Sliding Table Saws: Using Them in Your Wood Projects

There are several keys to successful sliding table saw use. There must be sufficient work space around the saw to permit ease of handling and loading of panels. In addition, the most common faults lie in not doing a clean trim cut. Use of the factory edge will almost always result in a distorted cut, and will show up in irregular and uneven joints. A clear indication of squareness issues will be cabinets which seem to join perfectly when in the scale of an upper cabinet and fail to match up when the panels are 24 inches deep or more, as in base cabinets and pantries. A trim cut is essential to provide a proper reference edge.

To learn some techniques and get the full utilization out of your sliding table saw, you could purchase some books or take a class. May vocational and trade schools have sliding tables and are prepared to teach and offer training.

Since Wilhem Altendorf first invented the sliding table saw in 1906, saws have developed into multifunctional machines. Today’s systems are completely modular so you can figure it to the needs of your particular workshop. With versatility built in , even the basic model will make easy work of the day-to day tasks in every cabinet shop.

A sliding table saw has a great time saving over a standard table saw by eliminating the need to walk around the table to manually position the rip fence and cross-cut fence. The motorized rip fence and cross-cut fence are controlled via a swing-away control panel located conveniently at eye level. The first cut is the final cut…a good motto to have.

The sliding table saw cuts solid wood, plastics, and non-ferrous metals as perfectly as it cuts panels and makes perfect miters as well as rip, jointing and cross-cuts. The electro-motorized positioning rip fence and cross-cut fence incorporate a ball screw drive system for unparalleled accuracy. With a sliding table saw, the motorized tilting of saw unit and raising and lowering of saw blade is quickly and accurately achieved by keypad control. Some saws even have program memory capable of storing cutting patterns and cutting sequences.

Woodworking is not nearly as daunting as it may seem. And it is not necessary to spend a fortune on tools. Spend the most money on your sliding table saw. Buy as much saw as you can afford, you will be glad you did. At one time or another we all do something we regret. The more cheap tools we buy, the more regrets we have. Often it is better to put off purchasing a tool if you can’t afford to buy a quality item. Eventually it will go on sale or you may find a used one at a garage sale, flea market or on the internet. Be wary of buying used sliding table saws. There are bargains to be had if you carefully check what you are buying. Try to determine why the saw is for sale, is it a dud or has it been replaced with a bigger and better model? Another advantage to buying quality tools is that, if you don’t wish to continue with the hobby they will have a much better resale value. Let your friends and relatives know you are interested, often they will have tools that they have had passed on to them and never use so will be glad to give them a new home.