Exaktor questions - dados/orientation/etc

[Brad Ridgway]

I've been looking at the longer 26x and the 60" version... i've read the 4 pages of posts i could find on here. Bottom line i'm giving up space in a 20x20 shop, but with all the cabinets/etc i intend to build using guides is getting to be a pain.


Questions
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1) if i do the full size one, any recommendations on how to orient the saw in a two-car garage. I just got A/C put in - i used to feed from the outside into the saw which ran longways against the 16' door. Would be nice not to as i enjoy not pouring sweat all over the cast iron tops or unsafely wiping my forehead with my sleeve while trying to manhandle large sheets.

Here's my rough layout (see diagram at very bottom):

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=55466

but right now the PM66 is rotated 90 degrees starting at the jointers location. I will likely be moving the DC out of the shop boundaries.


2) I was considering a mobile base for my newly purchased 66 (an upgrade from my mobile general contractor). If i get the exaktor, thinking i should give up that and just plan a permanent installation including the outfeed table. I saw the post where a gentleman used angle iron to create supports exttending from the saw, but i'd fear moving it around like that. Anyone built a custom mobile base to make it all work?

3) will they hold up to repeated "dropping" of heavy 3/4 birch / MDF on them? Based on one pro shop usage of two for that purpose over years, it would seem so...

4) Is accuracy enough to not build any sleds?

5) dado's - someone mentioned/implied they used these for dadoes, but my issue i've always had is if the ply is slightly warped, you must press down with extreme force to get a consistent depth through the dado. Is that doable here since i think i'd push from further to the left of the saw? In conuunction with #4, i guess i wouldn't expect to cut dados in anything wider than 18" or so... I had been on using some toggle clamps and cawls on a miter sled in the like of Tolpin's for this...


thx in advance
-brad

[Brad Ridgway]

any takers on this?

[frank shic]

brad, i have the full sized exaktor sliding table and it makes cutting plywood or melamine sheets a relatively painless task. it does however take up a huge amount of room and i'm fortunate that my garage is actually about 2 1/2 cars wide so that my wife can still park her car in there! as for mobility, the sliding table hooks up to the side of the tablesaw with 2-3 screws so if you wanted to move the sliding table, it's not too hard although recalibrating it will probably take some time. yes, the sliding table will EASILY hold full sheets of mdf and melamine. as for dados, you will still run into problems if the sheet stocks is warped. personally, i never use dados in cabinet construction just butt joints, staples and screws.

[Kevin Groenke]

3) will they hold up to repeated "dropping" of heavy 3/4 birch / MDF on them? Based on one pro shop usage of two for that purpose over years, it would seem so...

-brad

Hey Brad,

You may be citing my critique above, but if you're not.... YES, the Ex, tables are quite sturdy and can withstand repeated abuse by quite heavy stock. Though an educational and not a pro shop, we cut 100's of sheets of stock (up to 1" mdf, 1-1/8" PB) every month and the tables require only periodic adjustment. Students are not easy on equipment and over 13 years of using an Excalibur table I have been nothing but impressed.

Though I'm sure you could manage a mobile base with some creative engineering, as Frank suggests, it would likely require adjustment of the table between moves unless your floor is quite flat. Maybe the hover plate things.

Dados on sheet stock that isn't flat is a challange, but it isn't insurmountable. If you remove the left extension table when you install the sliding table (as I would recommend) you're actually closer to the blade than normal operation and it's pretty easy to apply pressure near the blade. If a dado is near an edge, you can clamp a hold down to rip fence, we've actually rigged a roller down from a Beismeyer overhead guard that applies downward pressure for such instances.

Though we have some sleds for specialized operations, we rarely use them and find that the sliding tables do 95% of what we need them to do.

It's going to be quite a challange to fit a saw with a sliding table into an ~18' x ~18' garage without having to have the door open at times. Ripping an 8' sheet will require an absolute minimum of 16'-6" of clear space, 18' would be much better. Looking at your plan, I would consider utilizing some of the tablesaw surface for the router table, maybe move the bs and dp against a wall(or end of the ts) since the column sides of those machine are a wash anyway.

If you want to email me a dwg file, I'll try to have a go at the plan.

-g'luck
kg

[Bob Wingard]

Early this year, Amazon had the Exactor 60 on sale for 1/2 off. I couldn't resist, and pulled the trigger on it. Never looked back .. I don't remember the last time I used any sleds or jigs simulating the slider. I do sometimes use an Incra miter jig for small stuff, but just because the scale "feels right". The Exactor, once set and calibrated is flawless.

I did make a few small changes to it, but nothing major. I removed their cheesy ratchet-handle clamps in a few places and substituted some cam-action clamps from Rockler .. much sturdier and easier to use. I also got a pair of DeStaCo clamp base plates from Rockler, and use them to mount a pair of clamps that can be relocated along the fence in a second.

Deburr and polish the little oval plates they give you which slide in t-slots in the fence .. .. they move much more easily afterwards.

[Brad Ridgway]

Thanks to all of you!

(note i use a free cad program called felixcad and cause it's free i can't save to autocad formats - sorry!)

That said, here's a slightly revised layout with my interpretation of the 60" extractor's dimensions.... Man it's tight and obviously i need to come up with something better for the bandsaw which would be unusable here.

Is placing the left sde of the exactor right against the wall with access from front and rear (overhead door) for tweaking an option? I guess big issue is severaly limits crosscut ability to just over 4' - so cutting a 4x8 in half isn't an option if i do so....

Any ideas appreciated... FYI - Right now i store my plywood on the floor between the cabinets and the saw. I can do assembly in my other 2 car garage when needed

thx
-brad





One clarification on this, the router table, planer, CMS are all on mobile carts and sized height wize so they go in the opening between the two cabinet sets offering me infeed/outfeed support... DP/BS are on mobile bases as well.