Sawstop sliding table questions

[Curtis Myers]

Anyone get the new Sawstop sliding table attachment?
I would like to hear some replies from those who have one or has used one more then just a couple minutes.
1. How tight is the slider and fence (in other words is there any play when the fence is locked down)?
2. To remove the slider fence their are two screws that need to be removed.
A. How long does it take you to remove the fence?
B. How long does it take to reinstall the slider fence?
3. The fence has 60 degree movement in both directions but does not have any indents (stops) at any angle not even at 90 degree. Is this an issue? When cross cutting I expect to get a perfect 90 degree cut. To me this means when using a Sterret square you see zero light when square is placed on cut wood and held up to light source. Are you getting perfect cuts using the Sawstops sliding table or really close 90 degree cuts?
4. One thousand dollars is a lot of money for a table saw attachment. Was the purchase worth it to you?
5. Any problems, issues or concerns you can share.

My interest is to get perfect or as close to perfect crosscuts as possible. Purchasing a real sliding table saw is not viable option due to space and cost. Best crosscuts I get are from an Incra Sled. Looking for a better mouse trap. Homemade sleds using Oak quarter sawn guides are inconsistene at best. Also looking into cold rolled steel machined to fit my Sawstops miters and UHMW as sled guides.
I'm willing to spend a thousand dollars if the slider delivers perfect 90 degree crosscuts or very near perfect 90 degree cuts consistantly.

All the Best
Curtis

[Keith Hankins]

I got a real good close up look at one at my local wood craft and I was seriously considering for my ICS.

As to the quality, it's awesome. Since you use Incra stuff, you know precision and quality. I too am a great fan of Incra stuff and have the 1000hd miter, and for Christmas bought the 5000 sled(super deal could not pass up).

There is no play, but you can adjust to suit your preference as to resistance of the slide. The arm with aircraft aluminum is very impressive and makes the regular aluminum rails look like toys. The telescoping length is super. Flip stops are top notch as well.

I can't speak to the removal and install as I did not see that up close, but spoke to the guy that did put it on, and said it was a piece of cake, other than cutting the fence tube.

Now the negatives. No detents for 45,22.5 etc. I understand their thoughts from watching their video but sorry, thats just so common, I find that a negative.

Second negative, losing your Left cast table. I do a lot of cuts and while I could be wrong and after install not miss it, I found that a problem.

You have to cut your fence tube. Ok not a biggie, but a pain.

Finally, you have to move your on/off switch. It was workable, but not near as good as the knee bump it is now. After using it now for a year, cant imagine it somewhere else.

For me (and I considered it hard) I can't go a grand for it. I don't cut a ton of large panels. I get great accuracy from the 1000HD for my miters etc, and now that I have the 5000, for the panels I do cut i.e. doors, I'm covered. I've had the 1000hd (100bucks) for years, and I got the 5000 for $200.00. If I were to do a lot of ply, then I'd look at the excaliber.

Thats just my opinion that and a buck fifty will get you a cup of coffee. Have a good one.

[Mark Rakestraw]

I just installed one last Friday. Overall I'm happy, here's my answers:


All seems nice and tight, no play and square cuts.
There are no screws to "take out" in order to remove the slider fence. There are two 5mm allen screws that must be loosed that lock the bar in the track and you must loosen the knob that locks the angle. Assuming you keep your allen wrench on a magnet at the saw removing or re-installing just takes seconds. I'm not bothered by the lack of detents....the gauge is easy to read.


Mine does have one snafu in that the crosscut fence extension (the piece that slides out) is proud (forward) of the crosscut fence by .009". I have an inquiry in with technical support and I'm assuming they will resolve the issue. Other than that my only negative is that you must move your pieces into position a bit gently or the flip stops will flex a bit. Those could be a bit beefier.

It is a lot of money and there are other ways to get there, but it's nicely made. It is a step up from the Jessem Masterslide (which I had on a previous saw) in terms of the size of panel it will comfortably support due to a larger side extension table and front and rear legs. Long plywood panels would require additional support


Mark

[Ray Newman]

For What It Is Worth.

