworker like myself benefit with such a device or should I save my money? Also will a General Slider fit on the left tilt 650 saw or only the right tilt 350?

Thanks

Corey

[Aaron Mills]

Check out these two threads started by Gary Curtis. He purchased the General with the slider, so if you PM him he'll probably be able to give you some more insight into the General slider.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=24449
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=25425

[Frank Pellow]

We have not heard from Gary for a month. The last that I heard from Gary (in private email), he was packing for his move to Weaverville in (really) Northern California. So, while he getting things set up there, he appears to be out of communication for a while.

I believe that Gary is not planning to actually attach the slider and to use it until he gets his shop in Weaverville set up.

Oh yes, I almost forgot -Welcome to Saw Mill Creek Corey!

[Marc Ward]

Before I think about buying one and attaching it to my table saw what are they good for. Would a normal everyday woodworker like myself benefit with such a device or should I save my money? Also will a General Slider fit on the left tilt 650 saw or only the right tilt 350?

Thanks

Corey



Corey,

I have a Jet Xacta saw, and I put on the Jessem sliding table
http://jessem.com/new_products.htm
I did it on impulse and was really sorry I spent the money. However, now that I do not remember having the money anymore, and I use my table saw and slider every day...I can tell you that I would never want to be without. The next time you have to cut 1 inch off of a 30X30 piece of wood, and you get to use a sliding table instead of your fence, you will see why people like them and why they are worth the money.

I cannot comment on the General, but I can tell you that I love my sliding table, and you will love yours.

[Paul B. Cresti]

If I ever had to go back to (please, do not take this the wrong way) an American style cabinet saw the General (Canadian made one) would be the only new saw I personally would consider. I use to own the General 14” planer and it was a great machine both in construction and operation.

Adding a sliding table to a CS would only give you the crosscutting ability. It would allow you to very accurately and safely crosscut both solid and smaller size sheet goods. This would allow you to not need a chop saw or miter saw in the shop, even though you may want one to do molding installation around the house or for any work you do outside of the shop. It also allows you to not tie up the saw with a clumsy crosscut sled, while being accurate; it does occupy the saw while in use. Ripping would still be done via the rip fence which is fine just watch those fingers. I would also suggest adding an overhead guard and splitter to the back of the blade like the Biesemeyer snap in splitter. It quickly snaps in and out and will tilt with the blade while protecting you against kickback.
<O:p
I would at the very least suggest you “look” at a small format slider also if nothing more than for the sake of comparison. I know money will be a big part of the equation here but the additional features and safety, I feel, at least warrant a look-see. A format slider, whether a short one or long one, places the slider right on the left side of the blade where as the crosscut table on a CS has the distance of the main table to span. The proximity to the blade allows one to use the slider as a ripping device and a straight line ripping machine (aka joiner) in addition to all of you regular crosscutting needs. Just check out my post below for how I made a jig to use on my slider to allow for all of my ripping needs.


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31545

[Larry Fox]

Cory, welcome to the creek - a truely unique and awesome collection of artists and craftspeople.

As far as sliding tables go, I just recently attached the JessEm slider to my left-tilt Unisaw and absolutely love it. In my experience, crosscutting is an inherently cumbersome operation and I have read about and built various jugs, sleds etc to work around the problem and have never been quite satisfied with the results. The sliding table is specifically designed to solve the problem. I have found the operation to be much easier and safer since I installed it and have been able to rid my shop of the various other jigs / sleds that I used to use. They are NOT cheap but worth every penny in my opinion. I bought the JessEm because I am quite space-constrained in my shop but there are various other options out there which you should certainly look at.

If you are having trouble seeing the utility, take a look at a saw without one and ask yourself how you would go about - safely - cutting sheet goods on it.

[Gary Herrmann]

Corey, I've got the General 650 and the Jessem slider. I thought about the General slider. It looks like a very good unit, but I passed because I didn't really feel I had the space and I wanted the saw to be easily moveable.

Gary Curtis and I exchanged a lot of emails while I was setting up my General. Not sure when he'll be back, but when he is, I'm sure he'll continue to be very helpful.

All that said, the General sliding table only works with the 350. Which was the final reason I opted to go with the 650, since I prefer left tilt.

[Andrew Shaber]

Corey, I've got the General 650 and the Jessem slider. I thought about the General slider. It looks like a very good unit, but I passed because I didn't really feel I had the space and I wanted the saw to be easily moveable.

Gary Curtis and I exchanged a lot of emails while I was setting up my General. Not sure when he'll be back, but when he is, I'm sure he'll continue to be very helpful.

All that said, the General sliding table only works with the 350. Which was the final reason I opted to go with the 650, since I prefer left tilt.
I hope Gary starts responding cause I could never get a response from General. I emailed twice and called once and never spoke to their tech. My band saw seems like it will work well but I was on my own to troubleshoot issues with it.

[Frank Pellow]

Gary sent me a copy of the installation manual for the General International Sliding table. If anyone is interested, please send me your email address and I will forward a copy of the instructions to you.

[Mark Carlson]

Corey, I have the General 650. I'm in the process of getting a Jessem slider. The first one I got had a warped table and I'm waiting for the exchange from Woodcraft. Heres a link to a lot of info on various sliders. http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/SurveyOfSlidingTables/surveyofslidingtables.html ~mark

[Gary Herrmann]

Corey, I have the General 650. I'm in the process of getting a Jessem slider. The first one I got had a warped table and I'm waiting for the exchange from Woodcraft. Heres a link to a lot of info on various sliders. http://benchmark.20m.com/articles/SurveyOfSlidingTables/surveyofslidingtables.html ~mark

Mark, you're going to like the combination. You just have to find a good use for the left wing...

[Hoa Dinh]

Mark, you're going to like the combination. You just have to find a good use for the left wing...

Just move it to the right side, as in this setup (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=81be&.dnm=ecc3.jpg&.src=ph) :)

[Thomas Walker]

I started off with a BT3000 table saw in my 20's when I got into woodworking. It was a B**** because I spent more time aligning it than using it. But it had some unique features, like a sliding table, that allowed me to make some nice furniture.

A recently added a Jessem sliding table to my hybrid saw, and man o man, now I remember how great it is to have a sliding table. It is so nice to be able to square up a large panel using the slider for the crosscut, and smoothly crosscut long pieces to exact length.

The Jessem is a very nice unit - I love it. Sure you can get by without it, just like I lived with the BT3000 for years, but get one if you can swing the money. Since you sound like you already just about have yourself convinced anyway, trust me - you'll love it too.

[Mark Carlson]

Thats what I was thinking. I'm going to mount it between the right wing and the extension table. I just need to figure out how to drill the holes in the right extension wing. I'll post a picture when I get it set up. ~mark

[Corey Pionk]

Thanks guys for all the replys. Now I'm really considering purchasing one now. Now my only matter is now deciding if I want the right or the left tilt. I contacted general by email and they said the cast iron General #50-400 sliding table only fits the right tilt but the exalibur they sell will fit the left tilt. I just hate to have to transition over from a left to a right tilt since I've used one for many years. Has anyone else made the switch from left to right and regredit your descision or should there be no problem.