High HP Saws

[Joe Jensen]

I've had a 3HP Unisaw, 3HP PM66, and now a 5HP SawStop. Honestly, there has only been a couple of times where the 5HP would have been better than 3HP.

Now to my question. When read through all the brochures for the large Euro sliders saws and see 7.5-10HP as the norm I really wonder what in the heck one would do with that much HP?

Any of you have a high HP format saw and can comment?...joe

[Philip Glover]

Joe,
That's an easy one - ripping thick (3" to 5") hardwood stock.
The euro machines typically have blade diameters in the 12" to 16" range, however, a few do do as high as 20". Hence, the larger the blade dia and kerf width, the more the hp extraction.

Regards,
Phil

[Joe Jensen]

Joe,
That's an easy one - ripping thick (3" to 5") hardwood stock.
The euro machines typically have blade diameters in the 12" to 16" range, however, a few do do as high as 20". Hence, the larger the blade dia and kerf width, the more the hp extraction.

Regards,
Phil

I realize they are capable of that, just can't remember when I needed to rip 5" thick stuff. Seems like most of the big sliders I see in shops around here are used exclusively for panel processing for euro style cabinets...joe

[Philip Glover]

Joe,
The sliders are somewhat general purpose. They are excellent for many things.
If a shop does a lot panel work (cabinets and closets) they probably do not use a slider. Those shops use vertical panel saws and/or CNC routers.

Regards,
Phil

[John Lanciani]

Joe,

It's not uncommon to stack 4-6 sheets of ply or other sheet goods and gang cut parts as fast as they can be shoved through the blade. That's why they put a 16" blade on a panel saw. You sure wouldn't need a blade that size for single sheets and those large panel saws are not really intended to process solid stock.

John

[Phil Thien]

Joe,

It's not uncommon to stack 4-6 sheets of ply or other sheet goods and gang cut parts as fast as they can be shoved through the blade. That's why they put a 16" blade on a panel saw. You sure wouldn't need a blade that size for single sheets and those large panel saws are not really intended to process solid stock.

John

Wow, I could screw-up 4-6 sheets of ply with a single cut, rather than having to screw-up each one individually. :rolleyes:

[Don Bullock]

Wow, I could screw-up 4-6 sheets of ply with a single cut, rather than having to screw-up each one individually. :rolleyes:

My thoughts exactly.:eek: :rolleyes: :D

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Euro sliders saws and see 7.5-10HP as the norm I really wonder what in the heck one would do with that much HP?

actually it's 7 - 15 HP these days and no that's not too much. Once you have it you figure ways to use it.

Like one guy said: ripping thick hardwoods is one typical way to chew up all those ponies.

So too several layers of MDF or other sheet stock in gang cuts.

[Philip Glover]

Should anyone reading this thread be truly interested in cutting large amounts of sheet stock and need a revenue generating machine, investigate beam saws. A good forum for that type of work and machinery is woodweb.com.

Regards,
Phil