If I had a Sawstop and considered a sliding table, I would not cut the rails without first determining if new holes could drilled or other modifications made to move the rails to the right and keep the original length.

I have a Uni-saw and ‘bout 20 years ago, installed the small Exactor (or Excalibur??) sliding table. Utilized it for a while, then removedit. Even though it was dead-nuts-on 90 degree and angled cuts, it took up way too much room and it is still in storage. Much later, bought a Fe$tool track saw to cut plyw’d.

Instead of cutting the Uni-fence rail, I drilled new holes to move the rail to the right. Was an easy job, just needed to take some time to determine the hole locations, drill and mount it. Glad I did as when I removed the sliding table attachment, I just re-installed the Uni-fence rail in its original location.

I would like to have a hands-on look at the Sawstop sliding fence. Agree with Keith Hankins, about not having positive stops for at least 90 and 45 degrees.

After looking the small Hammer K3 at a 2012 wood show, I havecome to the conclusion that to be really effective and useable, a sliding table should be designed/built into the saw, not an add-on accessory.

[Mark Rakestraw]

Ray makes good points and the add-on sliding table won't make your saw a "true" slider, but they are still pretty darn handy. You could avoid cutting the rails by drilling new holes but you would also have to mill out the recess for the miter gauge slots if you still thought you had a need for them. Unlike the Exactor that Ray had the Sawstop sliding table, like the old Jessem, isn't much wider than the cast iron wing it replaces once you remove the fence and extension table, so it isn't so much in the way. There are two mounting options for the sliding table. The "normal" mounting has the front edge 12" out from the saw. In this configuration you have a full 48" crosscut throw. You can also mount the front edge flush with the front of the saw (you still have to cut the rails so you can pull the table back) but this reduces your crosscut to 37". My Grizzly slider (G0623X) also sticks out from the front of the saw cabinet. It is a little awkward because that is right where you want to stand when ripping using the fence. I stand to the outside and have gotten used to the added reach. I may switch the Sawstop slider to the flush mount position, but for now I'm opting for the longer cut.

[Ray Newman]

Mark: how much do new rails cost as opposed to the cost of a machine shop milling out the miter gauge slot recess? or, could it be done wit a hack saw making several cuts, then judicious application of a file?

Is it possible to add a sacrificial sub-fence to the sliding table fence?

[David Kumm]

When I looked at one at IWF I don't remember seeing a way to lock the gauge at exactly 90 and leave it when removing. Is there a tight detent at 90? For me, a crosscut fence must be easily removed and installed without changing and resetting the 90 position. A little is a lot when crosscutting 36-48" and trail and error is way too slow. I'd be interested in whether the gauge has a setting to make that repeatable. Dave

[Mark Rakestraw]

It isn't locked at 90 when you take it off. But the cursor lets you tighten it back down at 90 as you put it back on. It's a magnifier cursor and the lines are fine and exact. It really isn't an issue. It's still a matter of seconds even being very careful.

[Peter Aeschliman]

My experience with it has been limited to messing around with it at my local Rockler store. I didn't use it in real life. I have a SS PCS with an Excalibur sliding table, so I'm not in the market for one.

Overall, I thought the build quality was nice. The bearings are super smooth and there was no lateral play as long as you didn't have the table fully extended. With the table pulled all the way back, I did find that there was a bit of deflection... it's just physics- the table is fully-extended with nothing underneath it to support it. You'd need an outrigger to support it properly. But I imagine it's fine if you don't push down or to the side as you start your cut.

The one deal breaker to me, aside from the insane price, was the lack of detents for the major cut angles. I just don't get that. I can't trust the scale to be perfect- I need a positive stop. I want to calibrate it once, and be 100% positive that I will get the same angle the next time I come back and use the saw.

