Table saw slider?

[JDuke]

As I sit here in front of my tablesaw examining this build a little more thoroughly it becomes evident that having a miter gauge with the pivot point 24 inches or further from the blade may not be of much benefit for large miters unless there is a tremendous amount of travel in the sliding table.

With the pivot point at 24” from blade. It takes getting the miter gauge pivot point almost 36” in front of the blade just to put a 45 degrees miter on a 4 inch wide board.

Considering I already have a track saw, I’m beginning to think perhaps a slider for panels would likely be more trouble than it’s worth.

Hope that foray into my thoughts will be of use should anyone else find this post when considering building a DIY sliding tablesaw.

Duke

[FireWood]

As I sit here in front of my tablesaw examining this build a little more thoroughly it becomes evident that having a miter gauge with the pivot point 24 inches or further from the blade may not be of much benefit for large miters unless there is a tremendous amount of travel in the sliding table.

With the pivot point at 24” from blade. It takes getting the miter gauge pivot point almost 36” in front of the blade just to put a 45 degrees miter on a 4 inch wide board.

Considering I already have a track saw, I’m beginning to think perhaps a slider for panels would likely be more trouble than it’s worth.

Hope that foray into my thoughts will be of use should anyone else find this post when considering building a DIY sliding tablesaw.

Duke

I have a format style slider on my minimax combo.  I have about 6' of throw.  You will never be able to match that on a traditional saw.

However, every now and then a format style slider will pop up on craigslist or FB marketplace.  I saw one last month for $2K.  


If you have the space for one, definitely consider used.  You may be surprised by how affordable they are if you have a bit of patience and luck.

[JDuke]

I have considered a formal slider, but considering I use a track saw to break down sheet goods, I’m not sure it would be worth the space.

Quite a while back before my first Sawstop I considered a robland x31 that was going for almost nothing, I passed on it.

Now if I were to see an x31 I might get it, but it would have to be for almost nothing considering their resale is not great. And I’d be getting it more for the other features than the table slider.

[tablesawtom]

First of all, if you own a full sliding saw you are not a hobbyist woodworker working in his or her 2 stall garage on a week end. You are either building professionally, or you have a lot of money. The saw alone would take up a stall in a 2 stall garage. 

I do not, nor do I ever plan on buying a track saw. I do have a method of braking down plywood that I have been using long before a track saw was first introduced. Here in Iowa on can pick up a circular saw at an auction or garage sale or around $5- $10. If I were just starting out and didn't have a way of breaking down sheet goods I would consider buying a Wren. Menards has one for $200  and the rail is 8 ft. long and in 4 pieces. There are a lot of attachments that it will have to be added to make it work very well and it seams to me like chasing a rabbit down a rabbet hole

I also do not have a miters saw of any kind. I do have a DeWalt RAS saw, that is at 90 degrees and stays at 90 degrees, within 2 1/2 feet of my table saw. But I will add that 95% of all my cuts are done at my table saws.

But I do have a sliding table on one of my saws.

   

   

The problem with a slider like mine is it takes up a lot of room. But it is worth its weight in gold when even one panel needs to be squares up or cut at an angle. Personally I offered to sell this slider and a Min Max S45 bandsaw a while back, so I could buy a Saw Stop slider. No takers.

The saw Stop slider looks like it would really come in handy and would be easy to mount and all. It would however cause some problems with room.

If I couldn't afford a Saw Stop slider, which I can't without selling a couple of things, and if I didn't have an Excalibur slider, I Would consider building a slider which would fit on my saw. I would use the linear rails and bearings 
like JDuke askes about. 

I do however have 2 Dubby sleds. The one I use most is put on the left side of the blade I use it for 95% of my cross cuts. I also own a Jessen miter gage which is about the same weight as the sled. I prefer the sled for most cuts. I mentioned the Dubby sled because a lot of people didn't like making or having a heavy sled. The Dubby does have a couple of things I didn't like and had to change though. I love it now so it is an option over a sled.

99 % of the time a sliding table doesn't need to cut off more than 24 inches plus the cord of the saw blade and the saw guard. See my mind is already working through what would be of useful in my shop. I would do it and I encourage you to go for it..

Tom

[jteneyck]

Tom, there are plenty of small format true sliding table saws, small enough to fit in a 2 car garage with plenty of room to work.  
I think Derek Cohen has one that he has shown several times,  IIRC.  

Here's a link to Felder's Hammer line of small format sliders.  Some are no larger than a cabinet saw and all of them look to be smaller than your setup.  You would have to do a massive amount of modification to turn a cabinet saw into a true slider, including milling the table down on one side of the blade.  

John

[Cian]

I have considered a formal slider, but considering I use a track saw to break down sheet goods, I’m not sure it would be worth the space.

This is how I get around the lack of space.  I cut sheet goods to finished dimensions with a track saw in my garage, before bringing the material into my basement shop.

