MiniMax sliding table saw

[Chris McDowell]

Hi everybody. This is my first time posting on this forum. I was wandering if anyone had any information on the MiniMax S315SW sliding table saw.
I run a one man cabinetshop and need to be able to process sheet goods faster that I can on my Unisaw with Excalibur sliding table. I have posted on other forums but have been very disappointed with the responses. Seems like most people want to steer me to a Martin or an Altendorf.
While these are fine machines they exceed my price range and I think the MM would suit my needs just fine. Anybody out there with experience on this machine ? Will it stay in adjustment and the slider remain accurate?
I have never seen one of these or used one. I am looking to collect all the information I can over the next few months so I could make an informed purchase after the first of the year.
Thanks,
Chris McDowell

[mike merrill]

hi i have a 315 it has been great saw i use it for ply and hard wood
with ease you will like the saw you get lot of bang for your buck
mike

[tod evans]

chris, welcome to smc! i own a 315, been abusing it for over 3 yrs and it`s still accurate and a pleasure to use. sure martins and altendorfs are great saws but like you my finances kept them out of reach, i don`t regret buying the mm one bit.....02 tod

[Brian Buckley]

Chris, I have had a MM 410 Elite for almost 2 years. It is a nice saw that can do alot more than I am capable of. The slider will hold up to anything you can throw at it. You will also enjoy working with the people at MM.

Brian

[Paul B. Cresti]

Chris,
I went from a table top to a contractor saw to a Unisaw to a MM S315WS and now the MM Formula S35 (wanted the longer 10ft slider) and am very happy I did. Here on SMC I attempted to give the folks here an explanation of just how useful these sliders are click on the links below for my past post on this subject. I hope it helps and also feel free to contact me if you want. I can certainly understand the "leap of faith" required to change the way you work (for the better by the way)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=23389
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=23774
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=24502
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=26285
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=28088
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=29871
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31545

[lou sansone]

chris
I would also recommend that you try to determine the " demographics" of those making the recommendations to you for the martin ect. I have spent quite a bit of time researching various machines in the past, and one of the things that became clear to me is to make sure you know what type of business those who are making the recmmendation to you are in and what type of work they do ( price point and all that). I think that you will find that the current line of MM / Tecnomax (S315WS) have been beefed up ( not that they needed to ) even more and are getting close to the regular SCM line. Paul's s35 is basically a SCM saw.

I am sure that someone in your neck of the woods has one that you could look at ( BTW you can indicate your location on the SMC log in ).

best wishes
lou

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I don't think you will get a Martin (new) for less than $25-Grand. However if you can get a Martin you will have a peach of a machine.

MM and Felder are both stateside and both very good manufacturers. Felder has a showroom in Delaware where they run a shop exactly for the purpose of letting you take their equipment out for a test drive.
MM will find you people in your area who will let you take a poke at their equipment.

Depending on which coast you are near, the shipping may be an issue. Neither MM nor Felder will do a drop ship from the European factories. The result is you pay for shipping from their USA headquarters.

I recently swapped up from a conventional saw to an 8' Austrian slider. I ain't never going back.

Take your time about your purchase. All sorts of issues will crop up from shipping, where the power switches are located, whether you are more or less into panel processing, whether you have three phase power, whether you want to add a phase converter to your shop, etc.


Considering joining a dedicated owner's group for the manufacturers There is one for MM and another for Felder. On those sites you will find a huge load of information and even used equipment for sale.

Felder is here: >>http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/felder-woodworking/<<

I don't know what the URL for MM owners group is.

[Marty Walsh]

Here's the MM owners group site:

finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/MiniMax-USA/

- Marty -

[Chris McDowell]

Thanks everyone for the information. Perhaps I did not make myself clear. I am not interested in a Martin or any other top level saw. While these are great machines they are beyond my price range. I have joined the MM owners group already and thanks for the suggestion.
I like the MM 315 and from what I have read so far about the saw,just looking for the kind of info a salesman is not going to give you. I posted on another forum I frequent and got slammed for even thinking about buying that level of saw.
Nothing personal but everyone has their opinions and I will make up my own mind. I just wanted to get information from users of the product.
I like what I read and see here. People seem kind and willing to share of their own experiences. Sadly a lot of forums have turned into a judgemental and unenjoyable places. Keep up the good posts. Like it or not you guys have converted me to the creek.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I posted on another forum I frequent and got slammed for even thinking about buying that level of saw.

Not a bright bunch over there huh? Why anywone would get all froggy over someone elses decisions is beyond me. I actually think I know what forum that was. No need to say though.

[Jim Becker]

Chris, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how much information you'll get from MM when you speak with them...I'd order up the 315 in some format right now if our home addition wasn't coming in, oh...way more than we originally figured. (I was going to build it into the budget. Rats...) All of the folks are dedicated to good customer service pre- and post-sale and Sam is actually a cabinetmaker with a working shop in the MM facility.

