Time sensitive discussion of Harvey Compass ST-1500 Sliding table
esch5995
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
Hoping to get some quick insight on the Harvey ST-1500 sliding table as a possible upgrade on my venerable Unisaw. Anyone have any experience with this or Harvey tools in general. There is a flash sale ending tonight that I’m contemplating taken advantage of.
Replies
Tempting. The need to chop up my fence to try it is scaring me off.
I was thinking the little set above the table on the left side might be an issue, but then you would be making those cuts from over there from now on. Curious how the resulting cuts are.
If my shop was bigger, and my floor was flat I think I would pull the trigger on this. It seems better made than the sawstop slider.
Some fences can be slid to the right without cutting them from what I hear.
Harvey website has it on sale for $1099 this evening DEC 15. Does not mention an end date. Is that the sale price you are hoping to utilize?
Yes I think it is actually a 48 hour flash sale ending tomorrow saving $300.
Man this thread is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I have a 15 year old Unisaw and I just happened to be in the market for a sliding attachment. Been looking at Harvey for a while but it’s hard to find any real info on them. Then I saw the flash sale…hopefully somebody comes up with some decent info for us. Good luck and merry Christmas
I can't comment on the specific item, though it looks to be of great quality. For what it is worth, here is the perspective of a slider user (and convert)
I use a Hammer K3 with a 2500mm travel (1250 long) sliding table and love it. I use the slider all the time - no need for a crosscut sled. Perfectly square trimming of larger boards, ply etc. Safely out of the way of the blade most of the time. Instant jointing of even relatively large boards in a single pass.
Perhaps the only down side is that I wish I had a longer slider as it is still too short to take a half-sheet of ply with the adjustable crosscut/mitre fence in place. 1500mm travel for the Harvey is definitely shortish. Once you have taken into account the (relatively large) amount of space taken up by the crosscut fence, you will be left with perhaps 500mm maximum length of workpiece. For jointing, you'd be limited to probably 300-400mm lengths with fritz and franz jigs though you can of course use hold down clamps for narrow pieces as long as the slider.
I think the design of the mitre guide is far better than the Hammer machines. I like the both direction tilt of the mitre gauge, and it looks easier to set, though calibration is likely to be a bit harder.
If you just want quick, accurate, repeatable easy crosscuts without having to make a sled, then this is likely perfect. If segmented turning is your gig then buy it without a second thought. If you are hoping to use the slider to joint timber though, that short stroke will seriously disappoint.
The Harvey claims a roughly 49" crosscut capacity and a 60" max table travel, I don't know why the large difference so crosscutting plywood should not be a problem, although a little more headroom would be nice. As for jointing I would never think of using my tablesaw in that fashion, it does not seem safe to me in my 40 years of experience and training, but then I've never had a sliding table either.
It's really easy with my hammer machine. The table slides really close to the blade though, which means the wood is well supported.
No risk to speak of as all operations are well away from the blade and out of line of missiles.
Well it seems no one has any more experience with Harvey tools than I do, but I pulled the trigger anyway(I'm a sucker for a tool sale) so I will update when I get it installed and have a chance to put it through some drills. Will probably need to do some shop rearranging first so it may be a while.
I look forward to hearing your experience. I wish I could have a slider, but I have zero room to add on to that side of my tablesaw.
First:
You already "pulled the trigger" so it doesn't really matter, but here's one thing about Harvey: There's always another flash sale. The sales there are practically blinking lights.
About Harvey:
I have mixed feelings about Harvey/Bridge City. On one hand, I think the products are generally built with quality. On the other hand, I feel you may be paying a little too much premium for the products.
I think many of the Bridge City tools are just not smartly made. Like the 2 of the 3 try squares are just try squares and lack etched measurements, even though it would have been nearly free to add them. Or the Universal Gauge, a hipster woodworking tool which looks cool but all of the functions are so awkward I don't ever think to pick it up.
The Harvey Miter Gauge is well liked, and I think it would be one of the best Miter Gauges. But for me, I think the last Miter Gauge wheel is too far forward and this gives the Gauge too much flexion, unlike the Jessem or Incra gauges which have adjustment spots at or behind the fence.
My biggest purchase was the Gyro dust collector. I'm honestly not sure if it would have been better to get another similarly priced collector which might have had a little more power, but I wanted two things and I got them. First, it was extremely easy to get working. I've spent most of my energy on handling the Dust Collection. Second, it's very reasonable with it's power usage, which is important not just to save money but also to avoid flipping breakers with other devices in the shop where I have limits I can't easily fix.
So here's the thing that gives me the most concern with Harvey, it may seem small.
There's a remote on the Gyro. The range on it isn't good enough. That's probably because it's extremely cheap, although even a cheap remote could do better, not quite sure why these ones are so very bad, they should have the range of a garage door opener. I found the exact remote for sale from China for $11. Well, 2 of the remotes AND the part to stick inside of a device. Harvey, buying in bulk, would pay a little less. You don't need the exact device, it's an extremely common style of 315 mhz remote and you can buy nearly any generic remote to clone it. You might be able to get your car to clone it.
All of that wouldn't be so bad (in fact the ability to clone it is good since you can get a better one or an internet connected remote, as I have done) But on the Harvey website they have a replacement remote for sale for $200. This is an absurd gouge. They're charging car key prices for remote you could include as a prize in a cereal box. I respect that a company can charge well above materials cost for labor reasons or to make up for other costs, but this is far beyond that. At $40 it would be actually very overpriced but not as insane.
So if Harvey is charging that much more for a part I can source and price, should I worry that if I am buying expensive equipment from the company I'm paying too much? That's my concern, paying too much for the sexy looking toy that works as well as the other one.
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Congrats! I may be taking over another room to expand my shop in 2022, so the slider may become an option. Looking forward to your review. I'm REALLY curious about how having the slider a tad higher than the saw 's table affects your workflow.
Looking at purchasing this slider attachment. Have you been happy with the purchase? Any negatives? Does it limit your capacity for making rip cuts using the table saw fence?
I do not own any Harvey products, but the tablesaws have been available in Australia for some years. They have a great reputation. Their G800 GyroAir is on my short list.
Harvey have been around quite a while and have a reputation for innovation and quality. Many of the machines produced by leading brands are made for them by Harvey. I believe Laguna is one.
I have a Hammer K3 slider, so am not in the market for this accessory. It does look a good design ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YISMf8yeJFk&t=60s&ab_channel=HarveyWoodworking
Regards from Perth
Derek
im looking forward to your review as well. the Harvey slider looks suspicously like the sawstop slider, I have that one, and have been disappointed in its usability (taking miter gauge arm on and off is time consuming and fiddly), and accuracy (repeatable accurate cuts difficult/impossible due to slop in slider mechanism and miter gauge arm). I hope yours is more accurate/usable.
I had heard that Harvey is the manufacturer behind many of the parts used in common woodworking power tools but I cannot confirm that. I did a search and came up with this link which discusses manufacturing sites and quality for common brands:
https://craftpoet.com/where-woodworking-tools-made/
This jibes with my understanding. Harvey, based in China, is generally a well-respected brand that offers quality products and yes they often run sales.
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