Slider lengths - too long or too short?

[mark mcfarlane]

For those using sliding table saws:

• How big is your shop?
• What are you cutting (mostly sheet, mostly solid)?
• How long is your slider?
• Wish it was longer or shorter?

I certainly see the value in a longer slider, but I'm gonna be space constrained (2 car garage) and can see easily being annoyed walking around the slider all the time, particularly making smaller pieces. in my hobby shop.

[David Kumm]

I've got sliders from 18", 36", 78", and 120". My go to saws are the 120" for sheet goods and 36" for everything else. The 78" also has a shaper and handles 60x60 ply and fits better in the garage shop. The 120" is too big to be handy there. I'm a huge fan of old 36" sliders that lock and then can be used like a traditional fixed saw. Most new short sliders stick out enough in the front to make them hard to use in the traditional way and too short to rip using the slider. A long slider also needs lots of width to handle panels so it really takes up space unless you break it down and can move it. If the slider needs to be moved to use, look for a solid base with heavy steel. Moving a slider can screw up the settings if the build isn't stout. If mainly doing hardwood with an occasional sheet, the short stroke is as handy as a saw gets.DSCN2815.jpgDSCN2149.JPGDSC04299.jpgDSCN2153.jpg The key is for the sliding table to not sit proud of the fixed if short or be long enough to rip from the slider side. Dave

[Gregory Stahl]

My shop is 1200 square feet--looking to double soon.
40% sheet goods, 60% hardwoods
10.5 feet in length (3200mm)
Perfect length. I used a shorter Felder for 5+ years--the 10'+ length I find perfect to maneuver and rip ply lengthwise.

I wouldn't put a saw of this size in a two car garage though. I would probably go to a smaller minimax or Felder/Hammer for a small garage.

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What saw are you considering?

[mark mcfarlane]

My shop is 1200 square feet--looking to double soon.
...What saw are you considering?

Right now I'm looking at the Hammer/Felder range. I'm sure I'll check out the Minimax as well. Probably going to get a sliding saw/shaper, and maybe one with jointer/planer. Still 18 months away from purchase (on assignment overseas), but doing my research early. Something around 40" that can be pushed near-flush with the front side of the saw seems like the sweat spot for me. There's no way I can fit a 9-10' slider.

[Jim Andrew]

I have the Hammer 79" slider. If the choicer had been available, would have liked to have gone with 8', so it would have been easier to handle sheets, but I use it most for straight line sawing solid lumber. Near perfect straight edge. I did not like how far the slider extended to the rear, when using it to rip between blade and fence, called Fergus one day, and asked if the latch could be moved, he said to build a outfeed table long enough to enable the table farther ahead, and use a block to stop the slider. Did so and it works great. Much better ripping.Also find it easy to remove the outrigger when not using it, built a fixture to hang it from on the wall. Easy to put on, and take off.

[Susumu Mori]

Hi Jim and all,

Sorry, but I'm confused. Can you just move the slider flush to the front of the saw and use the slider further extended to the rear as a sort of outfeed support? Of course, this won't support the ripped material in between the fence and the blade, but I don't see how the long slider extended to the rear would do any harm?

[Max Neu]

my shop is 3300 sq. ft, I have a 10' slider, occasionally I wish it was 12', but 95% of the time 10' is just right.I definitely would never go smaller for the kind of work I do (mostly cabinets).

[ian maybury]

Another here with an 8ft Hammer slider in a small shop (3 car garage) with other machines.

The slider length is dead useful - for cutting large sheets, or making long straight edged cuts. It also permits leaving a short mitre gauge and fence in place at one end and the full size cross cut frame at the other - all at once. The first call i guess is whether or not you will have jobs large enough to need the travel at times. The problem with using a track saw to cut up large sheets is that you still need floor space to do this, and it's a PIA to get down to do the work.

It's perhaps less convenient, but possible to work around a long slider, even if you don't always (e.g. when assembling something fairly large in the shop) have the space to run it full travel. Shove it to one end or the other to get by.

