Sliding Table Size

[Robert Strasser]

I am trying to decide what length of sliding table I should get when I order my sliding table saw.
I am a hobbiest and have a basement shop that is getting smaller as I add more tools. An 81-inch slider would fit, but would be the maximum I could go without major surgery to the basement. I now use Festool saws to cut up my sheet goods. But, sometimes a little trimming is necessary. A 51-inch sliding table would be adequate for most of my needs.
So, would I regret getting a 51-inch slider instead of the 81-inch? With the 51-inch, I might not even get the Outrigger Table which would save shop space.
Thanks for your thoughts.

[Matthew Batarseh]

I have the 81" slider on my saw/shaper but could have easily gone with the 51" slider since 81" isn't enough to clean up the edge on the longer boards I buy. I bought into the buy as long a table as you can fit mentality but no longer believe it. Since you have the Festool stuff for breaking things down you don't need the longer slider unless you can fit an 8'+ in there.

I don't suggest skipping the outrigger though. If you want to cross cut even a four foot board it will make life much much easier. I found a lightly used outrigger cart for sale on the FOG to hold mine when its not in use. It wouldn't be hard to make your own cart instead of paying the silly price that is asked new. Also, getting the non-outrigger cross cut fence setup perpendicular seems to not be as reliable between repeated on-off cycles. I don't have that fence attachment right now so I can't say that for sure.

Just my .02 (well maybe .01)

[Jim Becker]

I debated this very thing when I was getting ready to choose the sliding saw I put in my shop. The majority of time I believe that I could easily done OK with the smaller, 5' cross-cut only oriented sliders from my chosen manufacturer. But I bought bigger so that I had the option of ripping full sheets (on the rare occasion I actually would use sheet goods) and more importantly, straight-lining longer solid stock without crosscutting first. Fortunately, I had the room for the extent of the wagon travel.

The bottom line is that you cannot exceed the space you have available, however!

I do agree with Matthew on the outrigger...it's a key component that makes using the slider with precision and grace possible. I'm not using mine much to-date, but glad I have it when I start to work with heavier and larger/unwieldy materials

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I am trying to decide what length of sliding table I should get when I order my sliding table saw.
I had that problem. There are worse problems for sure.


I am a hobbiest and have a basement shop that is getting smaller as I add more tools.

Me too.


An 81-inch slider would fit, but would be the maximum I could go without major surgery to the basement.

Same here.


I now use Festool saws to cut up my sheet goods. But, sometimes a little trimming is necessary.

I used a straight edge and a circular saw too. It was a beastly pain. I was on the floor bent over propping up the ply on blocks oh how I hated that.


A 51-inch sliding table would be adequate for most of my needs. So, would I regret getting a 51-inch slider instead of the 81-inch?[

In heart felt tears of remorse and anguish you would regret it. yes you would.

Once you lay hand on a full length table you will never let it go. These things take up less room than many think. I moved my contractors TS out and my slider in and I have more room now than before. Go figure. Plus I added a router table off the back end of my saw and the slider serves that also.



With the 51-inch, I might not even get the Outrigger Table which would save shop space.

That outrigger is a god-send. The first thing I did with my saw was to lay the shipping pallet on it and rip the thing down to make a work bench. Every time I throw a sheet of ply on it smile. It has made some of the most dangerous unpleasant backbreaking cuts a one handed breeze. Get it !!~ And get the full length table.

[Jim Becker]

Once you lay hand on a full length table you will never let it go. These things take up less room than many think. I moved my contractors TS out and my slider in and I have more room now than before. Go figure. Plus I added a router table off the back end of my saw and the slider serves that also.

I had the same experience...my shop seems larger now, even with the bigger machine. I'm also doing the "router/shaper" add on mine. More space consolodation.

[lou sansone]

go as long as you can with the slider table, I can tell you from experience, that you will use all of it


lou

[Robert Strasser]

Cliff,

Doesn't seem like you have any doubts about it.

Just kidding.

Thanks... I'll go big.

Might even knock out a wall into my wife's sewing area. I'll just tell her to duck when the slider is coming her way.

[Jeff Wright]

Another component is resale value.

