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Thread: Slider Table Saws to consider?

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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Slider Table Saws to consider?

    I had planned to keep using my Unisaw till I move into a new home/shop where my initial thoughts were to buy one of the traditional slider type saws with a modest footprint. COVID-19 has the world upside down right now, and my building plans are on hold.

    I have outgrown the capabilities of my 3hp, right tilt unisaw and thought I would add a sliding attachment to gain some precision and/or capabilities to it for the time being. Well that plan turned into a royal PITA, as I build a mobile base for saw, and the outfeed table is built into the mobile base, and is also attached to the Incra fence rails. All that will need to be heavily modified, or simply redone. It would be better to just sell this setup and start over with something new.

    So the above got me thinking about buying a new cabinet saw with a slider attachment, thinking the Euro type sliders were much more costly. For some reason or other, I assumed the sliders were in the +10k range. Now I see they are in the same price range as the cabinet saw setup I'm looking at, 5K-7K.

    I think one of the short stroke machines will fit in my garage and not take up more space than my current setup, especially considering the Incra fence, TS Sleds, Miter gauges, Taper jigs and all the other stuff I've build that goes away. The MinMax SC2C, Felder K500 or Hammer K3 Winner all take up the max footprint I could accommodate.

    I'm only just now starting to seriously look into these machines. Frankly, I've never operated one, so this is kind of a new journey. I don't know what I don't know at this point.... Anything I should be aware of? Are there other manufactures I should be looking at?

    I have a pretty random need for tools/machines. I break down sheet goods with a track saw, usually, then do a final rip on the TS. I prefer to work with hardwoods verse sheet goods, but do end up working with both.

    Freight to my location will also be a big issue, and may drive my final machine choice.

  2. #2
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    Nov 2013
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    Waterford, PA
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    Mike, I took the journey you're looking at now. I too, needed to move on from my big 3 hp traditional style cabinet saw. I too, looked at sliding attachments and came to the same conclusion. After lots of coaching and help from all great people here on SMC , I was able to determine a short stroke slider would fit in my shop and would fit my needs. I took the plunge, and chose to order the SC2C from Minimax, though I purchased it through a dealer.

    It was delivered in July and I couldn't be happier with it. You will have to learn to approach cuts differently, as that it just how a slider is. I probably do well over 95% of my cuts with the wagon and the remainder with the fence to the right of the blade. Once you get used to it, you'll wonder why you waited so long.

    Hammer was a close second when I had narrowed down my choices, but I felt I wanted a few of the features available on the SC2C.

  3. #3
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    Dec 2006
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    Toronto Ontario
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    Yes, you’ll love having a slider.

    I have the Hammer B3 Winner with the 1250mm sliding table which will crosscut a sheet of plywood, mine also has an outrigger, and a tilting spindle shaper with flip up power feeder.

    That’s the nice thing about Felder/Hammer, you can have the exact machine you want built for you.

    I would never go back to a cabinet saw……Regards, Rod.

  4. #4
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    Peoria, IL
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    I owned a short stroke Griggio when I was in business. My advice is that if you have a lot of jigs and fixtures for you present tablesaw, DON'T sell it. Shoving a huge slider to cut tiny pieces of stock is not fun. There were no table slots in the Griggio and not in the Minimax combo I have now. Also make sure the machine you narrow down to, has a very accurate way to relocate the crosscut fence. Many of the lower end fences need to be checked every time you put it back on.
    Last edited by Richard Coers; 12-23-2021 at 6:50 PM.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Lisa Starr View Post
    ... but I felt I wanted a few of the features available on the SC2C.
    What features of the SCM tipped the scales for you?

  6. #6
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    Malcolm, The scoring unit being part of the base package rather than an add on was the biggest one. I also liked the idea of working with a dealer. They could check the availability of various configurations I was considering and advise me on the various available upgrades. In the end, the unit I chose was going to be available in just a couple of weeks, though that wasn't a deciding factor, just a bonus.

  7. #7
    Scoring is common on most configurations of the K3 that we bring into the US, BTW. Also, any Felder USA sales rep can can tell anyone, with total certainty, exactly what is available and approximately when it will be here, on any machine in our production pipeline. We all receive email updates with this information several times per week or even daily.

    Erik
    Ex-SCM and Felder rep

  8. #8
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    Alaska
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    Thanks for all the input. And I'm working on a list of questions for you Lisa.

    Regarding space needs, my garage is a two car space that's roughly 26' square, and I need to move all the machines to one side in the summer months when one of my cars comes out of winter storage. I also need to move stuff around in the winter months so I can use one bay periodically to maintain our two other rigs. I've resisted the urge to get larger, industrial grade type machines due to this space limitation, but my TS has grown in size quite a bit anyway. Whatever I buy next, I will need to build a mobile base for it, and figure out how to incorporate an outfeed table and accessory storage.

    The next home I build will have a dedicated woodworking shop. Well, assuming the world moves on from the current lunacy and building costs come back down. My original building cost estimates were $250 per square foot, now I'm being told to budget for $400.

    The one major difference that I can see, and am muddling over, is the placement of the outfeed table and work bench(s). With my cabinet saw, the outfeed table/assembly table is directly behind the saw. The sliders will require these to be placed to the right side of the blade to accommodate the sliding table and/or wagon. And, I still need to have roughly 60" of clearance to the left side of the blade. I'm using some masking tape on the floor now to sort through this.

