Excalibur Sliding Fence - Worth it?

I'm looking at a Grizzly G0691 3hp with an Excalibur sliding fence. Anyone have experience with sliding Excalibur fences and if it's something you used often?

I bought my used Unisaw platinum for a good price on CL and should be able to sell it to cover the Grizzly with Excalibur fence, hoping around $1,200.

The seller did not remove the left cast wing to mount it. Typical install requires cutting the front and rear rails. Instead he drilled holes and bolted it to the end of the left side of the saws cast wgiving more room to left side of the blade.

Attachment 351576

In general, these can be very helpful with material handling if you are working with larger panels, etc. The only downside to this type of device is that its edge is far from the blade so it's not quite as good as a true-sliding table saw for some operations. But with a fence attached and trued up accurate, it can help with a very repeatable crosscutting setup.

Patrick what do you cut ? The reason I ask is I have one of these excalibur sliders. If you cut sheet goods or want to cross cut large panels this works well. The way it is set up in the picture is not the best though. The left wing should be removed to bring slider closer to blade ( what Jim was talking about ) . If you dont want to cut the fence then shift it to the right by drilling new holes. In my shop I have two Unisaws facing each other with outfeed table between them and my slider is on one saw. I have never used a "real" sliding saw but this makes me want to. If you are challenged for space or not cutting sheet goods on a regular basis a crosscut box for your tablesaw is another option. It does take up quite a bit of real estate on your shop floor. I also had to cut a sheet of plywood down and drill holes with a forstner bit to hold the legs in place to keep the setup accurate. They would get bumped and had just enough give to shift slightly, the plywood solved that . Overall it is a keeper,good luck withyour decision, Mike.

I have one and really like it.

I can't remember what the max cross cut is on a typical cabinet saw using a miter gauge. 9"? Not much.

So it's not just useful for sheet goods. I often cross cut solid material as well. I prefer it toa sled as well.

Agreed that you should remove the wing on the left side, and agreed that a true slider is better. But at that price, it's worth it, IMO.

Good points guys. I dont cut much sheet good honestly, not yet at least. Just seems like a deal if I can flip my unisaw for near the same cost and get the grizzly with the sliding fence.

I like the idea of the left wing in place with the slider, allows more room to cut left side of the blade right?. I can see how it's now not close to the blade but maybe a longer fence attached to the slider would work. I didn't think about moving the rail down, re-drilling and tapping. Granted, it's only 2x3 box tubing and angle iron. Only cost me $30 for the 72" long 2x3 tubing and took half a day to drill, tap and paint.

I only have a 2 car garage right now and my unisaw is currently a standard 36" model so this would take up much more room.

Not to sound simple, but why are you ditching the unisaw for a grizzly? Thats a lot of saw moving, and frankly, i think the unisaw is better. Atleast, my unisaw is better. My baldor motor is superior. My american made bearings are better. Id hope my american made castings and machining are also better, but no way of proving it.

Why not offer the chap some cash for the excalibur and bolt it onto your unisaw? This way you arent moving two saws.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Kane

Not to sound simple, but why are you ditching the unisaw for a grizzly? Thats a lot of saw moving, and frankly, i think the unisaw is better. Atleast, my unisaw is better. My baldor motor is superior. My american made bearings are better. Id hope my american made castings and machining are also better, but no way of proving it.

Why not offer the chap some cash for the excalibur and bolt it onto your unisaw? This way you arent moving two saws.

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I sold my 1970's Unisaw and bought a Grizzly 1023rl. I by no means got a lesser saw. The 691 will also have a riving knife that the Unisaw does not. I have a Jessem Mast-R-Slide on mine and love it.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Kane

Not to sound simple, but why are you ditching the unisaw for a grizzly? Thats a lot of saw moving, and frankly, i think the unisaw is better. Atleast, my unisaw is better. My baldor motor is superior. My american made bearings are better. Id hope my american made castings and machining are also better, but no way of proving it.

Why not offer the chap some cash for the excalibur and bolt it onto your unisaw? This way you arent moving two saws.

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My Unisaw is a 1999 right tilt. That Grizzly is a 3 year old model with a factory installed riving knife. I added the sharkguard to my unisaw but it's not 100% like a real riving knife. PLus that Grizzly is a left tilt. These might be minor things, I've barely used my Unisaw after getting it of CL about 3 months ago.

If I got this Grizzly, I'd probably wait to bolt the excalibur on. I'd also have two saws until one got sold, but I'd imagine my Unisaw would sell fast compared to what I see on CL these days.

First: think floor space! How big is your shop?

