Felder Ts?

Al killian

Member
Messages
1,940
Location
Floydada, Tx
Just wondering if any of the pros out there have any of there tools. I am looking at getting a sliding ts and checked out several different brand and am really liking this brand. Even if I do go with it would happen till at least march.
 
Not a pro and not (really) a felder, but I do have the 79" Hammer B3. I can try to answer any Q's you might have on it from my experience but consider that I'm not a pro and have relatively low usage.

I'm going to echo what a lot of the fog (felder owners group - http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/felder-woodworking/ you have to ask to join, but they let me on so.. :rofl:) would say and shop around for used if you're looking for the whole enchilada. I wouldn't limit myself to a felder in that case as I see altendorfs and MM's (and occasionally Martins - hey a guy can dream can't he) go for reasonable dollars (in some bizarre sense of reasonable .. compared to new anyway) somewhat regularly.

For instance
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/tls/3376477662.html "Altendorf F45 Sliding Table Saw - $13250 (Downtown Ft. Worth)" - sweet!
http://hickory.craigslist.org/tls/3390296818.html "Felder Commercial Table Saw - KF700S - Single Phase 220 Volt with digital built-in router." $6500

Also check http://woodweb.com under Buy/Sell->Machinery Exchange->Panel Saws-Sliding
and http://www.exfactory.com/
or felders used market http://www.number-1-mm.com/us/en_US/format-sliding-table-saws-9.html (has a nice K975 Professional at the moment, no idea on price).

If you do find a used Felder, I'd personally try for a post 2006 X-Roll (because well the people who know more than me say its better than the previous generation :D).

I would argue that a well cared for Altendorf or Martin would be close to par or better with a new Felder, their Format line is even nicer. Once you consider that you're pushing 10K for the 500 series and somewhere over that for the 700...
 
Felder is a very good brand, but I considered them and chose MiniMax and love my decision. Be sure to get a long enough slider - I consider 8 feet minimum, since it opens up lots of hardwood processing that you can do on the slider.

Robland and Rojek have a bad reputation IMHO. The Hammer line is the low end Felder.

Altendorf and Martin are a step up from both Felder and MiniMax, but if someone is offering one "free" I would certainly look.
 
I recently purchased a Hammer jointer-planer and the quality is very good. As Charlie says, Hammer is at the low end of Felder's product line, so I would expect that any Felder machinery would be even better than 'very good'.

By the way, I too, am not a pro -just a very busy hobbiest.
 
Thanks all. I am looking at the KF700-S saw shaper combo. Right now they have a sale and it is 10,400. I am looking at getting the 10' slider to have plenty of room. I did look at the Martin brand, but not in my budget rigth now.
 
Thanks all. I am looking at the KF700-S saw shaper combo. Right now they have a sale and it is 10,400. I am looking at getting the 10' slider to have plenty of room. I did look at the Martin brand, but not in my budget rigth now.

Nice machine!

Seriously consider the options you're getting as well, there are many (sort of overwhelming) and some are factory only so getting what you "want" (haha how would you know? beats me!) up front is nice..

I got as part of my default config:
  • "Preparation for Dado tooling" - this is a factory option as it requires a different arbor setup (not clear on details, its different..). I use the Forrest 6" set (the hammer can't handle the 8", I think the 700 can, but cross check that). Adding another $$OMG for the felder set was NOT in the budget, although I've heard it is nice.
  • Scoring setup. Have actually never used this :| If you do a lot of melamine its probably worth it. Otherwise.. unconvinced.
  • 30mm Shaper spindle
  • Crosscut fence 43” (1100 mm) for all sliding tables
  • Outrigger table 1300 for sliding tables - the outrigger is by FAR the most useful part of this setup for me.
  • Eccentric clamp for sliding table. This is a pretty handy (if somewhat overpriced) piece of kit. It is super heavy duty though and definitely a huge step up from lighter weight clamps. Mostly useful (imho) for straight line ripping and smaller panel cuts. I actually had the two bolts to the slider bar strip so had to replace them but that was I believe my fault. If budget allows a set of Macs Clamps http://macsblogboard.blogspot.com/p/airtightclamps.html would be pretty snifty alternative.