[Chris McDowell]

Jim, here's hoping that budget improves. I got the new literature today on the 315 and boy it sure looks impressive. I can't imagine why it would not work for me. The salesman was very helpful not pushy[something I cannot say about Laguna] and informed on the product.
He said the saw has been beefed up quite a bit which really peaks my interest. And Lou you understand exactly what I have been trying to get people to understand at other forums. No one can tell you if buying a product is right for you or not. It's a personal decision based on a multitude of factors including how you use it, what can you afford and so on. I really appreciate people keeping in the spirit of the thread and just offering information and their personal experience. After all that's all you can really do for anybody. I'm new here but I really like this place.
Chris

[Justin Nelson]

Chris,

Just thought I would chime in here with my two cents on the subject. Just got my Mini........er Technomax about 4 months ago and got it set up and running.
I got the 5hp single phase motor and the SW315S that you are looking to buy. Hopefully I could be of some assistance to you, because I have waded through most of this already.
I really wanted to buy and Altendorf or a Martin, but WOW price tags were a little bit of a stretch for them. So I started looking in the used market for a saw, but had concerns with abuse, wearing out of the guide rails and such.
So I looked into Hammer, Rojek, Felder, Minimax, Laguna even at a Grizzly (Don't tell Paul I mentioned that). After many conversations with various manufactures and alot with Sam (great guy by the way) at Minimax, and private emails with Paul, I decided that getting a new Entry level (using that term loosely on this saw) saw was the way to go. Narrowed my choices down to Felder and Minimax and probably the deciding factor was the patience of Sam at minimax, not ever being pushy about selling the saw, told me differences about the saws, which is mainly the argument about the trunnions you read everywhere.

Anyhow not to bore everyone so I'll get to the point.

Pro's:
1. This saw for being an entry level format is heavily built (1500 Pounds)
2. Great customer support (very important to me)
3. SMOOOOOTH
4. Plenty of HP for cutting sheetgoods even with only a single phase 5HP motor.
5. Fairly square out of the box, still in need of some tweaking to be perfected.
6. Seems to stay in adjustment
7. Does not require special blades like the Felder.

Cons:
1. The flipstops on the outrigger are positioned about 3/16" above the scale so getting an accurate setting takes about twice as long as it should.
2. My scoring motor is flipping my thermal overload switch, I would guess the motor or the cooling fan on the motor is at fault. (Sam assured me it is under warranty and will be fixed)
3. If you are not mechanicaly inclined this will be a con, you are on your own to adjust this girl, phone calls only get you so far, but squaring it so all parts are cutting properly can be a bit of a task. I like to tweak so it doesn't bug me to much.
4. No dado capabilities.
5. Getting used to a Format saw versus a normal Tablesaw.

All in all small glitches on the machine and truth be told the first on bugs me the most, still trying to figure out how to fix that one. Yes it is not a Martin, but is most definately not and excalibur or exactor add on to a tablesaw. I feel once I get it dialed in and the scoring motor not to flip the thermal switch this machine will serve me well for many years. Expensive, yes. Worth it, Definitely.

Good luck and sorry for the long post.

[lou sansone]

BTW Chris

are you able to use 3 phase equipment ? if so the s315ws comes with a pretty powerful 9 hp main motor and ~ 1 hp scoring motor as standard equipment.

lou

[Paul B. Cresti]

Justin,
Congrats on the new saw and welcome to the MM family. As far as dado capability....I personally do not find that as a con. I hated using that dang stacked dado, it just took up soooo much time and then rendered my Unisaw useless when installed. Take a look at one of my past posts here about sliders. I created an outfeed table that acted as a double plated router table. One insert is oriented towards the slider (long ways is parrallel) and I use it as my dado machine. The other insert I use for normal router table use. In this way I kind of get a saw/shaper setup yet I do not tie up my T50 shaper for simple dado stuff.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=26285

The flip stops take some getting use to I agree. What I do is set my tape so that the stop when sitting on the left side of the line, that is when the correct dimension is read. I kind of site down the stop with one eye. The beauty of those flips stops is you can set up two for different dimensions or more if you add more flip stops but when you slide a piece of stock up against the fence that you do not want to register off of the stop, the stop due to its curved bottom will flip up out of the way.

The tripping of you scoring blade may be a couple of things. The heater element on the contactor for that motor maybe set too low...very common as it comes set at some factory setting. The other thing is did you make a zero clearance insert? If so it may be hitting it the wrong way and tripping it. On that subject due make a zero clearance insert. I used Garolite CE grade. Mine covers the entire slot right up to the slider edge...absolutley no gap. You will need to dig out the back for the scorer and riving knife though...