New toy gloat! SCMI slider!

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Well, yesterday I completed a 1000 mile round trip to pick up an SCMI sliding table saw. This was being held for me for a few years by a friend, and it was time top go get it.

So- I have this thing home now. It is a bit of a restoration project, but nothing major. It mostly just needs cleaning up. It has been covered in grease to prevent rust. I'll re-bearing it, and mount a single phase motor. Fortunately, it takes a normal motor mount, so that should be easy. I have a 5hp Baldor that I'll rebuild and use for this saw. The scoring blade takes a seperate, smaller motor (3/4hp).

It is a short stroke slider, meaning that the table's stroke is only about 51"- enough to cross cut a piece of plywood, but not the long way. This is why the saw was sold to me cheaply- he needed a big slider. But this will be fine for me!

I'll be needing to buy a saw blade. Being Italian, it takes metric sized blades (30mm bore). The blade capacity is 400mm (15 3/4"), but I need to see if you can still use the scoring blade when a 400mm blade is installed. I don't expect to use the scoring blade much, but it is there, so what the heck! I wan't to run the biggest blade I can- my other saw is a Powermatic #70 with a 12"- and I love the capacity. Having almost a 16" blade on the slider will be sweet!

Interestingly, on a saw like this, dust collection is not optional- it is required. The manual states "the speed in the air duct must be ap[prox 25 m/sec and consequently the capacity must never be less than 1000m^3 per hour." I don't have a sense as to how extreme that requirement is, but I have a big ol' 3hp industrial cyclone, so I reckon it will do. The blade cavity is completely enclosed and directed to a dust port on the back that tilts along with the arbor. So, you gotta get the dust out of there!

This is a serious machine- the cabinet is welded up from 1/4" thick steel plate. Weight is 580kg (1278 lb).

Alas, the barn/shop is not quite ready to receive this machine, so it has to live outside greased and tarped up for a time. I'll post pics once I get her set up.

I need to work out a good arrangement of the slider and the regular table saw, with a big outfeed table between.

Fun stuff!

[Michael Perata]

Lynn

I have a "baby" SCMI - MiniMax slider. EVERYONE should have a slider.

[Mark J Bachler]

The Mini Max people in Austin Tx. might be able to help you with any parts or problems. Mini Max saws are made by SCM.

[Tyler Howell]

I don't See a gloat Does anyone see a gloat

[John Renzetti]

Hi Lynn, Congrats, that saw sounds like a great deal. You might want to consider keeping those 3ph motors on the machine and adding a phase converter to run the whole shop. For large blades with the 30mm bore, I like the German made Guhdo.
take care,
John

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Congrats on the deal, not a gloat because of no pictures. It will indeed be a gloat when it is in your shop looking all purty... ohh and when we see pics of it

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Yeah, a proper gloat requires pics. Well, maybe I'll post pics of it sitting out in the yard!

In the mean-time, I'm doing some timberframing joinery in the barn fixup effort. I picked up a prazi beam cutter and a skill worm drive saw, for doing this stuff. It is a little 12" chain saw adaptor for a circ saw.

I'm dying to get the shop set up, but it just would not do for the barn to collapse when I try to move in my machines!

[Steven Wilson]

Nice score, I agree with John on keeping the 3phase electrics and run a phase converter. If you go with 1phase you'll probably need to modify or replace the mag switch(s) too. As for the DC needs that 1000 m3/h @ 25m/s works out to 588cfm @4900 fpm. So, if you're running a 6" drop to the machine you should be covered as long as your DC has a 14" or larger impellor. Now, was that number for the machine (i.e. overblade guard DC and cabinet DC) or just for the cabinet? If just for the cabinet and the overarm guard requirement is substantial then you may be pushing your DC a bit depending on your duct work, impellor, horsepower, etc.

[lou sansone]

dear lynn

congratulations on the quality saw.. I like the italian stuff ..

A couple of questions about the slider. BTW, questions are not intended to pick apart or judge your selection of the saw, just for my own benefit and knowlege.


1.How important is the sliding feature to you. Do you do a lot of panel processing ( build lots of boxes?). If not, then what other advantages do you find with the slider. I have been told that sliders do eat up a fair amount of shop space ( 100 sq feet min ), maybe that is not a problem with your set up.

2. Are you going to also run the regular TS along with the slider? If so why?

3. does the saw have a scoring blade feature ?

thanks
lou

p.s. I have a RT-40 max blade size 16" and it also has a manditory dust collection requirement. Works real nice

[Lynn Kasdorf]

The 5hp 3 phase motor that came with it is currently not mounted. It came with no motor at all for the scoring blade.

Re the mag starter, I have used 3 phase mag starters for single phase before- you just use 2 of the three poles.

If it was all wired up and ready to plug it, it might make sense to just buy/make a convertor. But since I'll be essentially building this saw up from the ground, I may as well mount one of the single phase motors I have.

A VFD for 5hp is pretty spendy. I have a 3/4 hp 3phase motor and VFD on my wood lathe, and it is wonderful. But I think that on a table saw, the variable speed would be of little use. That being said, this machine has cone pulleys to allow for 3 different arbor speeds. This may mostly be to acommodate different diameter blades.

