Slidng table table saws

[vinson]

Does anyone have any experience with Grizzly sliding table table saws? I have always thought that a sliding table made more sense than a sliding workpiece although I have never used one. Comments? Experinces?

[Ray Martin]

I've never used the Grizzly but I do have the DeWalt with the slider. I agree with your thought on moving the table and wood past the blade rather than sliding the wood across the table. The slider for the DeWalt is large and heavy, so it makes for a smooth / vibration-free action. It comes with a nice miter too.

I know that there are places that sell DeWalt, but not all of them will have saw set up with the slider. Woodcraft in Raleigh does it set up. And that's a great place to get some help / information / etc.

Ray

[ashley_phil]

Sliding table saws are the standard in Europe for all wood shops. They are common in the US for people who use panel construction. I'll write more tomorrow when I have time but they are very common for all sorts of applications.

The one's GRIZZLY sell vary greatly depending on the model. They sell one very similar to the one we are importing but with only an 8' table that will hurt them in the cabinet market, but that's a different tale.

Phil

[rhett]

I have used a couple and presently and rack up about 12 hrs a week on an Altendorf F45. I have an Excalibur slider on my Unisaw. After seeing the light, I will never woodwork without a slider. The benefit of a real sliding table saw is that the table actually slides right next to the blade as opposed to my american style, knock-off set up where the slider is 5" from the blade. I dont know about the grizzly, but I do know cheaper sliders don't hold square very well.

[McRabbet]

One of our members, Sammy, has a G0588 12" Sliding Tablesaw and he cross cut and ripped an 8/4 slab of Bubinga for me on it last Spring. I handled the 200+ pound slab with ease and the cuts were smooth and straight. The slider moves without any wobble and with very little force. At $6K, it performs very, very well. Here is a picture of the saw from their website (7.5 HP, 3 Ph motor):


And a picture of the slab of Bubinga before I resanded it into a satin finish...

[Bernhard]

I don't have any experience with the Grizzly sliding saw, but I have sliding table saw (Felder with a 10' slider).
IMHO, the sliding saw is just a better saw with more options, easier to use, more versatile, better accuracy and precision. The long sliding table is especially helpful when cutting sheetgoods. Also, I use the slider to edge rough cut lumber works great.

The drawbacks with slider is their space requirement, you need to have full clear space for the length of the slider. In my case, the saw eats up a full 26 x 14 feet! The second drawback is money, they tend to be much more expensive. But then again, they are more fun to work with .

Cheers,
Bernhard

[ashley_phil]

As I mentioned yesterday I'll expand my comments on sliders. I work for Ex-Factory and we deal primiarly in used equipment.

As mentioned above the only real drawback to a slider is the floor space required, a 30' x 15' area ensures you can get around the saw on all sides. That is for a full-sized slider. There are several smaller footprint machines on the market. The key to a slider is the "sliding or rolling" table. These vary greatly from one model to the other even within brands especially for GRIZZLY, MINI-MAX, LAGUNA or the multitude FELDER brings in (of course if FELDER makes a bad product I don't know of it.)

One guy mentioned he runs an ALTENDORF at work, they are "inventorys" of sliders and ironically their basic design from 100 yrs ago is still in use some places. About (30) yrs ago though they developed the precision roller and rod system that is in my opinion the most tried and true sliding system. The rollers travel on a rod mounted to the table that is square. If the rollers get damaged or worn you can replace them easily. Other systems consist of bearings in tracks (think accuride drawer slides) or a variation of essentially a groove and roller be it round or v-groove. These methods have performance issues beyond a few years. The roller & rod sliders rarely have issues that are due to improper use. The sliding carriage needs to be cleaned regularly during use which is basically keeping the dust and chips out of the rollers way to prevent premature wear. The carriages will support and carry much more weight that you'll ever need them too. I spent 1/2 the show demonsrating this on our sliding carriage and i'm not a small guy!

The proper use of a slider is still not fully understood in the US. Few folks know you can straightline rip on them as Berhard mentioned casually he's doing. This is primarily because the saws were sold in to panel or sheet good shops and the only blades they ever bought were for cutting panels. These don't do well in solid wood! So folks assumed you can't cut solid wood on the saw. That perception persisted and not much was done to change it until the last few years. I sold them for a year or so and didn't know it.

The safety advantage to a slider is that you are rarely near the blade, and most are equipped with a riving knife and an overarm blade guard. The use of the cross cut fence allows you to make accurate cuts. Attachments to the table such as a concentric clamp allow the operator to not hold the material as it is cut for further safety. These are used mostly if cutting small pieces at an angle. A "quadrant miter guage" allows cutting of panels at angles joining and also for mitering solid wood for frames and the like.

The saw we are bringing in won't work for most of us since is a basic 10-1/2' slider that takes up 30' x 15' which is larger than my garage. The saw is www.factorynew.com if you want to see what it looks like.

THe aftermarket fence system that jessem came out with a few years ago seems to be the best route if you need a sliding table but have a limited area. There are production quality 5' sliders on the market now geared toward the solid wood market. These are a better fit for most of us but sill take up 15' x 10' or so a big chunck of real estate.

If you have any questions I'll be glad to help you out.

Phil

[NCPete]

related....

does anyone here have the Jessem slider attached to their saw???

Phil... having a hard time finding the slider on your site... can you provide a direct link?


never mind, found it here, listed as sliding panel saw

[jglord]

The Jessem slider is a beautiful piece but it does replace the left table extension. Three points about it:

1 - it is in $500 range
2 - since it replaces the left table extension, the slider is separated from the blade by the width of the table to the left of the blade. It can be installed very slightly above the table to prevent the piece from dragging on the table.
3 - the fence rail system can not extend in front of the sliding table - for many saws/fence combinations this requires cutting the rail system.

The bearings used and heavy construction ensure very smooth operation and, I'm sure, a long life. It comes with a heavy duty fence that can be adjusted for angled cuts, as well as position on the table. All in all, it is a great way to add a sliding table to a saw.

[ashley_phil]

a friend of mine has the jessem on his JET saw and it is a dream to use.