If I ever get a new Table Saw it will be like the ones

[Arlin Eastman]

In Europe with the sliding carrages. 



Never have to get your fingers or hand close and it moves the wood so easily.

Does anyone have one of these T/S's?

If so tell me what you think of them.

[Steve N]

Pro's

Many also offer a secondary blade that scores the face of the cut to greatly reduce tearout, especially with soft wood, and plywood.

Ability to easily, and quite safely pass cross cuts with a long wide fence to support the work as it goes through the blade.

Many of the Euro machines also offer a multi machine, with jointers, planers, shapers.

Cons

LOTTA CASH

Take up a BUNCH of space.

You can add on just a sliding table to many cabinet TSs to get the slider effect, some are very good, and much less $$$$

Or you can make a good sled, and these can be as safe as a slider, and if well made can support a wide panel, or with extensions long pieces.

When I was younger I would sometimes have wistful thoughts of a slider, but with age, and experience have seen for the work I do, it's a cost I cannot afford, and so I have done all the work around's to make my TS as safe, and easy to use as it can be.

[BloomingtonMike]

Me too Arlin. I want a crazy one though.

[Dave Diaman]

Arlin, a really good customer and friend of mine was also a avid woodworker. Not very talented but he loved working in the shop and got a lot of enjoyment out of it. He was also very wealthy and his shop reflected it. He passed away about 10 years ago and left a large portion of his shop to me. One of the things he left me was a Felder sliding tablesaw. At the time I had a Steel City industrial cabinet saw that I really liked. I didn't have room for two saws so I sold the Steel City cabinet saw because I figured the Felder would be much nicer. The dado head for the Felder alone was $1000 from Felder. After a year of struggling with the saw I decided to sell it and bought a SawStop. For sheet goods it was great. The problem was I almost never use sheet goods. For the type of woodworking I do the saw was more of a henderance than an asset. I figured I would get used to it and adapt but it never happened. I nice cabinet saw and a well made crosscut sled is a much better option for me.

[Derek Cohen]

I am shortly to take delivery of a Hammer K3 with 1250 slider and the Professional fence. My old contractor saw, which I had for 20 years, was collected by the new owner today. It's going to be an upgraded shop! 

The Euro sliders are a different ball game from the cabinet saws. I looked at the Sawstop Professional, and it is beautifully made. Second to none. I was seriously thinking of it plus the slider attachment (I had a similar slider attachment on my contractor saw). But this is no substitute for a Euro slider. They work completely differently. Dave, I imagine when you dismissed the Felder (idjit!
 ), you must have attempted to use it like your Steel City. 

If you wish to understand what the difference is, have a view of the following video. This is a combination machine, but examine when it is ripping boards - the slider is used for ripping, not just crosscutting. The approach is brilliant, and makes everything intuitive ... and much safer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV8A3XK3R0I


Regards from Perth

Derek

[ez-duzit]

A radial arm saw is much handier for crosscutting lumber. And a track saw or vertical panel saw is easier on full size sheet goods.

[Derek Cohen]

A radial arm saw is much handier for crosscutting lumber. And a track saw or vertical panel saw is easier on full size sheet goods.

No, just a different way. And a different mindset.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Arlin Eastman]

I have a sled and used the 5 cut method and it was only out .0012 when finished and the told me it was great, however it has limitations on ripping.

Does anyone have a link to a slider for my Grizzly 0690 to look at?  I do agree when I looked on Grizzly their Euro says start at $8K and got to $13k but it sure looks good to use, but like was said I could never go with the price difference.

[Arlin Eastman]

A radial arm saw is much handier for crosscutting lumber. And a track saw or vertical panel saw is easier on full size sheet goods.

That maybe a good idea for others but it would not work with me.  I can not get on the ground nor reach very far because of my back and shoulder.

I do have a RAS with a 8.5" blade and I am almost finished rehabbing it.  It is the one that Tablesawtom gave me which is a 1954 AMF DeWalt.

[Dave Diaman]

Arlin,  a really good customer and friend of mine was also a avid woodworker. Not very talented but he loved working in the shop and got a lot of enjoyment out of it. He was also very wealthy and his shop reflected it. He passed away about 10 years ago and left a large portion of his shop to me. One of the things he left me was a Felder sliding tablesaw. At the time I had a Steel City industrial cabinet saw that I really liked. I didn't have room for two saws so I sold the Steel City cabinet saw because I figured the Felder would be much nicer. The dado head for the Felder alone was $1000 from Felder. After a year of struggling with the saw I decided to sell it and bought a SawStop. For sheet goods it was great. The problem was I almost never use sheet goods. For the type of woodworking I do the saw was more of a henderance than an asset. I figured I would get used to it and adapt but it never happened. I nice cabinet saw and a well made crosscut sled is a much better option for me.

I am shortly to take delivery of a Hammer K3 with 1250 slider and the Professional fence. My old contractor saw, which I had for 20 years, was collected by the new owner today. It's going to be an upgraded shop! 

The Euro sliders are a different ball game from the cabinet saws. I looked at the Sawstop Professional, and it is beautifully made. Second to none. I was seriously thinking of it plus the slider attachment (I had a similar slider attachment on my contractor saw). But this is no substitute for a Euro slider. They work completely differently. Dave, I imagine when you dismissed the Felder (idjit!
 ), you must have attempted to use it like your Steel City. 

If you wish to understand what the difference is, have a view of the following video. This is a combination machine, but examine when it is ripping boards - the slider is used for ripping, not just crosscutting. The approach is brilliant, and makes everything intuitive ... and much safer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV8A3XK3R0I


Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek, I actually completely changed the way I worked. I had used a big slider before but it was always for sheet goods. You will find that simple things like when you would have just pick up your crosscut sled and cut a piece of lumber take a lot longer. In theory the fence and slider should work great and go back in the same place every time you install it on the slider. In practice that was not true and I have. It was square enough for cabinet and plywood work but I ended up with gaps in joinery if I didn't square the fence every time I used it on the saw. The saw I had was a K700 which is comparable to the K3 Hammer machine. I also have a friend with one of the Hammer machines and he has the same issue with squaring the fence. Maybe you will get lucky and not have that problem. I also really didn't like not being able to put zero clearance throat plates in the saw. If I was cutting thin strips they would almost always try to fall into the saw. It was also problematic to cut tenons on the slider. These are just a few of the issues that come to mind but there were a lot more which is the reason I sold it. For some people a slider may be a good option but it just slowed my work flow down and caused problems with me. I can honestly say my work suffered from using the saw which was a real problem.  I am much happier with the cabinet saw I have now and it didn't require trying to retrain myself to use a production style saw for custom work.