Sheppach TS4020VR v's Forsa 4

[Ed68]

I've been looking to upgrade my axminster table saw and have narrowed it down to these two and my question is just how much better would the Forsa be?
If you add the heavy duty support and the 2m professional sliding table to the TS 4020 your into £800ish of a differance in price to the Forsa.

I'm building up a small business making furniture part time so whatever saw I go for won't be in use every day maybe half the week.

Any advice please.

Thanks in advance,
Ed.

 

[ProShop]

I had a look on their website and was suprised to find the single phase version of the Forsa 4 was £800 dearer than the 3 phase. single phase motors aren't that much dearer than a 3 phase. Unless it powered by a built in inverter, but at only 3.5hp I doubt it very much.

IMHO you could do a hell off a lot better than that for that kind of money..

 

[Rattie]

Seems to me it does depend on the types of cuts you'll be doing and how much space you have. I have the TS4020vr and there's no way I could fit the Forsa into the space I have. The 4020 is a square tabled saw with the option of mounting a sliding carriage, while the Forsa is a full panel saw with a permanent sliding half table. For small work there's no reason for me to mount up the rail and carriage, the mitre fence and rip fence are adequate. YMMV.

I suspect from the way the two ranges feed of each other's parts bins that there's a lot of commonality between the two machines. For example, the actual motor/arbour/trunnion system is the same piece. The mitre fence on the Forsa is a heavier duty extrusion though, with a chunkier flip stop.

 

[Ed68]

Thank you for the replies,

ProShop your right, they are over the top with the price on that one, do you think I'd get a better deal buying secondhand? I'm working from a large garage at the moment and while I could get a forsa 6 or Altendorf WA6 in most full size panel saw's are to big for the space.

Rattie have you used the sliding carriage? Is it as accurate as Sheppach proclaim. I will be dimensioning panels some of the time and was looking for something of an allrounder but accurate.
The saw I have at present requires to much fettling which I see as time wasted thats why I'm trying to find a better saw for my needs that will last a while.

Ed

 

[ProShop]

Thank you for the replies,

ProShop your right, they are over the top with the price on that one, do you think I'd get a better deal buying secondhand? I'm working from a large garage at the moment and while I could get a forsa 6 or Altendorf WA6 in most full size panel saw's are to big for the space. Ed

I'm sure you could do a lot better s/hand. Do you have any SCM dealers near you ?. Have a look on their website and look at the dealer locations.

You've just missed a s/hand Felder on Ebay for less than the Forsa.

FWIW I heard on the grapevine (reliable) the Altendorf WA6 has been withdrawn from sale in the UK, not sure if it's temp or not. Was made in China, and not very well by all accounts. Shame as Altendorf are still at the top of the saw table League.

 

[Rattie]

Rattie have you used the sliding carriage? Is it as accurate as Sheppach proclaim. I will be dimensioning panels some of the time and was looking for something of an allrounder but accurate.

I've not put an 8x4 over it yet, but the slide action is very stable. Getting the rail parallel to the blade takes a while as it uses shims between the brackets and the cabinet, but once you get there it'll stay put, even when you take the rail on and off. For handling heavy sheets without deflection you'd be wanting to throw in the support arm, but for more manageable sheets and most solid wood pieces that's unnecessary as the carriage is good and stiff anyway.

I went for it as an allrounder than can handle sheets with scorer while keeping a good 110mm of cut for solid stock, but will collapse down to a manageable footprint when necessary. The side extension flaps down over the access panel and the rail and carriage take off for easy storage, just leaving the rear extension in place. It did take quite a while to assemble and set up though. Scheppach's manuals are not the most verbose or best translated. That can be an area where s/h equipment wins, as long as it was setup well in the first place and doesn't require too much disassembly to transport.

Good luck with your search.