Re: Upgrading slider
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýHere are some things that come immediately to mind.?Consider getting a 3-phase machine and an inexpensive rotary phase converter for your shop. ?If you don¡¯t know why I recommend that, search the archives for ¡°failed capacitors¡±. ?3-Phase motors are much more reliable, more efficient, and give you a larger capacity HP. ?The electronics are simpler and more reliable. And once you provision your shop for 3-phase power, it opens so many doors to other equipment. WRT DRO on rip fence, that depends a lot on how you use the machine. ?95 percent of the work I do is on the left side of the blade, and a DRO on the crosscut fence is far more useful than one on the rip fence side. ?A parallel fence is a very useful addition to your configuration if you have reoriented your workflow to ¡°the left¡± or do a meaningful amount of panel processing. ? I do have a motorized rip fence with DRO but use it mostly as a glorified bump stop. ?Between the digital crosscut stops and DRO on the rip fence, there is no question which I would give up first (the rip fence side). ?If you are still using your sliding table saw like you¡¯d use a conventional cabinet saw, then a rip-side DRO could be handy. ?If you do plan to get DRO crosscut stops for ¡°the left side", the solution from Felder is roughly equivalent in cost to a 3rd-party after-market solution like the one Brian makes. ?The Felder DRO-capable crosscut fence is very heavy - that might be one reason to go after-market for the crosscut DRO. The KF700 is a very cost-effective way to get into a shaper if you are already buying a sliding table saw. ?For a hobbyist it can open a lot of doors. ?For anything approaching a production shop, a separate shaper is ideal since there is a lot of setup time required to dial in your fence and tool positions, and if you have to break that down to use the saw, setting up the shaper again will be frustratingly slow. ?But if you are a hobbyist, with time on your side, and are not someone who is isntantly aggravated by setup changes, I highly recommend the KF700 as the starter machine. ?The KF700 with shaper is an excellent way to get into the world of using a shaper. ?You can always ADD a stand alone shaper later. ?Last time I looked, the price difference between a K700 and KF700 similarly equipped was about $4,000 depending on motorized options. As to the difference between shaper and router table, I have both, but the router table is relegated to round-over and similar operations. ?Once you start making frame/panel doors (cabinet or passage doors), the shaper really shines. ? A good pair of clamps should be on your list. ?No question here that Mac Campsure¡¯s Airtight units are to pinnacle. ? Make sure you get the ¡°S¡± body. ?I have recently been in a long exchange with a user who got talked into the non-¡°S¡± version with a 2500mm slider and is having fits trying to get his slider aligned properly. ?The S chassis version with a 110¡± slider is ideal in this regard. Where are you located and who is your sales rep? ?DM me if you want to go deep dive on any of these aspects. David Best DBestWorkshop@... https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidpbest/collections/ https://www.youtube.com/@David_Best
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David P. Best