I"ve owned a MiniMax slider for a number of years. (There's even a long thread here with many pictures of when I brought it home and assembled it) The company hasn't disappointed me with any of the three machines of theirs I own.
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I"ve owned a MiniMax slider for a number of years. (There's even a long thread here with many pictures of when I brought it home and assembled it) The company hasn't disappointed me with any of the three machines of theirs I own.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Member
Ian, I can't express how thrilled I am to see that you fitted an Incra fence to the Hammer! I have an Incra fence on my Grizzly and just can't imagine having a table saw of any kind without one!Originally Posted by ian maybury
Best I can tell, Hammer in the US only offers up to an 80" model, although they are introducing the perform with a cutting length of 126" which is way too big for me. Seems 96" (8') would be ideal. Trying to decide between 48" and 80", the perform is too big. Will also investigate Mini Max, they have an 8.5' model.
Member
Rod,
I need to contact Hammer, adding options might not be cost effective vs. buying the next size up (talking K3). Thinking about the 48 x 48 K3 which is about $1K less than the 79 x 48, but would want to add outrigger and maybe scoring unit on the 48 x 48. That may push the price up near the 79 x 48 which includes outrigger and scoring unit.
Footprint is what concerns me, nice to know removing the outrigger can make the larger saw more tolerable and it re-installs easily and maintains its accuracy.
I think cross cutting plywood is good enough for me. I would like the ability to straight line rip up to 8'. Please tell me more about the jig and optional accessory strip from Hammer. A 79" unit seems odd, 96" or there abouts makes more sense.
Todd
Contributor
Hi Todd, please watch the video below, it has the straight line ripping information you're looking for.
Regards, Rod.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgellk8U85w
Member
Hi Todd. It's still fairly early days for me with the K3 saw, but it's so far working out just fine - it's a whole new world of precision compared to the previous Robland.
The Incra fence was a little accidental, in that i bought it before deciding to go for the K3 - by all accounts the K3 fence is a good job too. That said the point was always to gain the positioning capability it delivers. I was a little cautious about how robust it (the Incra) might prove to be (especially how well it might hold the toe alignment of a thou or two over the blade diameter), but in practice it's after several months and some use with large sheets of ply and the like stayed put.
I went for the DIY rip table to ease the fitting of the Incra - it might be more awkward with the stock sheet metal table extensions. It seems that getting the support rails really well aligned in all planes is key to getting good accuracy and repeatability with it.
Slider use is still a learning curve for me - every job needs thinking through. It gives such great safety, precision and control though.
The long 8ft slider and full length cross cut fence take up a lot of floor space. The big advantage i seem to be finding (apart from basic capacity) is as the guys mentioned before that you can leave several set ups in situ without needing to take the fence on and off all the time. For example I have an Incra Mitre fence mounted at the infeed end for short pieces, and the cross cut fence at the other. This leaves space in the middle for a pair of DIY parallel bars mounted at right angles off the slider side slot for setting up wider rip cuts that are still not wide enough to align off the cross cut fence off the slider - their bases (they are built off lengths of aluminium extrusion) also double as extra support arms (flush with the top surface of the table) for larger pieces of sheet material.
The only real issue that i've run into is that the as delivered set up on my saw was all over the place - but it seems quite likely that this is either not typical or that Felder US are acting as a second line of defence in this regard (by doing a pre delivery set up) as i doubt the US market would tolerate this. The good news is that the saw was capable of being dialled in accurately, and seems to be holding its settings.
It might if you were going to be working the saw very hard and routinely handling very heavy work be worth thinking of one of the higher spec heavier duty models in the Felder line, but all in all the K3 seems so far to be a good product...
ian
Last edited by ian maybury; 01-12-2013 at 11:23 AM.
Member
Rod,
Thanks for the link. Pleased to know I can rip longer stock. Don't do it often but would like the capability.
Ian,
I absolutely love my Incra fence, no eye-balling or paralax, it snaps to the nearest 1/32". Wouldn't buy a table saw that couldn't accept an Incra fence. Happy to hear you could make it work. Thanks! Not sure what you mean by DIY rip table, but knowing you made it work is promising. I'm sure I can make something work.
I just ordered Ron Paulk's blueprints for his work bench and cross cut setup. Not that I couldn't design my own but for such a low price why re-invent the wheel? I don't do a lot of cabinetry work. Starting to build cabinets for the shop and garage, after that who knows? Comments on the Paulk type setup vs. buying a slider? The slider is mucho dinero compared to the track saw route. I already own a track saw so that cost is already accounted for.
Last edited by Todd Brewer; 01-13-2013 at 7:39 PM.
Member
There's some build photos for the DIY rip table here, but you may need to register to get access: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/felder...82626/pic/list
ian
Member
They're all great saws. Last year I considered these, and I ended up with a Laguna slider. I ruled out the MM because of the lack of dado capability. The Hammer was nice, but the Laguna was beefier, and I also really liked the fact that there is an additional set of power switches in the handle of the sliding table, which is very convenient when you are trying to cross-cut a full sheet of plywood and it's a pain in the neck to climb under the material to reach the switch. Laguna has come out with a new model since then, and I don't know to what extent the same feature is on those. Good luck whichever way you go.
Member
I researched the MM vs Felder combo machine thingy a few years back and bough the MM. It was in my opinion a fundamentally a better machine - longer tables and heavier castings. Felder had some neat features but they were typically accessories and very expensive. The need for a moveable auxilliary table to give me the specs of a MM was a put off for me. I was able to get the most machine for the least $$$ by going with MM. I have owned SCM equipment for over 20 years and it has been a top notch performer in my shop. This being said you will enjoy either machine I'm sure.
Member
Just as a counter point, I went through the same process, and chose Felder. I thought it was a better built machine, and I still do. It was more $, but at the time that was not that big of a deal. I couldn't be happier with the machine, and would highly recommend one. The Felder approach is VERY open to customization. For example, somebody mentioned the switch on the end of the slider on a Laguna. Felder of course does that too.
Honestly any of these machines are awesome, and us owners will defend our own choices. Try to compare apples to apples though. A stripped down Felder will have less bells and whistles than a fully loaded MM or whatever. The inverse will also apply.
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