However, if I had the room and primarily worked with sheet goods, I'd heavily consider a slider.  With that said, I also do use my MiterExpress quite a bit.

[tablesawtom]

I have a table top that is basically a torsion box. It has legs that fold up under it. It is a little less than a full sheet of plywood. If I had it to do all over again I would make at smaller. I pull the sheet goods out of the truck onto the table. I have basically a long straight edge I can clamp to the sheet goods and  I run a circular saw against it and cut the material. I consider myself more than a normal hobbyist I have built 3 sets of Kitchen cabinets. The last set was for a church which took 35 sheets of plywood and  of over 750 BF of red oak.   And I didn't use a track saw because I do not have one. I do have a circular saw that could be considered the for runner of one. I didn't need a track saw to brake down the 35 sheets then so I do not see why I need one today.

I did write is that if I didn't have what I do have, I would buy a Wren. 

jteneyck. Every slider that you posted links to are more of a commercial saw. I didn't say some hobbyist don't have one. I am just guessing  that is less than 1 /2 of one per cent that frequent this forum have one.  I posted a picture of my Delta contractor saw with an Excalibur table on it and it is to big for a 2 stall (24 x24 garage that is sharing space with two cars or a car and a truck. What I posted is to large to even store store in a garage completely assembled. What you are posting are pictures that cost well over the cost of even a new cabinet saw. I do not know but I would guess that $7000 won't touch it today. Just a 3hp saw stop is north of $3500 before taxes today did I mention shipping. I would like to here from every one out there who can afford a saw like that.

I checked the  pictures and checked on prices but I would have had to sign in just to find out. They are well beyond the cost that most woodworkers can afford for a hobby. I guess I can afford to buy one but I can afford one only because I am smart enough to know that I would never justify owning one for no more than I would use one.

The person who started this post was asking about building one using ball bearing guide blocks and rails because he can not  could afford machines like you posted  If he could then he probably wouldn't have asked about making a sliding table in the first place.

Post pictures of your Hammer sliding table saw that is in your garage. And show us how you move it around. Or your MIN Max slider as the matter goes. 

For the record my contractor saw cost me $75.  And the Excalibur I got at a auction for $35. It was sold as a glass cutter. Tthere were several woodworkers at the auction but I was the only one that knew what it was.

[JDuke]

Tom, I can afford a true slider, it’s more a question of space as nature abhors a vacuum and my 30x60 shop seems to fill up with projects faster than I can send them out the door.

As you allude to with breaking down sheet goods as well as not having a miter saw, there are multiple ways to skin any cat.

I am a bit of a tool player as much as I’m a woodworker.
I build CNC machines for fun, and have gone from having just barely enough money to buy harbor freight tools and done cheap wood to make a couple things, to now having more money than time as my father called it.
I still like to tinker with building tools, but in most cases if I find I’m using it a bunch, I end up spending the money to buy a commercially available option.
My satisfaction with the commercially available option has frequently been to either one extreme or the other.

If my dewalt track saw were to get stolen, it would get replaced immediately some other tools not as quickly.

My thought on a slider was more for miters on longer pieces
I don’t do enough to justify the Sawstop price for a new slider hence my play with rolling my own.
If a Sawstop slider were to fall in my lap at a low price, I’d probably buy it, but I’m at the point where I dont think it’s worth spending a bunch more time and effort on it for the way my shop works.

[jteneyck]

Actually, Tom, Hammer is marketed to well-heeled hobbiests.  Felder is their commercial/industrial line.  I don't have one, but if I were to buy a new saw it would either be a SS or a slider because both are inherently safer than a cabinet saw.  You can't lose a finger if there is technology to stop that from happening, as with the SS, or you don't put your hands near the blade, as with a slider.  

Anyway, the smallest Hammer is about $6k, the middle one $6.7 and the large on about $9.  If you go over on SMC you'll see that a fair number of folks there have sliders.  I guess it's the more well-heeled crowd.  Me?  I have a Unisaw born the same year I was, which I'm sure is going to outlive me by at least 2X.  I paid $0 for it.  How's that for a bargain?  I'm plenty happy with it.   

The main point was sliders are not something most people could replicate.  You would only have to use one for a few minutes, or maybe just watch a couple of videos, to see that.  But if you'd like to try, by all means, go to it.  

John

[tablesawtom]

Yes I agree with both of you. JDuke you are very fortunate to be able to afford a slider,  And you are fortunate to have the space you have and I am glad for you. The medium income around where I live is around $35,000. If you are raising a family of 2 or more kids then a slider of 6,000 is a little out of reach. I hate to say it but most Americans live pay check to pay check. Note cost of living is much lower here than in other parts of the country. It balances out.

I do believe you are the one that started the post. With the low price of linear rods and bearings why aren't we seeing more DIY sliding tables? It is probably space more than anything which is what I said all along. Also I would like to know how many sheets of plywood you broke down in the last year.?

I have to go but I am enjoying this conversation so I will get back to it.

Tom