Conventional ripping on a slider

[David Kumm]

I've got about 10 table saws, most are sliders of different lengths. I love my sliders but there are certain rips that are just not as easy on a slider as on a short stroke or cabinet saw. I always have two or three saws set up ( I have the room ). Sure, you can do anything on any machine, but not always efficiently. Rips longer than the sliding table or even some short rips are just easier with no long table sitting in front of the saw. If I'm doing ply work on a saw and need a quick rip, long or short, I'm not going to take off the crosscut fence or add the Fritz and Franz jig for a 5 second cut. If you have the room, keep the PM. You are used to it and its quirks and it can add efficiency. I know I have limited time and the idea of doing something the slow way makes me more prone to make up the time and do something stupid. Not everyone works that way but I tend to. Dave

[Jon Snider]

Thanks to all for advice. I’ve ripped several thousand feet on my PM without issue, but last fall while cutting some 1/4” Meranti hydrotex marine plywood for deck hatches had a piece kickback and hit me. Completely my fault and I’ve learned something the hard way. Thought at first i had broken my wrist, but just a laceration and lots of swelling. Anyway, this was the start of my looking into sliders. Only after some research have I learned there’s lots more to them than just perhaps more safety.

[Jim Becker]

You definitely have to adjust technique for some things that you may have done differently on the cabinet saw. That's part of the process...adapting...and it does become pretty automatic over time. It's the "special cases" that provide any gotchas with any tool.

[Mike King]

IMHO, the slider is a big upgrade to a cabinet saw. Using it in the same manner as a cabinet saw is not going to get you much of an improvement. So, either think about a feeder for the gunwales, or use a bandsaw. I get awfully good results with a 1" Woodmaster CT -- maybe better than what you'd get with a rip on a cabinet saw.

Mike