Originally Posted by
Ned Otter
Hi Derek,
My shop is not quite 11.5 feet wide (138”) and about 40 feet long, at least that's the part of the structure where my machines will reside, when they arrive in December. With the exception of the DC, it’s all MiniMax: 16” jointer, 16” planer, 8 foot slider, and 20” band saw.
I'm a firm believer in buying more machine than you actually need right now, as upgrading is costly, and it’s either dangerous or expensive to move stuff this heavy. I’m also not 100% convinced that this shop will be the “final resting place” for this set of equipment.
For the slider, I definitely have the length to accommodate it, but I also definitely don't have the width, which requires about 14 feet if handling sheet goods and using the full rip capacity. I expect to use the slider for lumber 99% of the time, so I don’t see that as a problem. The motor is 24” wide, the wagon is 15”, and the minimum footprint of the 90 degree fence is 68 inches, for a grand total of 107”. I’ll have to position the machine such that the 90 degree fence traverses the part of the shop where the doors are, so that I can open them for really long pieces, should the need arise.
I dealt with Sam Blasco, who was great. He suggested angling the slider as he does in his shop, but my shop is so narrow, it cuts off the shop too much. If you want to DM me, I can send you a diagram of how I initially want to lay things out. I have a Pentz EF5 in a different part of the structure, but I don’t want to purchase/connect ducting until I know for sure the exact location of machines in the main shop area.
I’ll have to see when I get the equipment how I’ll set the slider up – I probably won’t be able to use the rip fence, but I don’t think that will be an issue for me, as it’s possible to rip on the wagon, with some type of parallel fence and flip stop.
Best of luck to you --