I will be buying a Delta Unisaw (upgrading from a contractor's saw) in the not too distant future and was thinking about adding the sliding table. Does anyone have any comments, pro or con, regarding this accessory? I plan on doing my own kitchen cabinets and thought it would make the job a bit easier and more accurate when dealing with sheets of ply but like most of you, I look at the "bang for the buck" when making major decisions.
I have had 2 sliding table saws and would never go back to being without. The greatest advantage IMO is the ability to cross cut absolutely square and to repeatable accuracy. My current setup has 48" of fence and can deal with lumber up to 8' on the LH side with no problem. I 'know' that anything I cut within the fence stop range is accurate to within +- .005" or the accuracy of the scale. IMHO there is no comparison to using a sled and people who have used mine agree.
For practical reasons I don't cut 8'x4' full sheets on the TS, mainly because working alone it's too big to manhandle. I drag them from the truck onto saw horses, bridged by 8'x4"x2"s, and cut with a CSaw guided by a 50" Clamp'N Guide.
Bernard R
I bought an Excalibur sliding table a couple years ago and just love it.
It's probably the best accessory I've bought for any tool. It makes working with larger material soooooo much easier. I just can't believe I went so many years without one.
Here's a link to the Excalibur web site:
Brian
Brian,
Someone in this group recently posted his site showing how he attached a sliding table from Jet's "SuperSaw". Perhaps he'll read your post and chime in... or you can "Google"!
As I see it (not having owned a sliding table), the main advantage of the Jet (and DeWalt) tables are they don't protrude past the front of the table when not in use... a distinct PLUS in my inexperience view!
HTH,
Charlie LegMan (remove 999 for eMail)
Why not just build some sleds for starters? You can always add the sliding table if you don't think the sleds are good enough.
Barry
The real advantage of a system like the Excalibur is that it give you increased cutting capacity. While it does protrude beyond the other side of the saw (Unisaw in my case), I can flip the fence around to the far side to cross cut extra wide boards (instead of the wood passing the blade first, then the fence, it would be the fence passing the blade first, then the wood).
My shop isn't that big (roughly 40 x 20) and there are a LOT of machines squished in there, but the little bit of extension doesn't bother me.
Someone in a later post here suggests making a slider - a good suggestion. Norm's is pretty good and is not a bad place to start - if you need extra capacity, then look at an Excalibur.
Brian
My vote is for the Excalibur. I have had one on my Unisaw for about 4 years and hope I will never do without one again.
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