That said, I would have to test it to see if I'm making a big deal out of nothing. Maybe that far away from the blade, the human error in your fence positioning doesn't translate to a measurable difference in the cut angle. But to me, this seems like a huge shortfall in Sawstop's design because in its most harmless form, it gives potential buyers pause. In its most harmful form, it makes your work inaccurate (but again, I would have to test it to know).

[Mark Rakestraw]

I don't know what new rails would cost. There is a T slot in the face of the fence you could use to attach a sub-fence

[Mark Rakestraw]

Here's a pic. I remembered wrong, this is the only cursor that isn't a magnifier. Buy it's still easy. The scale is etched in the gauge. I suppose you could knock the cursor out of alignment, but it seems pretty well protected. Detents can be knocked out also. But in the end we want what we want :-)

[Curtis Myers]

The one deal breaker to me, aside from the insane price, was the lack of detents for the major cut angles. I just don't get that. I can't trust the scale to be perfect- I need a positive stop. I want to calibrate it once, and be 100% positive that I will get the same angle the next time I come back and use the saw.

That said, I would have to test it to see if I'm making a big deal out of nothing. Maybe that far away from the blade, the human error in your fence positioning doesn't translate to a measurable difference in the cut angle. But to me, this seems like a huge shortfall in Sawstop's design because in its most harmless form, it gives potential buyers pause. In its most harmful form, it makes your work inaccurate (but again, I would have to test it to know).

You hit the nail on the head. The insane price and I want to calibrate it once and be 100% positive that I will get the same angle the next time I come back and use the saw (but again, I would have to test it to know)

[Curtis Myers]

It isn't locked at 90 when you take it off. But the cursor lets you tighten it back down at 90 as you put it back on. It's a magnifier cursor and the lines are fine and exact. It really isn't an issue. It's still a matter of seconds even being very careful.

Mark R,
thank you for replying.
Happy to here the curser lets you tighten it back down at 90 quickly. But is it a dead on 90 or very close? You know when building a crosscut sled. I go through the 5 cut process to ensure it is dead on 90 degree to within .005 or so.
What are you getting with your new SS slider consistantly?
Thank you again for taking the time to satisfy our curiosity on the new toy, in mean tool.

[Mark Rakestraw]

Curtis,
I used the 5 cut to set things up, but haven't done it repeatedly after removing and replacing the fence. I just got it last week, so I don't really have long term results to report. I guess I'll know more in a couple days when I start assembly of a bunch of kitchen cabinet cases I've been cutting out ;-). What gives me confidence in it is the size and legibility of the gauge. The included pic shows it along with the standard sized miter gauge. Right now I'm reacting to the "feel" -- it pivots very smoothly and the mark in the gauge perfectly covers the zero on the miter scale. The other picture shows the stop on my Grizzly slider. Your can see a slight flex as you snug the fence back -- Do I always bump it back with the same force? Do I always have the locking knob bolt held perfectly perpendicular when I snug it down? There is no way to tell really. I'm not complaining, it has served me well. But at least right now I like the visual check of the cursor telling me things are right. I guess time will tell if it's lying to me or not. If there is someone close by that wants to do a test by repeatedly removing and replacing the fence they're welcome to come over, but I have some deadlines that won't allow me to do so right now. If you're willing to trust your gut take your own 5mm allen into your local store and remove and replace the fence a few times to get the feel of it.

[John Coloccia]

I'm not so much put off by the lack of a 45 degree stops, but adding an extra $1000 to an already $3000+ table saw puts it squarely in the European Slider range. Also, the lack of at least a 90 degree stop is hard to imagine, and if you're going to have no stops, give me a proper sliding scale so I can REALLY be accurate. So you pay euro slider prices, but what you get instead is a questionable crosscut fence. Bah. They should just make a real slider and stop joking around with this thing.

And if you watch some of their videos, they claim that stops have about 1/2 degree of slop in them. That is just utter and complete nonsense. It's hard to imagine that this was anything but cost cutting on a premium product, and they had to come back later and find a way to justify it.