I am looking into buying a miter slide for my table saw and have been looking at 2 options. One is the Excaliber 37 inch attachment and the other is the JessEm Mast-r slide. Does anyone have any experience with either of these that could help me pick the best for my saw. I presently have a contractors 10 inch table saw and am somewhat restricted with space.
Information on other sliding tables would also be appreciated, but these are the two that I presently have access to.
Replies
I have a Mast-r-Slide installed on an older Delta Contractors saw. Installation requires either cutting the fence guides that stick out to the left of the cast iron table or, as I did, simply redrill the support holes and shifting the entire fence support (front and back) to the right. I'm happy with the Jessem; it makes easy work much easier--especially for panels.
Dustydon,
I have a new Jessem MastRslide I'm selling due to the purchase of an expensive European sliding table saw. Please see my add in the classified threads of this website. As with all the Jessem products they are very well built and precisely accurate. This would be an excellent addition to your table saw if you need more accuracy and speed in truing up smaller panels( 36" in width or less) or cutting tenons or dadoes on longer stock with a dado blade. The Jessem will take up a much smaller foot print in your shop than the Excaliber or Exaktor, althought the latter two are beefier and will handle larger sheet stock. Hope this helps.
Danny
Edited 10/1/2007 1:38 am ET by brownman
I installed a Jessem slider on an X5 Delta cabinet saw for our demo unit. It slides glass smooth, but I sure wish that the miter gauge had fixed detents to set common angles. Also I would suggest using it only on a right tilt arbor.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
I took a serious look at both and ended up going with the Excalibur. Specifically, the Sommerville EXSLT40 49" Sliding Table (now sold under the "General" brand). I purchased mine at http://www.tools-plus.com/general-woodworking-machinery-50-slt40.html... because they were the cheapest, at the time.
The Excalibur is not to be mounted to a mobile base… I know they sell one – but I do not see it as a practical accessory because moving the table saw would require you to re-level everything. Not difficult, but it would be a time-consuming PITA. If it needs to be mobile, you should go with the Jessem.
Now, I have never used the Jessem – so I will try to only comment on the Excalibur.
Excalibur pros and cons:
Will crosscut a 4x8 sheet of plywood, with ease (49” of crosscutting madness)
The support table is huge and safely supports a full 4x8 sheet - without the use of additional support devises.
Has a large fence - 59" and expandable (telescoping) stop to 90". It is great for repeatable cuts - but it takes up a lot of space and it is a long walk to the out-feed table :0)
Does not have fixed stops when mitering – therefore, it takes much longer to set up angled cuts. If possible, I’ll still use my Incra 2000 or my Dwalt 12” scms, for angled cuts
I don’t thing you can go wrong with either as they both perform the same basic function. I’d go with the Excalibur if you can dedicate the required space or regularly crosscut 4x8 sheets. However, I’d recommend the Jessem if you need your saw to be mobile and/or do not require a full 49” crosscut capacity.
P.S. A large, shop-made, crosscut sled works too and can be made for a fraction of the cost.
last year i bought the JessEm mitre guage and it honestly, it took my wood working to another level. it is soooooooooo wicked i love the quality and perfomance. its precision set angles are flawless with never having to calibrate it. i was so happy with it, the next week i bought their router lift gizmo. again another amazing product. i recoment the JessEm as i have found their products to be very high quality and worth their weight in gold. (well maybe silver. i cant afford gold). i just cant wait until they start making other cool tools.
happy tool shopping :)Tmaxxx
Urban Workshop Ltd
Vancouver B.C.
cheers. Ill buy.
Early this year I got a Jessem MastRSlide 7500. I like it however I had a issue with the sliding table top. It was not flat side to side. The extrusion has a wide 'T' slot for the fence adjusting/locking brackets. The left edge of the slot (as viewed from the operators standing position was approximately 1/32 higher than the surface of the other metal of the top. I'm not sure this makes sense. Lets just say one edge of the 'T' was a bit higher than the surface of the rest of part. Not a big deal to me because I just 'surfaced' it with a router. However, I WAS annoyed about it.
Another annoyance I have is that the fence does not remain at 90 degrees to the slider surface when locking it down. The fence tipps back a few degrees (I have not tried to measure exactally how much).
I have not come up with a good way to 'shim' it. As it is 'tipped' back it only becomes an issue for me when I want to clamp a 'stick' to the fence or squeeze the stick to the fence with my hand. This causes the wood to tip back and the cut is not true if it is a compound miter. Then again, my saw is a left tilt and I probably shouldn't't be cutting compound with a left tilt blade. I have made an auxiliary fence that is surfaced to correct the 'small' tilt back of the slider fence and it extends past the end of the sliders fence so I can tip my blade for compound cuts. I have to figure out a way to correct the 'off 90' fence issue. As my auxiliary fence is sacrificial it is annoying making a new one because I have to 'surface' it to correct for 90 degrees.
All in all, I like the slider.
If you want to cut large sheet goods you will need a slider with a outrigger like the Excaliber.
Edited 10/2/2007 5:36 am by WillGeorge
Will,My Jessem slide thing has the same problem. I called Jessem about this and they promptly sent out replacement brackets for the fence. So, good service on their part. Unfortunately, the replacements have the same problem. I figured out a shim that made everything right. I've forgotten exactly what I used, but I'll look tomorrow when I'm back at the shop and let you know. It was an easy fix. Still, I can't see why they simply don't have the brackets made to be square.
Still, I can't see why they simply don't have the brackets made to be square. I'd say they do not care and put us off till we go away!EDIT: I never called them because I expected what you received.When I worked in Service we tried our best to make 'it right'.Many companies do not care at all these days!
Edited 10/3/2007 3:03 pm by WillGeorge
A follow-up to my first post...... I shimmed the brackets with small strips of plastic laminate held on with double stick tape. This thickness did it for me..... you may need to use something else. The fix doesn't hamper subsequent use whatsoever.It is a shame that I had to do it at all, though.
While I do not have a slider on my Unisaw, I have seen both up close. If you are pressed for space (are'nt we all), the Jessem will better serve you, as the room this unit takes up is small. It also allows you to use a mobile base on the saw if that is what you have. It seems to get good reviews on other sites.
Good luck and watch those fingers.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled