Sliding Table Saw

[Bill Reed]

I want to replace my 30 year old Rockwell/Delta Unisaw and Radial Arm Saw with a modern sliding table saw. I work in my garage so don't have room for a really big slider, so I'm looking for a high-quality compact saw that has a mobile base and will still cross-cut a sheet of plywood. I live in Charlottesville, Virginia, and as far as I can tell there are no saws like this within a 100 mile radius of me. I can't tell about quality from pictures on the internet. Please give me your thoughts about what make and model would be best for me.

[Jim Becker]

Hammer, Felder, Mini Max, etc. are all worthy of your consideration. Contact each of them and they may very well be able to hook you up with a relatively local customer. It may not be the exact model machine in their lines that meets your needs, but you'll be able to examine the quality and talk to owner(s) about their impressions of the tools and more importantly, how the companies have treated them.

[frank shic]

bill, have you considered an add-on sliding table like either the delta, jessem mast-r-slide or the excalibur/exaktor? i'm using the exaktor right now and it makes sheet breakdown extremely efficient and safe. if you're really tight on space, you can cut the sheet down with a circular saw first and then trim it on something like the mast-r-slide or the delta sliding table.

[Mark Hubler]

A Minimax SC4WS may be what you are looking for. It can easily cross-cut 4x8 stock, has a 5' 6" sliding table and can rip 50" wide. The footprint of the machine is about 6' long and 6' wide (could be less wide if you can live with less rip capacity). The table for the slider adds about 4' to the width and the total slider movement is about 13'. Link http://www.minimax-usa.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage_norm&product_id=49&category_id=45&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26

Call MM and ask for Sam Blasco.

PS: I don't work for MM, but I do own some of thier equipment.

[Jay Brewer]

Hi Bill, stick with the names Jim has said and you want be dissapointed. If you want to drive to N.C., you are more than welcome to check my machine out. These saws make plywood cutting childes play. I just finished cutting out an entire kitchen ( 15 sheets of 3/4" prefinish maple ) with a helper in 2 hours.

[Charlie Plesums]

Bill, I was worried about fitting a sliding table saw in a garage until I bit the bullet and got one of the largest MiniMax combos for my 2 car...(oops) studio. I can still get one car in the garage with a little effort.

I found that I had to keep 17 feet clear to rip an 8 foot board; that is the same space required when using a slider, but you don't have to set up a bunch of stands. When I had separate jointer and planer, I seemed to always have to move equipment to make room to use them; now my jointer and planer use the same infeed/outfeed area. My jointer table becomes part of my saw table. All of this equipment is professional grade, power, and precision.

To see how it all fits, look at www.plesums.com/wood/shop/carfit.html

[Jeff Wright]

A sliding table of any manufacturer is without a doubt a major investment. When I totaled the costs of getting PowerMatic separates versus getting my MiniMax 410 Elite combo, the Elite was about $2,000 more than individual machines. However, in return I got what I felt was superior safety, plus some additional features and capabilities not on the separate machines (a hefty mortiser, 16 inch jointer and planer capacity versus 8 inch, as examples).

I believe as Charlie Plesums does that a combo machine takes up no more room, and probably less, than separates. I roll my combo out of the way when not needed or when I am doing assembly or finishing work in my 2-car garage shop. I use the 8.5 foot slider table as a light duty work surface (no heavy weight items, no pounding, no scratching activities).

I have no experience with any combo machine other than MiniMax, but I am very pleased with my machine (and my MM20 bandsaw). Whatever you decide to get, be sure to also get a sufficient dust collection system. I spent $2,000 on my system and have no regrets - or dust!

[John Renzetti]

Hi Bill, Just give Minimax or Felder a call. I'll bet there's a lot of customers not that far from you that will let you see their machines. The Felder east coast showroom is in New Castle DE so they'll have all the machines on display. The open house is this weekend.
With a slider most of your cutting will be on the outrigger side. Even though the particular machine may have say a 31" rip you can still crosscut a full sheet since half the sheet will rest on the outrigger and there will be enough support on the rip side to support the opposite half. I used a Felder KF7F that had a 31" rip and there was no problem crosscutting full sheets in half.
Rule of thumb for space required length wise is the double the sliding table length and add a minimum of two feet (4 is better) to either end.
take care,
John

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I want to replace my 30 year old Rockwell/Delta Unisaw and Radial Arm Saw with a modern sliding table saw.{/quote]

Word dude~!!


I work in my garage so don't have room for a really big slider, [/quote]

Me too and that was a big concern i had. Get a full 8' stroker you will not regret it and it'll fit. I was worried about the space issues. It takes up not much more space than my old contractor's saw. I just faced it in a different direction. Remember, the table moves.

[/quote] so I'm looking for a high-quality compact saw that has a mobile base and will still cross-cut a sheet of plywood.[/quote]

You most likely can get a full length slider and yes they come with mobility. I put mobility on my slider but only used it to get the saw in position and that was it. I do use it on my 12" JP from time to time.



I live in Charlottesville, Virginia, and as far as I can tell there are no saws like this within a 100 mile radius of me.

!!!!!~~~~YOU ARE IN LUCK~~~~!!!!!

Felder ( In Delaware) runs a whole shop full of all their equipment simply Call Eric at Felder and ask about it. They let you have a full blown test run on any equipment you want. Even let you open it up and crawl around inside.


I can't tell about quality from pictures on the internet. Please give me your thoughts about what make and model would be best for me.

I wanted a really good slider and weighed the MM the Felder the Format against each other then started taking the Hammer line seriously. I ended up with a Hammer K3 winner with the long table.

Felder does offer a single phase option and the Hammer line is all single phase.

The difference is really in beefiness. Felders are industrial weight & meant for a production shop where some team of brutes will be slamming 100-pound sheet stock on the thing all day playing beat the clock. The Hammer line wouldn't take that as it's meant for the serious hobbiest.

The lighter weight is an advantage in a hobby shop because the user will often be making lots and lots of short stroke cuts and pushing the lighter table back and forth is way less tiring than the heavier tables.

Make sure you get a Dado Arbor and the adjustable outrigger table the fence that comes with it is the SHIZZ and it'll support any thing you put one it.

[Bill Reed]

I'm grateful for all the advice I've received on this thread. I am curious about one thing, however. Everyone seems to favor MimiMax and Felder machines. Does anyone consider the Laguna sliding table saw to be a quality machine worthy of consideration?

[Jim Becker]

Bill, the Laguna is regarded as a decent saw and has features such as the riving knife, etc. It's more of a hybrid machine, however...closer to a cabinet saw with a sliding table and different than the machines from MM, Felder, etc., which are "true" format sliders.

[Brian Ross]

I am in the process of buying a slider myself. Altendorf make a WA 6 model that comes with either a 4 ft or 8 ft slider that sells in the $10,500 range Canadian Dollars which is equal to approx $8800 USD. There is no comparisson between the Mini Max and the Altendorf with the Altendorf being much heavier and a smoother sliding table. I am also considering a used slider but a little hesitant in buying a used machine.Does anyone have any experience with Robland in relation to sliders.

Brian

[Jim Becker]

Brian, Robland is at the lower end of this type of machine.

[John Renzetti]

hi Brian, When people mention the Robland saw they mostly think of the X31 combo. But Robland in Belguim makes a real nice heavy slider the Z3200 that I would consider before the Asian made Altendorf WA8. Not sure if there is a Robland dealer in Canada but Laguna in the USA does shows in Canada and may export this machine to Canada.
If you can find one a nice F-45 Altendorf would be nice. Expect to pay about $10k for a decent one. Be aware of it's former usage. Older ones with a lot of heavy usage in an industrial setting could require an expensive reworking of the slider carriage. But I have a couple of friends who bought used F-45's for their commercial shops and the saws have been going strong for a number of years.
take care,
John

[John Renzetti]

I'm grateful for all the advice I've received on this thread. I am curious about one thing, however. Everyone seems to favor MimiMax and Felder machines. Does anyone consider the Laguna sliding table saw to be a quality machine worthy of consideration?

Hi Bill, Laguna has a number of sliders. They have a top of the line Griggio that will run in the $20k range and also the Robland 3200 slider which is a lot less expensive but very heavily built.
I think you are probably referring to their Laguna TSS saw. Very interesting heavy machine that is a hybrid between a slider and the American style cabinet saw. This would be a good machine for someone who really can't give up the idea of changing from the standard cabinet saw such as the PM66 or Unisaw completely, but wants the benefits of a slider. I think the latest version of the TSS has the slider right next to the blade which is typical on the Format slider. It's got a nice rip fence like that found on the PM66. A lot of people are more comfortable with that style. A lot of the Euro sliders especially the smaller ones will have a smaller rip fence since most of the work is done from the slider and outrigger side.
Take a look at the TSS in person and see if this fits your preferences more than the typical European style machine.
take care,
John

[Brian Gumpper]

Bill,

I know where there is a nice Hammer if you're in the Mass. area.