Sawstop sliding table questions

[Keith Weber]

Mark,

I've got to ask. If you already had a Grizzly Slider, why would you buy a Sawstop and install a mini-slider on it? I'm not judging, I just can't imagine that the Sawstop slider would do anything that you couldn't already do better on a real sliding table saw.

[Mark Rakestraw]

Hi Keith,
I'm a one man cabinet shop and I needed a second saw--too much time between jumping from rip, crosscut and dado head. When I bought the Grizzly I really wanted a Sawstop but needed a slider capable of doing plywood panels for oversize cabinets, such as pantry units. If I could only have one slider in the shop it would have to be the Grizzly. It takes an outrigger to safely support long, wide panels. When I decided the Sawstop would be my second saw I was looking at the "Industrial" unit, which was over $1000 more. Hmmmm, buy the "professional" for a $1000 less and you have your slider. I'm spoiled. Unless I was only using a saw to rip I want a slider on it. I've made some nice sleds and they have their place. But having used the Grizzly for the last several years, and having had a Jessem Masterslide on my previous saw, I didn't want to do without. The Grizzly has had the dado head in it all day today and the Sawstop has handled all the panels for the "normal" to small sized cabinets just fine. I'm not bothered by it not being a "true" slider in that the sliding table is not right next to the blade. Unless you're processing panels large enough to need an outrigger it works just fine.

[Curtis Myers]

Thanks Mark,
please keep us posted on the possitive and negatives as you get more practice with it.
I want one but not sure yet that it will be right for my workflow.

[Keith Weber]

I'm a one man cabinet shop and I needed a second saw--too much time between jumping from rip, crosscut and dado head.

Thanks Mark,

Ahhh... a second saw -- now it makes sense. I recently replaced my Grizzly Cabinet Saw that I had with a 12-year old Altendorf F-45 that I found that had 25 hours on it. What a beautiful machine! I couldn't keep the cabinet saw because there was only room for one in the shop. Otherwise, I'd have kept it and left a dado blade in it. But like you said, if you could only have one, the slider wins.

[David Kumm]

Second saw is really a great way to go. Here are a couple of alternatives that I use for short sliders.DSCN2149.jpgDSCN2817.jpg True sliders and in both cases the table slides out to allow for a dado which keeps both the rip and crosscut references accurate. Dave

[Rich Riddle]

Last weekend at the Woodworking Show in Columbus the Sawstop representatives had the slider attachment on the demonstration saw. The female representative indicated it took "a while" to install or remove the parts but didn't elaborate or generalize to a time requirement. She did explain that the attachment made the saw "even safer" since it kept one's hands away from the blade. When someone asked if all sliders didn't do that, she sort of stumbled on the answer. She did eventually say two safety features trump one. It's an expensive safety feature and you can actually purchase a European true slider (small one) for the same cost as their saw and this added feature. It might be a hard sell for them because of that.