My contractor saw is a nice saw, but it has a few shortcomings that bug me:


  • It won't cut clean bevels. I once spent an entire Saturday trying to shim it before convincing myself that it's a design limitation
  • Cross-cutting panels can be clumsy
  • I find it to be underpowered sometimes
  • I don't care for the right tilt
  • I made a dust panel for the back, but I have to remove it whenever I want to tilt the blade
  • The right table extension sags too much to make a good router table (OK, I've been too lazy to fix it )
  • I can get pretty clean cuts on veneered plywood, but it take a lot of fussing


I was about to order a Sawstop PCS with the router table when I got interested in sliders. Something like a Hammer C3 is more expensive, but it's close enough for me to consider. I could sell my 12" J/P to make room for a combination machine, and maybe even free up some precious space. An 8' slider would still be too large, but I have a long guide for my track saw in those cases.

What do you think? Is a slider more than shop jewelry for a hobbyist, or should I look to myself for improvement rather than my tools?