slider small but large also, fence distance preferred for rip fence

[Warren Lake]

I havent had time to get back to the small Slider, got as far as two of the six bearings are toast so all need to be done, think 800018 was the number, one thought pattern is the bar for the rip fence on this one travels to 60". Seems a bit excessive to me. From watching some slider you tubes mostly large ones I see guys constantly use the fence as a stop then as the panel gets smaller like the last cut they spin it and make the last cut on the rigger. Final panel cut could be off the rip fence as well depending which makes another thing come to mind, if you use the scoring saw is it set up to work for the outrigger or for the rip fence? Hmmm

Thinking back Ive probably done some commercial jobs where there was a large width to the top but some of them had angles coming off and would not have cut on the saw anyway so just rough cut and used a router and straight edge.

For those of you cutting alot of panels what is the practical length needed for the rip fence? I had a thought of cutting the bar then having an insert turned and it could always be reassembled if need be in the future. a I can leave it as it is as well but might be more creative for placement to shorten it down

thanks

[Darcy Warner]

I have cut them off for customers, just depended on what they thought was practical for them.

[Kevin Jenness]

If you have plenty of room (who has extra?) a 60" rip width might come in handy occasionally. I rarely work with sheets beyond 49"x 97" so the 50" rip width on my saw allows me to crosscut up to half the sheet length or rip the full panel width to the right of the blade. Some people get by with less by doing wider rips on the carriage, but that requires a long stroke saw.

The scoring saw should be slightly wider ( a few thousandths- just enough to ensure a clean cut) than and centered on the main blade kerf.

[David Kumm]

Heavier build sliders were built to cut 10' sheets so the outrigger and rip fence were sized accordingly. Dave

[Warren Lake]

okay thanks and could see from a felder video where he cut a 5 x 10 most of the work was done on the carriage. The whole ripping on the carriage to width looks odd to me but only cause its new to me. Id be faster off a fence but I came from cabinet saws and thats what Im used to ripped tons of solid and can go fast on that.

Good points this one is entry level anyway and I get that but fine ill start and get used to it on this. Are kitchen guys all starting from 5 x 10 getting more efficiency or does 4 x 8 work out just as well?

Kevin the scoring blades I think I have here from an altendoorf older one I think are thinner than a regular saw blade so you are saying they should match your blade width or be a hair more? didnt think most of my blades had the same kerf and it might change in sharpening.

[David Kumm]

Scoring blades come in two main types, Split and Conical. Lower end sliders don't have an easy way of setting the scorer up and down easily and returning it to exactly the same height. Split scorers work best for those and you simplify your life if all of your panel and crosscut blades have the same tooth width. More industrial machines will have a set points so you can mark the correct height for a conical scorer to match different blades and repeat the settings. You want the scorer to be within a couple thou of the main blade so it matches on both sides of the tooth. Then it doesn't matter if the good cut is on either side of the blade. Dave

[Kevin Jenness]

Ripping on the carriage works best if you have a good parallel gauge at the back of the table. Failing that you are relying on perfect indexing of the end of the rip to the crosscut fence, which can be thrown off by a chip or dust buildup or carelessness. I tend to rip on the carriage for heavy pieces like trimming a man door, but I set up the cut carefully, measuring off the sliding table edge, and check for parallel when done. Most rips are done using the pulled back rip fence as a stop, or with the rip fence pushed forward for pieces that don't have enough on the carriage to safely push from that side.

Scoring blades I have used come in two flavors. One has a single blade with tapered teeth so the higher it's raised the wider the cut. The two blade type can be shimmed to the correct thickness. If you use one blade with the scorer you can set its width just to that blade and adjust as necessary with sharpening.

In terms of sheet size, 5x10's are too much work for this old guy in a small shop with no forklift. 4' wide sheets work well for kitchens with typical nominal 24" and 12" boxes, and much easier to handle. One way to maximize efficient material use is to use the same thickness for everything including backs.