The cost of any item is the cost to buy and the amount you get when you sell it. And example: Cars that hold high residual values can cost less per month on a lease payment than cheaper costing cars that have miserable residual values. That's because your payment is based on selling price minus resale value (that is, residual), plus interest charges, divided by the term. What's the point? Consider the resale value of a longer 8 foot table versus that of a shorter table. The added length just may put money in your pocket when time comes to sell (if ever). Of course, that assumes the longer table would fit in you space.

[Paul Canaris]

Robert, decide which you do most. The longer sliders allow cuts along the full legth of a sheet of plywood; usefull if your doing a lot of tall case work. Not necessary if your doing normal cab sizes.

The longer slider allows edging of curved or rough edged lumber that is long. Not necessary if you work shorter sizes.

The large format is nice as I can attest; but sometimes it gets in the way (more shop realestate tied up, walking around slider etc.).

[Cary Swoveland]

I would echo the need to decide what you'll be using the slider for. I recently sold a Minimax CU300 Smart combo machine. It had the 5-1/2 foot slider, which was fine for me, as I mostly work with hardwoods, and rarely cut sheet goods larger than (5'x5') baltic birch plywood.

I've now changed my setup to better reflect my needs. I replaced the saw function of my combo machine with a Sawstop with a Jessem Mast-R-Slide (which allows a maximum depth cut of a mere 36"), and now cut down large sheet goods on my extra-large Festool MFT table. For me, it's a perfect setup.

If you're cutting sheet goods all the time, yes, a long slider makes a lot of sense. It does take up a lot of room, though, and adds a few hours and miles per year to walking-around-the-shop time and distance. In my mind, if sheet goods are not your focus, you're better off cutting sheets goods down on a table or a wall-mounted frame.

Cary

[Jay Brewer]

Hi Robert, 81" can still do some straight line ripping which is a great benefit of a slider, and unless your working with short pieces all the time, get the outrigger, the extra support and ease of referencing angles make it a must have, if your not to far up in Virginia, your more than welcome to come play with my slider to see how you like it.

[Todd Solomon]

Hi Robert,

Regarding the outrigger, you can remove it most of the time, and only install it when you need it. I regularly hang mine on the wall, when I'm doing small pieces. This keeps it as small as a non-outrigger slider, much of the time.

Just to echo what these guys have said, go as big as you can fit, without it becoming an annoyance. You will want a long stroke, quite often.

Todd

[Matthew Batarseh]

Robert, where in Virginia are you? I live just west of Baltimore and you would be welcome to come take a look at my 81" machine if you want. I am about an hour from Falls Church (my brother lives down there).

Matthew

[Bernhard Lampert]

Robert,
I never heard anyone complaining for buying a slider that is too long. I'd take the longest you can comfortably accommodate in your space.
I have a 10' slider and I have used it to full length only a couple of times, BUT when it is needed it does come in handy! Also, when not in use,I detach the outrigger table, takes me about 2 minutes to connect/disconnect it.
In case you live close to the NC border, I am near Roxboro, NC/South Boston, VA area. Your welcome to take a look and play with it.
Cheers,
Bernhard

[Paul B. Cresti]

This is where the familiarilty with EFSTS's still mystify people. A longer slider may not necessarily eat up all of the space you have available. If you can fit a full 4x8 sheet of sheet in you space then you would be able to most likely fit a 8 to 8.5 ft slider. That said these machines DO NOT take up that kind of room alll the time!!! that space is only taken up when you are using a full sheet on the outrigger table and ripping/cutting along the 8ft length. I have a 24x24 shop and have a lot Industrial equipment in there. I had a 8.5ft slider and now have a 10.5 ft slider....never did I say I wish I had a smaller EFSTS. The basic footprint of a EFSTS is "T" shape and when I had my 8.5ft slider with the outrigger removed it TOOK UP LESS SPACE then my UNISAW with a 52" Biesemeyer fence. The other things to consider is with a longer slider you can perform different functions on each end of the slider. On my MM sliders you get a main crosscut fence and outrigger table as standard you also get as standard their very large miter gauge. There have been many times where I will set up the main fence on the outrigger for 90d cuts (on one end) while having my miter guage set to some specific angle at the other end....

[Jim Becker]

I've already started doing what Paul describes relative to using each end of the slider for different setups concurrently...it doesn't take long to figure out this efficiency!