Extra length would become a real problem if there were immovable objects that prevented you moving it far enough to either get a job done, or get it out of the way to pass… Getting caught between this and what's needed to do your work might suggest a need for a larger shop...

[Roy Harding]

My shop is 1250 sq ft - (25' X 50'). I have a Felder 531P combo machine. The slider has an 84" stroke. I use mostly hardwoods, with the occasional sheet good project. Because mine is a combo, it has a larger footprint as I need to access it from all sides. For the slider I need about 20'. Unless you're doing a lot of sheet goods, a shorter stroke would work well for you - David Krumm above pretty much said anything else I might have.

[jack forsberg]

I've got sliders from 18", 36", 78", and 120". My go to saws are the 120" for sheet goods and 36" for everything else. The 78" also has a shaper and handles 60x60 ply and fits better in the garage shop. The 120" is too big to be handy there. I'm a huge fan of old 36" sliders that lock and then can be used like a traditional fixed saw. Most new short sliders stick out enough in the front to make them hard to use in the traditional way and too short to rip using the slider. A long slider also needs lots of width to handle panels so it really takes up space unless you break it down and can move it. If the slider needs to be moved to use, look for a solid base with heavy steel. Moving a slider can screw up the settings if the build isn't stout. If mainly doing hardwood with an occasional sheet, the short stroke is as handy as a saw gets.DSCN2815.jpgDSCN2149.JPGDSC04299.jpgDSCN2153.jpg The key is for the sliding table to not sit proud of the fixed if short or be long enough to rip from the slider side. Dave

+1 i like the older full sized 18" blade sliders with 36" travel for smaller spaces (my bench shop is 1200 sf). I avoid sheet stock as much as possible and do more work than case goods.

[Frank Drew]

If mainly doing hardwood with an occasional sheet, the short stroke is as handy as a saw gets.

Totally agree; I got a German 53" crosscut-capacity sliding table saw in the mid-Eighties for my smallish one-man shop, replacing a Powermatic 68 (5 h.p., 12" blade capacity). The PM had plenty of power, and I'd made a crosscut sled for it, but I still found a day for night difference in the ease and especially accuracy of all kinds of cuts with the slider. I mostly worked in solid but crosscutting the occasional sheet of ply was a cinch, and I had a movable outfeed support table for ripping long sheet or solid goods. IIRC, the fence gave me 40" rip capacity, maybe an inch or two more.

I can't say enough good about a sliding table saw.

[Martin Wasner]

I use a Striebig, but the shop next door has an Altendorf. Smaller shop at 3000sq/ft. I think their's has to have a 12' capacity

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, small shop in a townhouse basement, equivalent to a single car garage.

Combination of sheet goods and solids with solids at 80% of the use.

51" slider which in the Felder/Hammer range gives you a square saw cabinet without the slider poking out in front. It has great ergonomics, not true for the larger ones.

No, it's exactly the size I want, with exactly the features I want as they're built to order.

it crosscuts sheet goods yet is as compact as a cabinet saw with a 32" rip capacity.

Last year my skinny 28 year old daughter cross cut the solid oak top for the dining table she was making herself with one hand. She couldn't lift the top onto the saw by herself however she sure could crosscut it safely and perfectly squarely. How often will you crosscut stuff bigger than 48"?

Regards, Rod.

[Jim Becker]

My (mid-2000s) MiniMax S315WS has an 8'6" slider. Total throw of the wagon is 19'. My shop is 22' deep and 30' wide with an interruption in the middle for a stairway to the building's upper level.

(Pano shots make the shop look a lot bigger than it is)

[Jim Andrew]

Susumu, what I was referring to was ripping stock that already has a straight edge, between the fence and blade. Not with the slider. I use the slider to get one edge straight, then use the rip fence to cut the other edge. The latch on the slider leaves the slider behind the undercarriage about 7". So what I did to make it easier to reach through between blade and fence was clamp a block on the outfeed table to stop the slider from traveling while I am ripping using rip fence. It lets the slider move about 8" farther.