Is it worth getting a Hammer over a Sawstop?

[Daniel McPherson]

I am just getting into woodworking and am setting up my shop. I don't like buying tools 2X and prefer to get the highest quality tools first. It was recommended I get a small slider because my shop is 25X25 and I already have a Festool track saw to break down large panels. I would prefer a hammer sliding TS but the sawstop is a lot cheaper. (I am looking at the industrial model fully outfitted for approx $4900) I am wondering if the extra money to step up to a Hammer or low end Felder is worth it.

[Nick Stokes]

If you prefer the Hammer, then you would always wish you had of gotten it...

[Peter Quinn]

It will make your cross cutting life easier, and a lot of wood working is cutting things to length. Saw stop also has a fairly effective cross cutting slider add on, that while not a format type sliding carriage may be worth a look if cost is a consideration.

[David Kumm]

Look at used too. The Laguna short stroke comes up periodically, as does Minimax, SCMI, and Felder. They aren't priced very high used so are a good bargain. My favorite short stroke sliders are old iron but I'm guessing you don't want to go there. A short slider is so versatile I have several and all get used. You won't regret going that route. Dave

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd get the Sawstop, and build a cut-off sled for it. The cut-off sled may cost you $20 of materials. A sled as big as the table on the Sawstop can handle almost anything a small slider can do. You'd get the safety of the Sawstop, and save some money too.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

IMHO, yes. A sawstop is a fancy unisaw/grizzly/jet /powermatic clone. A sliding saw is something completely different, which can also be used like the aforementioned traditional saw if you must. FYI, I had a full 8.5' slider in a 25x25 shop for several years, they will fit.

[Lou Ortiz]

Hate to say it depends, but...

i really prefer my old table saw for ripping, as I never had to worry about the difference between the height of the slider and the top of the table. There's also some operations, like cove cutting , that are just much easier to set up on the table saw.

The slider is slightly higher than the top to keep your pieces from dragging. Can create a slight issue when ripping a series of boards of different dimensions to the same width when they are in contact with surfaces at two different heights. But, the slider is fantastic for cross cuts, panels and for shaping operations if you get a combo.

If you want max versatility, go with the SS and spend the difference on a combo j/p. That's the felder piece that I consider the most worth spending extra. Don't know if you're just setting up shop or have already picked up the other fixed pieces.

[David Kumm]

Adjust the sliding table to .002 or less above the fixed and you can rip using either side. Dave

[Lou Ortiz]

Yeah, I admit that I haven't tweaked it since they came down and did the delivery and I can tell it's shifted some. Getting the slider dialed in was 80% of the effort to setup, so I haven't been anxious to revisit that.

[Daniel McPherson]

So it what i am hearing is that the slider format is so much better that by the time I spend that much I may as well spend 1K more and get a slider?

How do Hammer and Sawstop compare for quality?

[Rod Sheridan]

No comparison, the SS is simply a cabinet saw with a secondary safety feature.

The slider has a primary safety feature in the sliding table, which allows you use work holding clamps and work "hands free"

The slider also has a 3 function rip fence which greatly improves your safety when ripping solid material.

The slider also has scoring saw capability, which is a real treat for laminated panels.

I would never go back to a cabinet saw, I have the Hammer B3 Winner with 49" sliding table and outrigger.

Can't say enough good things about it, and how more capable and what increased capacity it has over a cabinet saw.

Regards, Rod.

[Wakahisa Shinta]

Daniel,
I were in your shoes a few months ago. I looked at the SS at a local Woodcraft, but didn't think it was any better than a current Unisaw. The SS brake technology doesn't impress me. I also test drove an older Powermatic and an older Unisaw, both of which were nicer to used than my Ridgid hybrid TS. Then I looked at the Hammer and Felder at the Sacramento showroom. The Felder 700 S was nicer; smoother sliding table, industrial-grade internals, but cost proportionally more than the largest Hammer K3 (with promotional discount). I wanted a slider for working with a lot of plywood. I can't tell you if I made the right choice because I am waiting on delivery, but just from watching videos of people working on a slider, reading user accounts on this forum, and thinking about the usage of a slider TS, I think I made a sound decision. It was more expensive than a SS/Unisaw/Powermatic, but if amortized over 10-25 years, the cost difference isn't that significant.

Accessories for the European tools can be expensive, so keep that in mind. Consumables aren't difficult to find/buy.

I read a lot about how a slider isn't very good at rip cut. I don't know how much of this is true because I don't have a slider yet, but there must be solutions and work-arounds, if that's true.

[Keith Hankins]

I'd go at it a little differently. Sit down and make up a list of pro's cons and then decide. You will find that in the end cost (depending on model is not that far off). I know when I looked and went to the hammer location and looked at it up close it was nice. The model I looked at was a lower end model but even that was impressive. If I was going to be doing a large amount of panels and cuts then no doubt that would have won.

I too use my festool TS55 and track and my MFT/3 to break panelsl down, so that weighed into my equation.

My second choice was the 5hp ICS. While it did not handle the larger panels, it did have the safety feature that I wanted as well and I have been at this a long long long time.

Quality wise Both are fantastic

Price wise they are both expensive but worth the money IMO.


In the end, the safety feature with the fact I make a lot of smaller cuts in materials, and felt they were better suited for the TS. However I'm sure someone will dispute that, but thats my opinion and I'm sticking to it.


If you want the safety then go sawstop, if you want the slider capability with panel cut, I'd go hammer or fielder.


In the end you wont be sorry either way.


I went with the sawstop, and I"m a 1+ year in and don't regret it at all!


have a good one! Post pics and a review no matter what you get. We all love our toys, even if they belong to someone else

Cheers!

[Jebediah Eckert]

Just getting into woodworking, how could you possibly go wrong with either? The more experienced people above have broken down "goods" and "betters" with both. Wouldn't you have to have some idea of what you want to make? Kitchen cabinets or presentation boxes and humidor type stuff? I would think one would be better then the other for different stuff.

When I started I had an old craftsman saw somebody was giving away like 20 years ago. Last year I upgraded to a cabinet saw and wow what a difference. That being said, if I started with the new saw I would not have appreciated the difference and what I liked and didn't like about saws. I certainly understand not wanting to buy stuff twice but I made plenty of decent stuff on the free saw. Like somebody mentioned above don't sleep on shop made sleds for a cabinet saw. Plenty of YouTube videos make them simple.

But if you can afford to drop $5k+ on a saw to just get into woodworking why not buy the best? If your dropping that kind of money for one of many tools maybe find a local woodworking shop that's been around a while and hire the owner as a consultant for a few days. Show him your space, tell him what you want to do project wise, and have him design the whole thing (or at least make his suggestions your are writing the check) from dust collection on down. Most woodworking shops that have been around a while have had many setups that evolved over the years, and if money was no issues would evolve even more.

Good luck and post pictures when your done!

[Joe Williams]

My brother has a hammer saw with the huge crosscut sled, which is a downgrade from the Felder he had. If you like being able to rip a 12 foot piece of plywood with your pinky finger the hammer is for you. Man I wish I had room for a saw like that.