    I have searched many through many threads on this site and they have been helpful. I've also been surfing YouTube.

    Other than Felder/Hammer and MinMax, are there other manufactures? Grizzly? (I've not ever owned a Grizzly tool before).

    I read somewhere that these machines need to be special ordered for Dado use? Something about the standard arbor size being too short? Is that really a thing with sliders?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2012
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    Gatineau, Québec
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Drew View Post
    Thanks for all the input. And I'm working on a list of questions for you Lisa.

    Regarding space needs, my garage is a two car space that's roughly 26' square, and I need to move all the machines to one side in the summer months when one of my cars comes out of winter storage. I also need to move stuff around in the winter months so I can use one bay periodically to maintain our two other rigs. I've resisted the urge to get larger, industrial grade type machines due to this space limitation, but my TS has grown in size quite a bit anyway. Whatever I buy next, I will need to build a mobile base for it, and figure out how to incorporate an outfeed table and accessory storage.

    The next home I build will have a dedicated woodworking shop. Well, assuming the world moves on from the current lunacy and building costs come back down. My original building cost estimates were $250 per square foot, now I'm being told to budget for $400.

    The one major difference that I can see, and am muddling over, is the placement of the outfeed table and work bench(s). With my cabinet saw, the outfeed table/assembly table is directly behind the saw. The sliders will require these to be placed to the right side of the blade to accommodate the sliding table and/or wagon. And, I still need to have roughly 60" of clearance to the left side of the blade. I'm using some masking tape on the floor now to sort through this.

    I have searched many through many threads on this site and they have been helpful. I've also been surfing YouTube.

    Other than Felder/Hammer and MinMax, are there other manufactures? Grizzly? (I've not ever owned a Grizzly tool before).

    I read somewhere that these machines need to be special ordered for Dado use? Something about the standard arbor size being too short? Is that really a thing with sliders?
    Michael:

    I do not know about other manufacturers, but the dado option needs to be specified at the time of order for Hammer/Felder machines.

    J.

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Drew View Post
    I read somewhere that these machines need to be special ordered for Dado use? Something about the standard arbor size being too short? Is that really a thing with sliders?
    Most of the SCM/Minimax sliders for US use are dado-capable natively and most have 5/8" arbors for the main blade that match a typical cabinet saw. Since you can get dado capability with both SCM/MiniMax and Felder/Hammer, either natively or by specification, that alone shouldn't stand in your way to choose either.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #11
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    Jul 2003
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    Winterville, NC (eastern NC)
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    Great advice from all responders. In my 16 X 32 foot shop could only fit a short stroke slider so I installed a Laguna 6 foot short slider. The limited width of my shop means that the carriage is not attached to the wagon full time; just installed when needed. it stores easily on some wall hooks. The sawing operation keeps your digits safely away from the blade for peace of mind.
    I don't often rip with the slider as I have managed to shoe-horn a standard cabinet saw in the shop with a glue line rip blade on it most of the time. But ripping is not a problem if needed.

  12. #12
    I've been very happy with my Hammer K3 Winner with the 79 inch stroke. It came standard with the outrigger table and the scoring motor. I've had it now for 5 years and could not be happier. Since I have room in the garage, I kept the old Grizzly cabinet saw I had mostly for dadoes. I've heard great things about the SMC machines but Felder is located near me here in Northern California and so I though tech support would be easier.

  13. #13
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    Nov 2009
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    I thought I had made my decision, but now I’m not sure. The SC 3C will be a tight fit. Also, shipping quotes are coming in about $1500 more to get the SCM machines to me, over the Felder/Hammer machines. I started this adventure with a max budget of $7500, then stretched it, stretched again….. Now I’m back to getting what I actually need, verse want. This hobby is a slippery slope…….

    I checked out the Grizzley guard and found a picture of Rod Sherman's (Excelsior). Both look much better than what comes standard with either the Hammer/Felder or SCM saws. I gotta admit though, the add-on accessory guards that both companies offer looks great, assuming it can easily be piped separately from the below blade dust collection. It's nice to know there are less costly options though.

    Anyone with the Hammer saws care to offer what they did with respect to blades and dado sets? I probably have at least six premium Forest and Ridge Carbide blades, all recently sharpened - plus my dado sets. I know they are 'only' 10", but it seems pretty wasteful, and costly, to peddle them and buy new blades for the Felder/Hammer machines. Is the bore actually different that 5/8"? I also understand that the saw blades for Felder/Hammer have two additional holes to prevent them from backing off when the motor brakes. Is that a true statement?
    Last edited by Michael Drew; 01-05-2022 at 4:33 PM.

  14. #14
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,685
    The Hammer/Felder machines do not use 5/8" bore or even 1" bore tooling. if I"m not mistaken, it's a 30mm bore plus the two guide/index holes. Felder brand's dado solution is a little different. On the 10" vs 12"...I did used 10" blades for a bit on the MiniMax slider I had in my old shop, but eventually moved to 12" blades. it was more efficient relative to tip speed and, of course, cutting depth.
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 01-05-2022 at 7:40 PM. Reason: removed incorrect statement
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    East Coast of Florida
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    107
    Grizzly overarm guard worked well with my Felder K500P, I used the Forrest dado blade set with 30mm arbor hole and holes for the pins. 9E3FCF29-B6B1-437F-A0B6-D1FFC1C75019.jpg3DCDA893-DFDA-4D48-B3C7-D146116EBBA5.jpg

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