slider upgrade opportunity

[Ralph Butts]

I know this is a really vague question but is anyone running an 8 1/2 foot or larger slider out of a garage workshop? I am sure it would be a tight fit if at all but I am curious if its possible. I think a standard 2 car garage is about 19 - 19.75 feet deep.

[Jeff Monson]

No problems here, my forward stroke on my slider ends about and 1" from my front wall. If my memory serves me correctly it takes about 17 feet forwad to back. Keep in mind I dont use the full stroke of the slider that often. Just on full 8' sheets, which for me is far from every day.

[David Kumm]

It's pretty tight. Not just the length of the stroke but most large sliders have approx 5-6' outriggers and rip 50-60" to the right so the width is over ten ft when in use. You will need it mobile and using it on the diagonal will help. I've got my 2200 lb saw on Zambus casters and it does roll very easily. Dave

[ian maybury]

I've an 8ft Hammer K3 in a 25 x 16ft garage, the slider also goes within an inch or two of the door.

It's fairly early days, but I seem to be finding that when a long slider is used for short cuts most of the time it doesn't cause any great problem - it's fairly easily moved out of the way to walk around it. I'm a little sorry I didn't get the longer slider, as when it's needed it's often just a matter of clearing at max a 4ft wide space for it. On narrow pieces it's even less, potentially on the width of the slider itself.

The cross cut fence and extension table assembly in my specific case is in many ways more of an issue because of the width of the area it sweeps over - up to 8ft when the fence is at full extension. It's not too wide at around 4ft when not extended though.

Trouble is that unless you are well established it's in many ways quite hard to predict exactly what's needed/what sort of work will come up...

I went for a separate F3 shaper which has advanatges, but it really does occupy some extra space which it looks could relatively easily have been saved by going for a combination saw shaper with very little by way of a downside.

ian

[Ralph Butts]

Thanks guys, so depending upon my math and which information I found on the web is correct I am going to be in the same boat with very little room to spare. I have a chance to upgrade from my Grizz 623x to a MM SC 4. I found a MM doc online and if I am interpreting the information correctly I need 6035mm to cover the slider stroke in both directions. After running that number through an online metric conversion calculator I come up with roughly 237 1/2 inches or 19' 9". I called MM and was told the stroke was actually 106". With that number multiplied by two so as to cover the overall stroke I come up with 212" or roughly 17.67 ft. If the latter dimension is correct then my space should accomodate the entire stroke. I have 19' 5" from the rear wall stud face to the garage door and 22' 8" of width that I have to share with a freezer and HVAC equipment on one side of the garage along with my other tools pushed up against the far wall until needed.

[Stephen Cherry]

What's wrong with opening the garage door for full length rips? I usually go right from the pickup truck, to the saw, that way I'm not moving full sheets. I can handle half sheets, cut either way, but full sheets are awkward for me.

Also, another thing to remember is that you wont chop up 8x8 sheets- you can put things along the same wall as the fence side of the slider. I have my bandsaw, and edge sander to the back, right of the saw, along the wall. And the mortiser in front, to the right . It is tight, but once you try it, you may find it works out OK.

[Ralph Butts]

Thanks for the response Stephan. There is no technical reason I cannot opent the garage door. In fact for 4 or 5 months (if I am lucky like this year) that is exactly how I work. Unfortunately for 7 to 8 months it rains in some form or fashion up here. It varies from torrential down pours of biblical proportions to scatterer showers in the same day. I am sure that is what I will need to do. Along what will be the fence side of the saw now sits a 19" bandsaw, a OSS, PM 2700, a 24" dual drum sander and a CV1800. It's cozy now and I have a 16" J/P coming. I figured I could remove the squaring frame until I need it.

[Erik Loza]

Many, many owners of 8.5' sliders in garages.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[David Kumm]

You are really a candidate for a saw shaper. Dave

[Ralph Butts]

David I would agree but unfortunately that scenario just did not present itself. While this one did.

[David Kumm]

Ralph, I'm giving you credit for finding that much room for machines. It is a big deal to have a slider you can see and feel when you buy. Dave

[Kelby Van Patten]

Ralph, I run a 6' slider in my garage workshop. I have it set up so that I need to open the garage door if I am cutting plywood or ripping anything longer than about 3-1/2'. Here in SoCal, that's not a problem. But this is the only arrangement that doesn't involve the tablesaw completely dominating the shop and limiting my ability to have other good tools. I have a 3-car garage for a workshop, and this arrangement allows me to have a 12" jointer, 24" planer, 18" wide belt sander, 18" bandsaw, and plenty of other tools and workbenches, plus enough space to walk around.

I have no doubt that you can fit an 8-1/2' slider in your shop. But it will dominate your shop. It will mean that you have minimal room for other tools.