Thank you gentlemen, this is excellent feedback.
I suspected that the table length is a controversial topic and I did read the advice to buy the longest table one can fit. My shop is 20'x10' once I subtract the dead space taken by cabinets. This is half of the garage; I like to keep the other half available for the car, but it can be temporarily encroached upon. I figured the outrigger can?overhang into that space. The ceilings are 9' but the overhead garage door reduces it by 18" or so. It is not impossible to fit a large slider (I've seen it done with a comparable Minimax), but it will completely dominate the space and make navigating it kinda awkward. Worst case, the convertible can live on the driveway.
When observing people that have long sliders, I noticed several things. One, the crosscut fence is typically mounted on the very end of the slider, presumably to keep it free for the long rips. In a small shop, the infeed will typically be against the garage door, making it impossible to use the crosscut without opening the door. Additionally, long carriage makes it awkward to use the rip fence. I thought I could avoid both issues by limiting myself to a short stroke and ripping long boards in the traditional way.
Clearly the consensus is that I would be making an expensive mistake and I hear it loud and clear. This is exactly the type of feedback I was hoping for. But let me try and exhaust the short stroke avenue before I give up on it entirely. Anyone here who actually downsized from a long slider to a short stroke? Derek — seeing your setup is very helpful and the product you create is way over anything I would be able to produce on an unlimited budget.
As for the type of work I tend to do, it's all over the place. It's hard to say where the hobby will take me, but on the spectrum proposed by Lucky I gravitate towards Krenov-style furniture rather than dining tables.
Most of the last year was spent on house remodeling, so there was more panel work than I'd like — hence the itch for a scoring blade. Few doors as well. Milling, assembling, and gluing them up completely monopolized the shop space even without a slider in the way.?Some of them were over 100" high, so I doubt a 8' slider would make a difference...?Jacques' power-fed setup is definitely intriguing.
Outrigger is definitely on the list, but again, my bogey was set at 1100mm and Imran suggests 1500. Can it be off most of the time? Do I need to put it on for the tiniest of crosscuts? Anything involving setup time will have me looking for shortcuts — it's a character flaw that I learned to accept. For the same reason, wheeling the tools around before I can start working would be a deal breaker.
All in all, I am finding new angles to think about it, and you all have my thanks. The used KF700S that I believe Imran has linked to would fit the bill, but the seller did not reply to my inquiries. I think I might err on the lower side and try a B3, which may not scratch the same itch but will definitely give me a much better understanding and appreciation of the workflow.
Stan
