Selling minimax slider for sawstop

[Ryan Pappas]

I want to thank everyone for their input. It is greatly appreciated. Lots of positive feedback on sliders. I think I’m gonna give it some more time and try and set it up better. Get a few more jigs and see how it goes. I was super excited when I purchased it and did tons of research before hand. I don’t want to sell it. I want to keep it and figure out how I can use it to it’s full potential. Maybe a little more experience with it and I’ll enjoy it more. Really wanted to see if my thoughts were common or not.

[Chris Parks]

For me the lights went on when the Frits & Franz was first discussed on this forum many years ago. Without it the slider is not a complete machine and like others I rarely use the rip fence for anything but a measuring stop.

[John Sincerbeaux]

John, would you mind sharing how you use the AirTight clamps? They look really cool, but I rarely find a need to clamp anything to the table (although I'm a slider newbie). Am I doing something wrong?

When doing small work, the clamps do the holding rather fingers and pushsticks. Here my 17 yo son is cutting dados on jewelry box sides. Program the dimensions of the dado, the fence and blade adjusts automatically, and the clamps are great for production and of course safety. 6B83D1ED-F1DA-4575-88CF-4F65EF871794.jpg

[Dan Friedrichs]

Thanks, John - I can see, now, how those could be very handy for smaller pieces.

[David Kumm]

I have three sets on various machines. The are adjustable and cant towards the fence so they always push stock tight. They are also great in keeping ply down on the table tight when cutting bevels or even when scoring or shaping. Both clamps operate with the lever on the near one so you can get into a real production mode, stock against the stop, hit the lever, push the table through, and go again. I was surprised at how they become part of the routine. Dave

[Patrick Walsh]

I also have air clamps and will say they are great.

On the other hand I have made simple clamps that fit into the t slot with those cheap red tipped and handled lever type clamps screwed to a simple piece of plywood or hardwood.

With the above I can work as small of a piece as one can imagine. Maybe dumb but I don’t think so its a non issue to crosscut down to 10” no problem on a slider without clamps just holding the piece with your mitts. Same goes for full sheets of plywood. No need for clamps till say you wanna run say a 45% miter the length of a sheet of plywood. Then you need some kind of clamps to get a even cut. Even they one on the trailing edge and then consistent downward pressure at the blade and I have never had any issues.

People seem to complicate the crap out of stuff mostly I assume because they are overly cautious “probably a good thing” and or scared. I have said before heed to fear as that’s when you are most apt to get hurt. But imop you have to get over those fears.

I remeber the first time I saw someone straightline on a contractors saw on a jobsite sans fence. I was very new to the trades but not new and I thought “your nuts and just asking for it” fast forward six months later and I came to understand that to do a cedar shake roof, siding or even scribe a baseboard to a existing floor it was the only efficientl way to do do it.

I still get looks from other trades on site when I’m roughing down a scribe strip or something on the ts without a fence.

I’m not trying to be a tuff guy or show off I’m just making the point that letting go of being overly cautious is kinda manadatory and that once your no longer scared everything becomes much more safe.

[Kevin Jenness]

Now you've done it.

I say, if you feel comfortable freehanding rips on a tablesaw, fill your boots. I will be over in the corner with my orbital jigsaw and powerplane, well out of the kickback zone.

[Jim Becker]

I had a chance to see a set of those air clamps up close and personal when I attended a recent training seminar at a shop down in southern Virginia. Very drool-worthy for so many reasons, but also really well designed. They happened to be installed on a Felder slider, but I've also watched a video on YouTube with them going on a Martin with the same results. If I win the lottery, I'll definitely be adding them to my saw!

[Andrew Joiner]

Jim, if you have space, this crazy horse dolly (https://www.thecrazyhorsedolly.com/videos.html) makes handling sheet goods easier.

Thanks! The crazy horse dolly looks great. If I had to feed sheets into a slider or table saw I'd get one.
I'm a vertical panel saw devotee. I slide my sheet stock vertically from the rack through my panel saw. No lifting or scratching faces of sheets.

[Jim Becker]

I agree that the Crazy Horse Dolly is very nice and if I had a shop with the right kind of open space, it would be very worthy of consideration. But when I first learned about it some time ago, I realized that there would be no value in my particular small shop because the maneuvering I would need to do to get a sheet onto the dolly would have to take place in the exact spot where just loading it onto my saw would happen. It would be twice the effort...but that's purely because of my shop, not because of the resource. It's a great design!

[Chris Parks]

When doing small work, the clamps do the holding rather fingers and pushsticks. Here my 17 yo son is cutting dados on jewelry box sides. Program the dimensions of the dado, the fence and blade adjusts automatically, and the clamps are great for production and of course safety.

All those clamps, airlines, the fence hanging out the back like that would drive me nuts but that is just me. An F&F jig looks like it would achieve the same thing without the clutter from what I can see in the photos. I realise that production is a world away from the hobby world but that is what I see and no criticism is intended. Unskilled labour for instance would be safer using air clamps and no one could argue that.

[Rob Sack]

I also have a Saw Stop Industrial Cabinet Saw wit an Excaliber Sliding Table from General Industrial Tools in Canada. It is a great combination that is extremely accurate. A best of all, Saw Stop bought out General Industrial and now sells the same sliding table that was formerly sold as an Excaliber.

[John Sincerbeaux]

All those clamps, airlines, the fence hanging out the back like that would drive me nuts but that is just me. An F&F jig looks like it would achieve the same thing without the clutter from what I can see in the photos. I realise that production is a world away from the hobby world but that is what I see and no criticism is intended. Unskilled labour for instance would be safer using air clamps and no one could argue that.

A F&F jig would do the same task but in production, for what I do, the clamps are king.
The fence hanging off the front is just the way it is when using it as a stop. When not in use it takes about 5 seconds to slide forward.

[David Kumm]

I'll add that the clamps are also great when working with rough lumber. I like to straight line one edge even if not the final cut, and crosscut to rough length before dealing with the jointer. The least material that needs to go through the jointer or planer the better. Sawing rough stock with a bow or twist is a dangerous game without a solid way to clamp the piece. Same with a shaper. One vertical and one horizontal clamp holds pretty heavy cuts in place when shaping off the sliding table. Mac takes real pride in his work and the clamps are Martin like in quality. Dave

[Joe Calhoon]

I agree Dave, slider is great for breaking down rough lumber. We normally buy skip planed material but every so often have to work from the rough. If we are doing a lot it only takes a couple minutes to pull the outrigger off.
I have a SLR but in the case of bark edge rough lumber easier to break it down on the slider.

Sliders are almost as versatile as shapers for the craftsman. Made more so with clamps and the F&F jigs.

C33E4F43-D521-48D7-A31D-00624197AF82.jpg
D2D5E871-2129-47BE-BAD0-2146F7491951.jpg
8338A6F3-5186-453A-849E-3F13FC76249D.jpg
5F1AAC29-34E0-4853-8447-FA09AF0E8F25.jpg
D5C6B997-8608-47EE-BF3B-5EFC01634C2B.jpg