About 20+ years ago, I purchased an Excalibur (??or was it an Exactor?? -- there was not much difference between the two at the time) for my Uni-saw. Cannot recall the exact size, but it was a small unit. Removed the left cast iron wing. Drilled new holes in the 52" fence rail to move it about 8" to the right, so there was no need to cut it. Finally took the Excalibur off and put it in storage as it just took up way too much room in the shop.

In 2001 moved into the new shop and decided to try the Excalibur again as I had more room. Same problem -- took up way too much room. So I took it off and eventually it found another home.

Advise you to carefully consider how much room it will take up in your shop when in use and not in use. The General web page has the footprint: http://www.general.ca/products/2_exc...50-SLT60P.html

Also include how far to the right of the saw the rip fence extends. From the photo posted the saw, its rip fence and rear extension table, and sliding table appear to have a large footprint.

i have an old unisaw w/ a 1970's vintage rockwell sliding table. removed left wing. support mounts to the side of the saw, and folds up to outfeed table when i take off sliding table. i don't do sheet goods, so most of the slider bar is also out of the way next to the outfeed table, but can be quickly adjusted if i wanted to do sheet goods (never). saw actually takes up less space, and i can crosscut wide long boards much better than a sled . i love it my small shop...ymmv

The riving knife versus splitter is kind of a moot point to me. Is a riving knife more convenient when making non through cuts? Yes, it is. When's the last time I made a non through cut that wasn't a dado? Hmm... After that convenience factor, I don't see the real difference. Bit of a mountain out of a mole hill. I have a biesemeyer quick release mount with a shark guard splitter mounted in it. A snap to take on and off and does the same thing a riving knife would do on through cuts. The grizzly saw might be a good saw, I've never seen one in person. I know a lot of people like them though. What I do know is the unisaw is industry proven for 60 years.

As far as left tilt versus right tilt, you actually want a right tilt on your slider. I admit, Id prefer to have left tilt on a regular ripping cabinet saw, but right tilt hasn't limited me so far. I preferred it when I had a jessem mast r slide attached to my saw. Do what you want, but seems like you are putting yourself through an unnecessary amount of grunt work moving and setting up saws.

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Originally Posted by Patrick Kane

The riving knife versus splitter is kind of a moot point to me. Is a riving knife more convenient when making non through cuts? Yes, it is. When's the last time I made a non through cut that wasn't a dado? Hmm... After that convenience factor, I don't see the real difference. Bit of a mountain out of a mole hill. I have a biesemeyer quick release mount with a shark guard splitter mounted in it. A snap to take on and off and does the same thing a riving knife would do on through cuts. The grizzly saw might be a good saw, I've never seen one in person. I know a lot of people like them though. What I do know is the unisaw is industry proven for 60 years.

As far as left tilt versus right tilt, you actually want a right tilt on your slider. I admit, Id prefer to have left tilt on a regular ripping cabinet saw, but right tilt hasn't limited me so far. I preferred it when I had a jessem mast r slide attached to my saw. Do what you want, but seems like you are putting yourself through an unnecessary amount of grunt work moving and setting up saws.

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splitter doesn't move with the blade riving knife does big upgrade in safety , imo buy a track saw skip the Excalibur it makes the footprint of my 10.5' slider small.

Patrick ,Patrice Kane is right you want a right tilt saw with the slider on your left. That is one of the big advantages of the excalibur when you cut bevels the bevel is up just like a left tilt saw would be when you rip with the fence. Also what I was trying to say before is this unit works real good but... it uses up lots of space. I also would stick with the Uni especially if you have a shark guard, but hey that is just my 2 cents worth. Only you can decide what you want to do. However a left tilt Grizzly with the Excalibur is no different than trying to cut a bevel with a right tilt saw using a rip fence.

I had an Excalibur on a Unisaw in my one man cabinet shop for quite a while until I traded up to a real sliding table saw. It was effective for reasonably accurate and repeatable cutting, though less so than the real thing. Much better than the crosscut sled I previously used. The tab that registers the fence at 90 degrees is easily bent with rough use so the calibration needs to be checked regularly.

One issue I had was the guide rail, which is not machined for straightness. I sent back the first one to find the replacement was also out about 1/16" over its ~8' length. I replaced it with an aluminum extrusion covered with UHMW polyethylene for wear strips.(steel bearings running on aluminum is a bad combination- plastic laminate would probably serve ok.) Without a straight guide you will get heeling at some part of a long cut.

You will probably get a smoother, straighter cut out of the box with an add-on slider like the Grizzly. The advantage of the Excalibur is a longer stroke and more support for large parts but it takes up more space. Either way, there is the inconvenience of the guide rail protruding into the operator's space.