On the dust collection, I have a 15" impeller, which pushes into the cyclone. In my previous shop I ran 6" main lines with 4" drops. I figure in the new shop I'll run a 6" drop to the table saws area, and fan out 4" flex pipe to the individual saws. I do plan an overhead pickup in addition to the cabinet pickup. I also have on hand air cylinders and solenoid valves with which I plan to build automated blast gates...

..Someday

[Steve Clardy]

Nice score Lynn. Something to keep you busy restoing for a while.
I would keep the 3-phase intact. Lot less trouble .
I have a rotary convertor, and also a static box convertor.
I use the static box on a 7-hp 3-phase overhead router.
Got the box from Grizzly. I believe it was $170.00 at the time.

Tyler's gonna be on ya if them pics don't show up pretty quick.
Steve

[Lynn Kasdorf]

dear lynn

congratulations on the quality saw.. I like the italian stuff ..

A couple of questions about the slider. BTW, questions are not intended to pick apart or judge your selection of the saw, just for my own benefit and knowlege.


1.How important is the sliding feature to you. Do you do a lot of panel processing ( build lots of boxes?). If not, then what other advantages do you find with the slider. I have been told that sliders do eat up a fair amount of shop space ( 100 sq feet min ), maybe that is not a problem with your set up.

2. Are you going to also run the regular TS along with the slider? If so why?

3. does the saw have a scoring blade feature ?

thanks
lou

p.s. I have a RT-40 max blade size 16" and it also has a manditory dust collection requirement. Works real nice

I'd rather not reveal the price I paid, but suffice it to say that the saw preposterously cheap.

So, it wasn't really a matter of picking out this particular saw- it landed in my lap (ouch!), and I've always wanted a slider.

Why a slider? because every time I try cut any decent size pieces of plywood and keep them square, it is never perfect. Yes, I made a nice cutoff sled, and it works pretty well. But a slider is the real deal for squaring up panels. I just like the idea of not sliding the work across the saw's top. You secure the work to the sliding table and get a perfectly straight line. I work a lot with very rough, wavy, used, uneven wood. If I can simply hold to to the sliding table without it moving, I can make a reference cut. And with a 16" blade, I can even resaw to a certain extent.

I also think that it will be a safer machine for doing accurate work on all sizes of stock. Since it has a normal size tee-style miter slot, I can attach various jigs to the sliding table. I really like the riving knife feature of european saws (although it is missing on mine- I need to buy or make one).

As for space- not a problem. My shop is going into my 62 x 32 barn. For once, I plan to make a saw area that is large enough so that I can cut plywood without a hassle.

Regarding 2 saws- well, first, the SCMI will not take a dado. Second, there have been many times when I had a particular setup on the saw, and I needed to make a different cut, and tear down my setup. 2 saws make this simpler. Example- 1 saw has the rip fence set to a final dimension. The other saw can then be used to make reference cuts on rough stock before doing the final rip on the first saw. You get the idea. Besides- anything worth doing is worth overdoing If 1 huge table saw is good, a second, even huger table saw is even better...more is more...the old iron collector's mantra

I figure I'll establish an 8' continuous table between the two saws to serve as outfeed for both, and I may as well incorporate my router table in there somewhere as well. My current thinking is that the saws woudl be oriented back to back- but I need to lay it out in CAD and play around.

The SCMI does have the scoring blade feature. I honestly don't know if this is going to be very useful or not. I think that if you use a good sharp blade, chipout is not a problem of veneered plywood. Melamine may be a problem without scoring, but I hate that stuff! So- I will certainly set up the scorer and try it, but it may not be all that usefull- I don't know.

[lou sansone]

thanks for the response

I thought that the slider did not like to have a dado on it. I agree with you on the old iron stuff... I am currently considering selling my new italian BS for a 36" old iron moak...
lou

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Ok- here are some pics of the SCMI in all its greasy, rusty glory. It ain't much to look at now, but it will be a thing of beauty when I am done.

I took off the arbor bolt and discovered something interesting- it appears that some former owner turned the arbor down to accept 1" blades! There is a 30mm shoulder that reduces down to 1" and I'm sure this is not standard. Also- it looks long enough that I could run a dado- I need to check this out.

So- although I wouldn't have done this, it means I can start using it without dropping big bux on a new large blade.

That being said, my tape measure says that it coudl easily handle a full 16" blade, and in fact could accomodate up to about 20"!

I'm confused about the sliding table somewhat- it just sits on the bearings. It appears that you could push it too far and it would just fall off the end. Perhaps there is some stop missing or something.

This machine has a fair amount of rust here and there, but I have cleaned up machines in worse condition, so this one will be easy.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Here is a view from the fence side. The locking lever for the fence doesn't do anything- I think it is missing something. And there is a pinion gear that is supposed to engage the rack gear on the bottom of the fence rail. The pinion is all bunged up. I think a visit to mcmaster.com is in order...