New SIP Cast Iron Sawbench

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

samlarsen

Established Member
Joined
20 Jan 2004
Messages
75
Reaction score
0
Location
Carlisle
Hi,

Just a quick note to anyone about to buy a new sawbench for around £500.

It seems SIP have just launched / are about to launch a new cast iron saw table. My local dealer has just received one so I had a quick look.

Features; large cast iron top (similar size to jet supersaw), very sturdy fence (fits left and right of blade), smooth rise and fall action, induction motor, weight over 100kg. 2 year warrantee. Overall it felt reasonable quality for the money. Made in ...... china of course.

I didn't have time to see it working.

Apologies if you all already know about this item. Maybe i'm the last in the world to hear about it.

cheers
 
Hi Sam

It is just like London buses. You wait for years and then along come three.

But wait, there's more than three.

Bosch (NB CAST ALLOY)
Fox
Jet
Record
Scheppach
SIP
Xcalibur

Apologies if I've missed any manufacturer, no make that importer, out.

How can SIP do it at less than 500?

Cheers
Neil
 
Newbie_Neil":39hu5xq9 said:
It is just like London buses. You wait for years and then along come three.
Neil, I was just thinking the self same thing. Never rains but it pours, eh? What about those Xcalibur ones? Do they count?

Cheers, Alf
 
Hi all

There is obviously a great shake up taking place in the "heavier end" of woodworking machine manufacturing.

I think that with Norm and David having that tablesaw with it's cast iron table that it has started to drive the whole market place down the cast iron route.

Where do we go from here?

Cheers
Neil
 
Is it down to the lake I fear?

Sorry couldnt resist a bit of cacky old haircut 100 there lol :oops:
showing my age I guess

So sip have joined the fray as well this can only be a good thing as the more there are out there providing heavy lumps the better imho :wink:

Signal
 
Neil

in comparison to James, Charllie and thomas I feel ancient
:wink:
 
Hi Signal

Signal":nqs71y14 said:
In comparison to James, Charllie and thomas I feel ancient :wink:

I'm keeping very quiet.



I've updated the Bosch tablesaw earlier in the thread as it is CAST ALLOY. Thanks for the information ALf.

Cheers
Neil
 
I'm wondering at what point cast-iron on a cheap table results in sacrifices in other areas - e.g. cheaper motor to compensate. How flat are these tables for example? Is a warped cast-iron better than a flat one made of folded steel a.l.a Record? Or Aluminium? A cast iron table for under £500 is outstanding - I hope it's a general trend in cost reduction without a comprimise in quality but somehow....




Adam
 
Hi Adam

asleitch":3qiyiubt said:
I'm wondering at what point cast-iron on a cheap table results in sacrifices in other areas - e.g. cheaper motor to compensate. How flat are these tables for example? Is a warped cast-iron better than a flat one made of folded steel a.l.a Record? Or Aluminium? A cast iron table for under £500 is outstanding - I hope it's a general trend in cost reduction without a comprimise in quality but somehow.... Adam

It won't take long at all as the manufacturers obviously believe that if it's not cast iron or doesn't look like cast iron that it won't sell. Is the same thing happening in the US?

They will all be buying them from fairly similar, if not the same, factories located in (nma speak) faraway places. Following this to it's logical conclusion we will see fewer different tablesaws than before because, of the lower prices/competition, companies will not have the funds to be able to design their own saws.

Cheers
Neil
 
But considering the "dark-grey" painted surface of the Record P/T - to look like cast iron - I think it's a safety hazard - the paint was textured - so would cause resistance to sliding wood across, and this in turn is far more dangerous IMHO. At what point does poorly machine cast iron become a similar liability - it's great when smooth - but if poorly finished - and you have to lean against the wood to push it across the surface - thats clearly opening the door for accidents?

Adam
 
Hi Adam

I've signed in this time. :oops:

I'd forgotten about the Record. IIRC, I thought that Record said, that the coating was supposed to help the wood move more easily over the bed.

As I said, I'm not sure of my facts but I recall reading something about it.

Cheers
Neil
 
Newbie_Neil":2ynln5g1 said:
IIRC, I thought that Record said, that the coating was supposed to help the wood move more easily over the bed.

Hmm I smell something, and it comes from farmyards normally!

Makes it glide? I've been and had a look, and the guy showing it to me recommended sanding it all off to make it smoother LOL!
 
Hi Adam,

without seeing the Record planer, the explanation does actually ring true....
A rippling surface on a planer bed can help as it prevents the two smooth surfaces sticking to each other.
If you put two pieces of plate glass together and then try and slide them apart you'll see what I mean.
A rippling surface allows air to get under the work so that it will run over the bed smoother and with less user effort.
OK, I know a planer will put minute ridges into the surface of the work, but these are about 2-2.4 cuts per millimetre, so it's still smooth enough to make it suck to the bed.
Some cast iron machines have this, but whether a coat of textured paint will do the same on an aluminium one i'm not sure...

Andy
 
Well I've got to agree with Andy here.
I've been machining on CNC milling machines for over thirty years and i can safely say that any largish area on a machine bed will always have been ribbed, scalloped, dimpled, or deformed in some other way for the very reason that Andy has said. All these undulations will only be about .05m/m deep but this is enough to stop it sticking. As for paint finish I know nothing about that and I would be very wary of it as over time some will rub off and some won't, leaving a surface that is not flat.

John
 
Ahh, I don't mean the ribbing you regularly see on cast iron stuff - that I can believe reduces surface resistance. I've seen it on thicknessers for example.

The Record P/T I was looking at just had a bad coat of dark grey paint, to make it "look" like cast iron - it wasn't on aluminium - it was on welded steel plate I think. Either way - it wasn't in any way beneficial to the user whatseover.

Adam
 
ok - I saw the SIP table saw in action this week-end , -- and will have it delivered this week - I needed to have it :D .
170 kg of seemingly good quality, 800 x 1200 cm cast iron table - can't wait to power it up in once the 16 amps feed is sorted

cheers
larry
 
Congrats, I'm sure you'll be really pleased with it.

Write a report for us eh? Do you have a digital camera?

Adam
 
Back
Top