Hammer k4 vs Felder k500s vs k700s

[Mark e Kessler]

Hello, looking for opinions on the above machine. Anyone out there use these. This would be for ex professional with slider experience looking to do a part time side business. Mostly all furniture some ply work but no plans to hite or quit my day job.

Here is what I know
The k4 and k500s share the same slide, outrigger (i think) and fence,the slide extrusion is heaver than the hammer and looks close to the xroll but with ball bearings, they also have the same saw aggregate as the k700s, i also think the frames are the same, slightly lighter build than the k700.
The k4 has a separate scoring motor.
K4 is 10’ which will fit but way tight, i would prefer 8’ the k700s will probobly be slightly out of budget but if I went with the shorter slide could make it work.

Thanks Mark

[Mike Kees]

Mark I can not comment on all these saws because I only have experience with a K700s. I bought a barely used one this summer. I think the internals are heavier than the k500,but I may be wrong. My saw has a 10' slide and the x-roll bearing in the slide. It also has a 7.5h.p. main motor and 3/4 or one horse scoring motor. I bought this saw because I got an awesome deal in a package with a Felder edgebander. I was looking at Minimax when I found this. The saw is amazing,I smile every time I use it. My previous experience with sliders was a Minimax Sc2 with a 5' stroke. That was a great saw as well. For me personally I would either go short stroke or 10',8'seems like it would not be long enough for sheet goods or straight line ripping 10' stock. The short stroke worked well on sheet goods ,you just learn to think differently. Crosscut first then break down. What type of work are you anticipating doing the most ?

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Mark, the Felder saws have the X-roll table, you're correct that the K4 has a heavier ball bearing table than the other Hammer machines. The K4 does have the Felder saw aggregate.

Honestly if I was looking at the K4 versus the K700, I would go for the K700 to get the X-roll table with the 8 foot table.

I always caution customers that they have to live with the footprint of the 10 foot slider, if you have tons of room you're OK, if not the 8 foot may be more suitable.......Rod.

[Mark e Kessler]

The K700s internals are heaver than the K500 but the same in the K500s. With the 98" table and a 12" blade you can cut ~103" not ideal but doable, I can fit a 10' but would be too tight. Would love the K700S but affording the 98" may not even be possible which is why I might compromise with the K500s which gives me the xroll, k700 internals, slightly lighter build and lighter fence than the k700 and I might be able to swing the 100" which would be the sweet spot.
I am trying to stick with mostly small to med sized furniture as that is what i was originally trained in, but I want to be able to rip a min of 8' to handle the min amount of sheet goods that will cross my path and so I can rip 8'timber on the outrigger.

mk

Mark I can not comment on all these saws because I only have experience with a K700s. I bought a barely used one this summer. I think the internals are heavier than the k500,but I may be wrong. My saw has a 10' slide and the x-roll bearing in the slide. It also has a 7.5h.p. main motor and 3/4 or one horse scoring motor. I bought this saw because I got an awesome deal in a package with a Felder edgebander. I was looking at Minimax when I found this. The saw is amazing,I smile every time I use it. My previous experience with sliders was a Minimax Sc2 with a 5' stroke. That was a great saw as well. For me personally I would either go short stroke or 10',8'seems like it would not be long enough for sheet goods or straight line ripping 10' stock. The short stroke worked well on sheet goods ,you just learn to think differently. Crosscut first then break down. What type of work are you anticipating doing the most ?

[Mark e Kessler]

Well, here is what it looks like with the 10' K4 in the ideal location for me. would have to limit the forward stroke, but in this layout I wouldn't be able to change the blade i the load position. I have been told by felder that I can cut the table, would be nice to have the 10'....

but cuttingthe table? I think the K500s might be the ticket as it has the K700 internals, xroll and 98" or 110" slider I think the price will be close to the k4. however would do the k700s if funds allow



and here it is full stroke, albeit wood storage rack missing

[David Kumm]

Used K700 or equivalent come up periodically. The longer the slider the more important the build of the base. Dave

[Mike Kees]

Mark when I bought my saw I drove to Winnepeg Manitoba from Grassy Lake Alberta (1300 km one way). There are people who think that is nuts but I saved $8500 over the same combination used locally and about 25000 off new. My saw is 8 years old and built one set of cabinets and two bars before I owned it,the edgebander only did the one kitchen it is 4 years old. If you are looking used expand your radius ,road trips are fun.

[Tom Bain]

Mark — If you really want to be able to rip 8’ sheet goods then you might want to consider a 9’ (110”) slider length if you have the room for it. The 8’ length doesn’t afford much (if any) room for any kind of hold-down clamps and such with a full-sized sheet on there.

[Jim Becker]

Mark — If you really want to be able to rip 8’ sheet goods then you might want to consider a 9’ (110”) slider length if you have the room for it. The 8’ length doesn’t afford much (if any) room for any kind of hold-down clamps and such with a full-sized sheet on there.

This is sound advice. I have an 8'6" wagon and it's tight properly clamping down a 96.5"-97" long piece of sheet goods for a "rip" cut. Very doable, but right to the limit. Less of a factor for the solid stock I normally work with because I rarely have 8' long components in a project.

[Mark e Kessler]

This is sound advice. I have an 8'6" wagon and it's tight properly clamping down a 96.5"-97" long piece of sheet goods for a "rip" cut. Very doable, but right to the limit. Less of a factor for the solid stock I normally work with because I rarely have 8' long components in a project.

Good point, I did think about that but I never found the need in the past to use clamping on the 8' as I never had issues. However this time around I will want to be able to do that as I want to use the slider to rip narrower pieces on the 8' stroke. Looks like I will have to get quotes on the 110".

mk

[Mark e Kessler]

Mark — If you really want to be able to rip 8’ sheet goods then you might want to consider a 9’ (110”) slider length if you have the room for it. The 8’ length doesn’t afford much (if any) room for any kind of hold-down clamps and such with a full-sized sheet on there.

Thanks for reminding me of this, I have a feeling that I will be priced out of the K700s on the 110", I have pretty much decided that I will want the xroll so I may have to got to the K500s for the 110", xroll and 700 internals or a shorter stroke k700s.

[Jim Becker]

There have been a few times that I wished I had another 6" of length on the wagon just to make things a little easier loading/unloading and clamping when working with nominal 8" material. That 110" option is a nice one to have for sure.

[Mark e Kessler]

I don't plan on doing a lot of sheet goods the little that I would do I could do a work around as you suggest with little pain. I wanted to be able to rip lumber at 8' without removing the fence and also to be able to do tapering on say a bed post (the 80" would work for that maybe even the 60") I also want an outrigger with at least 96" of adj stop. So 80" would work but... the few times I would need the 96" I know I will be cursing myself so that's what lead me to the 96" but...now I think it will need to be 110" for clamping ability. Really the 60"-80" would work for small to med sized furniture as I can just cut the lumber down to work in that envelope, I suspect 20% of the time I would have preferred the 8-10' stroke. Mark

[Mark e Kessler]

The other question I have is do I even need scoring If I use the right blade I can pretty much eliminate tear out, or am I fooling myself... no chance of using melamine or laminates...

mk

[Tom Bain]

The other question I have is do I even need scoring If I use the right blade I can pretty much eliminate tear out, or am I fooling myself... no chance of using melamine or laminates...

mk

Just one man’s view, but if you are going to work with sheet goods even some of the time, the scoring blade is well worth the money. Do you really want to switch blades every time you switch between solid lumber and plywood? It’s one of the big advantages of going to a slider in my view. I remember when I had a conventional table saw I used to painter’s tape the cut line every time I crosscut plywood ... what a PITA.