Reason #42 to by a slider saw

[Greg Parrish]

Steve, do you by chance use a power feeder on your machine? Reason I ask because one of my local guys took delivery of his KF not too long ago and ordered the tipper bracket with a gas piston. There apparently are two versions of tipper bracket. One with piston (newer) and the old style, which I assumed they all were. Anyhow, we got this piston-assisted one installed and you can literally swing over a 4-wheel feeder with one had. It was unbelievable.

Erik

that’s how the bracket is on my KF500 Pro. In fact if you don’t extend the feeder out to just the right spot there isn’t enough weight leverage to overcome the piston sometimes and hold it down when folded out of the way. It’s very simple to flip it over for use for sure.

[Erik Loza]

that’s how the bracket is on my KF500 Pro. In fact if you don’t extend the feeder out to just the right spot there isn’t enough weight leverage to overcome the piston sometimes and hold it down when folded out of the way. It’s very simple to flip it over for use for sure.

In the early days, we only had the hinge-type bracket. If there happened to be a machine in the showroom with a feeder mounted to it, the inside joke was, “Just sort-of start it moving so the customer can see what is supposed to happen but UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, do the full movement as part of the demo”, LOL. It was murder trying to get a 4-wheel feeder back up and over.

Once we got his feeder (a 4-wheel DC Comatic; awesome feeder, BTW) mounted to the piston bracket, it’s like it’s suspended by air. Unbelievable! I couldn’t stop playing with it. Like you said, Greg, you actually have to push it down a little bit if you want to run a board.

Erik

[Jim Becker]

I process all my lumber in this way generally...I flatten and thickness at the J/P after rough cutting to lengths and then the flat stock goes on the wagon for a nice straight line rip on one side. Ripping to width is either on the wagon with my friends "Fritz and Franz" or with the rip fence in a traditional way if that's the better way for a particular component. (I'm not a production shop, but if I were, I'd bound between straight line on the wagon and rip-to-width on the fence probably for speed) I pretty much NEVER edge joint because cutting this way provides a glue ready edge. And then the crosscutting using the wagon finishes up component creation.

I actually have a commission that just hit for 12 doors (equestrian lockers) that will allow me to componentize all the rails and stiles very quickly where every component will be exactly the same size across the project for its given purpose. That will let things go together really smoothly and they will be easier to keep square, too.

I use very little sheet goods compared to solid stock on my slider...

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Steve, do you by chance use a power feeder on your machine? Reason I ask because one of my local guys took delivery of his KF not too long ago and ordered the tipper bracket with a gas piston. There apparently are two versions of tipper bracket. One with piston (newer) and the old style, which I assumed they all were. Anyhow, we got this piston-assisted one installed and you can literally swing over a 4-wheel feeder with one had. It was unbelievable.

Erik

I do have a feeder on a manual bracket. It is a serious workout to flip it up, definitely want to make sure everything is locked down to. I'm a big guy so it's not that big of a deal, but one of my co workers isn't and he physically can't flip it up without help. Good to know there is an assisted model, that sounds like a really good option!

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Mark, that's clever how you added mass to the bottom of the ZCI so the left edge doesn't get fluttery. The factory ones that I've used don't have that and they are not long for this world.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I process all my lumber in this way generally...I flatten and thickness at the J/P after rough cutting to lengths and then the flat stock goes on the wagon for a nice straight line rip on one side. Ripping to width is either on the wagon with my friends "Fritz and Franz" or with the rip fence in a traditional way if that's the better way for a particular component. (I'm not a production shop, but if I were, I'd bound between straight line on the wagon and rip-to-width on the fence probably for speed) I pretty much NEVER edge joint because cutting this way provides a glue ready edge. And then the crosscutting using the wagon finishes up component creation.

I actually have a commission that just hit for 12 doors (equestrian lockers) that will allow me to componentize all the rails and stiles very quickly where every component will be exactly the same size across the project for its given purpose. That will let things go together really smoothly and they will be easier to keep square, too.

I use very little sheet goods compared to solid stock on my slider...

Jim, your post made me think about the last time I used the jointer, and I don't remember it for edge jointing. It's been a while! Did some face jointing a while back, but that's a different animal. BTW, careful, 12 doors is how you start to become a production shop

[Jim Becker]

Jim, your post made me think about the last time I used the jointer, and I don't remember it for edge jointing. It's been a while! Did some face jointing a while back, but that's a different animal. BTW, careful, 12 doors is how you start to become a production shop

About the only time I "joint" edges at this point is for a bookmatched top for a guitar body and for that I use a quckie "shooting board" type setup on my bench with a hand plane that I learned from Brian Holcombe not long ago. As to the doors...it's a one-off. The equestrian farm owner is a woodworker himself to a certain degree, but doesn't have the time or tools to do these locker doors. I guess I do do "production" in some sense in that a good chunk of my business work is sub-contract making parts and related. Some of it is identical units; some of it is unique one-off, but yea...I'm "producing it"

[Mike Kees]

My stock prep sequence is always evolving. Currently I start at my slider to get a straight edge if a board needs it,next rough cut to length on slider. Then I rip to width on my bandsaw to save wood. The next step is my jointer to flatten a face and hit one edge to square. Then it is thickness planer to desired thickness. If I am doing stiles and rails or anything that requires uniform widths I finish at my shaper with an outboard fence and rebate head to finished width . Love the shaper part,I get finish quality surfaces on one edge with perfectly uniform width,then mill other side for profiles.

[Jim Becker]

Mike, if you flatten first, you can eliminate the edge jointing as Steve and I have been commiserating about. Flattening and thicknessing first also means you can really see what you have in the material so you can determine where those edges will best serve your project...and it may not be parallel to the original board. The slider makes that really easy as the first straight line can be in any orientation with the material on the wagon. It's a "finesse" thing that can take a great project and make it an eye-popping project in some cases.

[Mike Kees]

It is more the way my machines are situated than choice of straight line or jointer for edge work. My jointer and planer are side by side and the bandsaw is very close to these two,slider is further away. Usually it only takes one light pass on my jointer after ripping on the bandsaw. My jointer is a 16'' Paolini that has an 89'' bed so pretty easy to flatten and do edges. I get the slider speed for straight line rips and use it for long pieces 9'-10' long.I will try your system when grain is more important,lately I have been using Maple for a big project and it has been all about getting maximum usable stock.

[Jim Becker]

That makes sense, Mike. But yea...when the object is to really pop something relative to grain, the slider is a wonderful tool!