Advice on a new panel saw

[Mattp]

Hello I'm looking to purchase a sliding table panel saw

With a fair bit of sheet work coming up this year I feel its time to invest in a panel saw have been using a festool rail saw for it which has done the job but it is slow

I have limited space so have been looking at small footprint machines but with decent power motors to be able to rip solid timbers also (with the correct blade) going up to 75mm stock

Around £5000 budget so far have been looking at scm minimax sc2 or 3 or the wadkin wb 1200m from advanced machinery I'm worried that these smaller footprint machines won't be heavy enough to handle 8x4 sheets and will feel unstable just wondering if anyone has any experience or advise

 

[Doug71]

I have a Minimax Sc4 with a 1.7m slider, works great, I would try and get the longest slider that you can fit in.

This should be a nice bit of kit for the money if you don't mind second hand.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185295315721?hash=item2b24762309:g:dxYAAOSwDDpiCnuP

 

[Mattp]

I have a Minimax Sc4 with a 1.7m slider, works great, I would try and get the longest slider that you can fit in.

This should be a nice bit of kit for the money if you don't mind second hand.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185295315721?hash=item2b24762309:g:dxYAAOSwDDpiCnuP

Thanks for reply, I noticed that one on ebay yesterday how stable is your minimax when lugging 8x4 18mm sheets onto it?

 

[Doug71]

The sc4 is rock solid, it's no problem cutting sheets of MDF by yourself although I do think it's slightly bigger than the sc3. My friend has an old sc3, if I see him today I will ask his opinion on it.

I think @MikeK has an sc2, sure he will let you know his experience with it.

 

[Mattp]

The sc4 is rock solid, it's no problem cutting sheets of MDF by yourself although I do think it's slightly bigger than the sc3. My friend has an old sc3, if I see him today I will ask his opinion on it.

I think @MikeK has an sc2, sure he will let you know his experience with it.

Thankyou, just been looking on Scott and sargeant also they have ITech stuff which I've never heard of but the saws look quite nice

 

[MikeK]

I have the Minimax SC2 Classic and am happy with it. This was the largest slider that I could fit in my basement shop, but if I had the room and a way to maneuver down the stairs, I would have bought the SC3 or SC4.

I can't rip full sheets of 8x4 (2500mmx1250mm here) on the SC2C, but I can cross-cut them easily. The limitation on ripping is because of my shop and not the saw, as the distance between the walls of my shop is five meters, with the arbor of the saw at the midpoint. Because of this, the longest material I can rip on the SC2C is about 2200mm when using the scoring blade.

Any ripping of full sheets was done with the tracksaw in my garage, but is now done on my MFT-style workbench in the basement. When I built my mitersaw workstation, I cut all but two of the 11 sheets of 19mm plywood entirely on the SC2C. I had to rip two sheets in the garage and then move them to the basement to make the finish cuts to length.

The SC2C slider can accommodate material up to about 1800mm long attached to the slider, but there is no limitation (other than the shop) when using the rip fence. I added a 25-inch Incra positioner to a spare auxiliary table attached to the slider and no longer use the rip fence. This positioner creates another adjustable point in space along the slider and works with the crosscut fence stop block for cuts from 0 to 500mm wide. Anything wider, and I use only the crosscut fence as a reference. I can do all of my ripping, up to 1800mm long, using the slider and never come close to the blade.

As @Doug71 wrote, try to find a saw with the longest slider that will fit in your shop.

 

[RobinBHM]

Hello I'm looking to purchase a sliding table panel saw

With a fair bit of sheet work coming up this year I feel its time to invest in a panel saw have been using a festool rail saw for it which has done the job but it is slow

I have limited space so have been looking at small footprint machines but with decent power motors to be able to rip solid timbers also (with the correct blade) going up to 75mm stock

Around £5000 budget so far have been looking at scm minimax sc2 or 3 or the wadkin wb 1200m from advanced machinery I'm worried that these smaller footprint machines won't be heavy enough to handle 8x4 sheets and will feel unstable just wondering if anyone has any experience or advise

if you have the space buy a 3.2m slider -they are generally the most available and cheap second hand

do you know how much space you need?

a 3.2m machine needs 6.6m x 2.8m roughly +more for long cross cuts

 

[Mattp]

Thanks both for reply

I'm going to have to try jiggle my machines around to see what I can create space wise, going to be fun trying to move 600kg old wadkin machines

 

[RobinBHM]

Thanks both for reply

I'm going to have to try jiggle my machines around to see what I can create space wise, going to be fun trying to move 600kg old wadkin machines

obviously a 2.4m slider will work for 8 x 4 sheets, but they are less common if you are buying second hand

Im not sure what area you are but theres a Felder for £5,600 on facebook marketplace

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/423630186214680