Some Felder news

[Derek Cohen]

I visited my local Felder outlet today. I had emailed them a few days ago to enquire whether I could purchase a second blade winder (more in a little while). Con, one of the owners, emailed back to say he would give me one, and then opened the warehouse specially for me Saturday morning (he lives nearby). I love these guys!

Con mentioned a couple of new products, three of which were interesting enough to mention here.

The first is that Felder have their own version of the Sawstop technology, and apparently it is a whole new generation of electronics. It sounds a little similar to the Bosch Reaxx in that the blade drops down, and is not damaged. Just reset. Unfortunately, it is only going to be available at first on the top-of-the-line sliders. I guess we will eventually see it filtering down the lines.

The second item, and one that is of interest to me, is an insert for the T-slot that will effectively extend the length of the slider. It is made of plastic or similar to slide easily. I recall seeing jigs along these lines, but this one will be made specially for the Hammer/Felder models.

The third item was that an aluminium handle is available for the blade angle adjuster with a built in digital protractor (similar to the digital gauge on the thicknesser/planee).

The saw blade winder? Well, owners if the K3 will understand this. The K3 comes with a single winder, which gets swapped between the height and angle settings. K3 owners will likely also identify with my irritation each time one goes to adjust the blade height, as the handle has loosened and needs to be pushed deeper onto the spindle before it can be used. And then it needs to be swapped over to the angle side when the blade is to be tilted. Enough ... I wanted a second winder.

I got it



Each handle is attached now with a set screw (drilled and tapped in a couple of minutes) ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Greg Parrish]

I’ll be interested to see the protractor. They have them for sale now with the aluminum winder/handle but they are not calibrated for the hammer models. They are for the k700. I bought them for my KF500 and they would t work. Had to return them. Mine apparently has the hammer internals.

[Mike Kees]

Very interesting stuff. So is the digital protractor handle supposed to be really accurate ?

[Jim Becker]

I"m glad to hear about the blade safety feature including that it's non-destructive to the blade. In that manner, false sensor triggers don't cost hundreds of " local monetary units" but the worker has more protection. Folks are less likely to have hands near the blade with a slider for many operations, but accidents still happen. This is a step in the right direction, IMHO.

Good call on getting the second wheel...I can appreciate why you wanted it as it would be maddening to me to have to move a single one around with any frequency at all.

[Derek Cohen]

Very interesting stuff. So is the digital protractor handle supposed to be really accurate ?

Mike, I assume so ... the digital gauge on my A3-31 jointer-thicknesser/planer is super accurate.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Derek Cohen]

...
Good call on getting the second wheel...I can appreciate why you wanted it as it would be maddening to me to have to move a single one around with any frequency at all.

Jim, it has been a constant source of wonder - and frustration - why Hammer cheaped out like this. I cannot imagine other similar brands doing this.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Becker]

I will speculate that because the wheels don't recess into the machine like the tilt wheel does on my MM Slider, having it removable would be more comfortable for the user when standing next to the slider, rather than behind the saw as with a cabinet saw.

[John Kee]

Interesting development of SS adoption since its general excepted that the tech is waste of time on a larger slider. I can see a better adoption rate in the shorter stroke sliders with a small chassis that some use like a traditional cabinet saw. Another euro saw maker already tried that tech and it crashed and burned. The aluminum handles with the digital angle readout have been available as a separate part in the NA market for years.

[Greg Parrish]

Not calibrated for the hammer machines that I’ve seen. The rate of angle change doesn’t match the same as the felder saws. I had purchased two for my unit and had to return them which was a painful experience. Regardless one that matches the hammer saw and shaper unit would be really handy.

Interesting development of SS adoption since its general excepted that the tech is waste of time on a larger slider. I can see a better adoption rate in the shorter stroke sliders with a small chassis that some use like a traditional cabinet saw. Another euro saw maker already tried that tech and it crashed and burned. The aluminum handles with the digital angle readout have been available as a separate part in the NA market for years.

[Matthew Hills]

Let us know if the 2nd wheel gets in the way of normal operation (I've often heard about this as justification for only having a single wheel).

Marius Hornberger had another solution to the loosening hand crank:


Matt

[John TenEyck]

I thought SawStop had that safety technology locked up with their patents. I wonder how Felder thinks they will be successful where Bosch was not?

John

[Andrew More]

Any idea if the flesh sensing tech will be available outside of Australia? Obviously the big hold up is patents, which I've heard start to expire in the US around 2020. I'm expecting a re-introduction of the Bosch Reaxx with flesh sensing tech around that time, and hoping maybe something from the big cabinet makers as well. I can't help thinking the sale of SawStop to Festool was partially motivated by the expiration of the patents, and what that means for sales.

[John Kee]

Sawstop is now owned by the entity that owns Festool. Could be something with patents because those patents don't apply to Canada and many other countries. Bosch was only not successful in the USA.

[John Kee]

Not calibrated for the hammer machines that I’ve seen. The rate of angle change doesn’t match the same as the felder saws. I had purchased two for my unit and had to return them which was a painful experience. Regardless one that matches the hammer saw and shaper unit would be really handy.

Greg I stand corrected, I went though the frustration dealing with a Felder saleman that didn't know the product line. The aluminum handle only has always been available, I checked an old photo of my 2008 K500S where I thought I had used one, then I remember thats when I started using the digital Tiltbox. Even though I now have the dail readout on the K700SP I find the tiltbox far more accurate.

[Greg Parrish]

No worries. The KF500 has the inset plastic wheels like the 700 and you can pop the center cap and put the dial gauge in but it doesn’t track correctly. The tilt mechanism in the 700 works differently or at a different rate/speed apparently. However the elevation wheels can be swapped for aluminum and you can use the elevation dial gauges in them but I don’t have them. With changing blade sizes and shaper bit positions it didn’t seem that I could find an easy way to calibrate zero on the wheel without a lot of fiddling with each blade/tool change.

Greg I stand corrected, I went though the frustration dealing with a Felder saleman that didn't know the product line. The aluminum handle only has always been available, I checked an old photo of my 2008 K500S where I thought I had used one, then I remember thats when I started using the digital Tiltbox. Even though I now have the dail readout on the K700SP I find the tiltbox far more accurate.