A few hours ago, a few gentleman left my house and shop with my General Sliding Tablesaw in the back of their rented truck. It was a 5hp, made in Canada beauty. I had to clear the decks in preparation for moving away from this small mountain town, and want to simplify moving a whole house. The saw had perhaps 30-40 hours of use, and invariably impressed me with its quality and capability.
Using the slider, and with the help of 3 friends to hold the machine down, I crosscut a 2" thick x 8' workbench top of European Red Beech weighing close to 300 lbs. Unbelievable capacity and precision. But as is true of most things, we have to learn by experience. As a relatively new woodworker I can see that I don't need the capacity because my preferences (and this is all new) are for hardwood pieces rather than sheet goods. On the other hand, if you've never worked with a machine that has a crosscut fence, you are missing a wonderful experience. No measuring or marking. Just set a flip stop and cut. I'll miss that.
So, being a little wiser and more experienced, from now on I'll use my ATF 55 and guide rail to break down 4x8 plywood sheets when the need arises. A sliding tablesaw is just too much machine for me. So I'll probably buy another new General 350 saw without the slider. But with a 50-tooth Everlast combination blade. To demonstrate earlier today, my saw cut through a whole bunch of mdf with two-sided Melamine, leaving absolutely clean edges, top and bottom. The buyer was cabinetmaker who trained from childhood in Switzerland. He was really impressed when he saw how clean the cuts were.
So, I'm excited about what I'll buy next, but sad to see my first big machine depart.
Using the slider, and with the help of 3 friends to hold the machine down, I crosscut a 2" thick x 8' workbench top of European Red Beech weighing close to 300 lbs. Unbelievable capacity and precision. But as is true of most things, we have to learn by experience. As a relatively new woodworker I can see that I don't need the capacity because my preferences (and this is all new) are for hardwood pieces rather than sheet goods. On the other hand, if you've never worked with a machine that has a crosscut fence, you are missing a wonderful experience. No measuring or marking. Just set a flip stop and cut. I'll miss that.
So, being a little wiser and more experienced, from now on I'll use my ATF 55 and guide rail to break down 4x8 plywood sheets when the need arises. A sliding tablesaw is just too much machine for me. So I'll probably buy another new General 350 saw without the slider. But with a 50-tooth Everlast combination blade. To demonstrate earlier today, my saw cut through a whole bunch of mdf with two-sided Melamine, leaving absolutely clean edges, top and bottom. The buyer was cabinetmaker who trained from childhood in Switzerland. He was really impressed when he saw how clean the cuts were.
So, I'm excited about what I'll buy next, but sad to see my first big machine depart.