Things I've added:
  • Added: Shaper spindle sleeves for 1.25" shaper heads
  • Added: another flip stop on the outrigger fence. This allows me to have two positions pre-set (say if you're doing rails and stiles) and just flip the one I'm not using out of the way.
  • Added Edging shoe. I was torn about buying this, and having it I'd probably build my own. It doesn't get very close to the edge of the table so its really only useful for wide pieces. With a piece of bar stock (for the groove in the table), drill & tap two hole. Drive some matching holes in a piece of hardwood with a / cut on the backside and then you could cut it off right at the blade.

Things I think I'd like to add at some point
  • Wish: Micro adjustable rip fence. The fence is pretty nice (I have the newer hammer with the same fence as the felder) but being able to dial it over instead of bump bump would be nice.
  • Wish: short rip fence. I use the rip fence a fair bit as a stop for cross cutting off of the outrigger. In order to do this (safely) the fence (obviously) needs to be behind the blade. With the stock fence you pretty much have to get it into position, lock the X/Y and then slide the fence back as its to heavy otherwise.
  • Possible Future Wish: digital angle and height dials on the shaper (I'd have to use the insert dials which run about $120 each - last I checked - as I don't have real digital height adjust as the 700 has optionally). I don't do all that much complicated shaper work... so waves hands, but having the digital guide on the planer I've really bought into the theory for repeatability. On the planer I write down the dial position for each piece and if I need to make a replacement I can plane exactly back to it no problem. Could see that being as valuable for the shaper to save re-setup time.
  • Possible wish: Remote “ON”-switch on sliding table - There was a recent thread on this on the FOG (with mcmaster part #s), lots of people have made their own and I think those may be nicer as you can add on/off for saw and scoring blade separately - doesn't look to hard. The default location leaves a lot to be desired as if you're ripping a 4x8 you have to crawl under it (or as I do use a "push" stick :rolleyes:) to turn it on. Off at least there is a big red off button on the side.

The 700 has a lot more digital piece and other options that the Hammer (and my was a pretty tricked out sale package already so..) so you have some options I don't. I think the shaper -> router spindle is pretty easy (or at least possible) on the 700, on the Hammer its not really a user adjustable feature (people have but its like a 30-45m changeover with lots of doodling).

For dust collection a 4" rubber "clay pipe" connector from your local big box store slides tightly over the dust connections (120mm) and nicely inside a 5" piece of flex. If the rubber piece has a problem of coming out of the flex, you can shim it with a piece of 5" steel and drive some bolts all the way through to hold it together (clamps around the flex just compress the rubber so it could still "squirt" out.

I've been using the Tenryu blades. IMHO price performance they're unbeatable. I got a couple of the "standard quality" felder blades and while they are nice blades, no doubt, the tenryu definitely beat them hands down. Haven't compared the "professionalism quality" felders though.
 
Thanks Ryan. Not sure what all I will add to it it if a do pull the trigger other then the digital readout, extra spindels(easire to swap out with tooling on it then re set it up each time.
 
Look at used too. There is quite a discount and many combo machines are little used. You can save enough to justify a phase converter and get bigger motors. If you go saw only there are lots of choices of industrial saws built heavier than Felder in the 4000-7000 range. I second the vote for Mac's clamps too. Dave
 
Look at used too. There is quite a discount and many combo machines are little used. You can save enough to justify a phase converter and get bigger motors. If you go saw only there are lots of choices of industrial saws built heavier than Felder in the 4000-7000 range. I second the vote for Mac's clamps too. Dave

I credit Dave here with enlightening me about how cost effective VFDs have gotten (see proselytizing works :D). Was really eye opening. I had figured that 3phase was out of reach.. but.. all sorts of terrifying possibilities are opening up from lurking on various boards (I need a bigger shop.. I need a bigger shop..).

I would amend the clamp statement with saying you definitely want SOME way to clamp work to the sliding table if you want to do any straight line ripping or similar work (even panel work benefits). The Felder eccentric clamp certainly works well enough and lots of folks have rigged up various alternatives, but Mac's setup is extra sweet as far as speed and precision go, if I was a production shop I'd probably consider something like that.
 
Top