Xcalibur/Harvey set up

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I had mine on a mobile base in my last workshop. Now it sits firmly on the floor and it is much, much better to work with. I understand why mobile bases are necessary in a small space but they do compromise stability somewhat.

But as Dave says, it's a great machine.
 
I Built my own base based on a woodgears.ca design and it's super stable because it's only on wheels when it's in motion, otherwise it sits on it's own feet.
 
Steve Maskery":11shc1ea said:
I had mine on a mobile base in my last workshop. Now it sits firmly on the floor and it is much, much better to work with. I understand why mobile bases are necessary in a small space but they do compromise stability somewhat.

But as Dave says, it's a great machine.
Thanks for the heads up Steve but mine will have to be mobile for now
 
DennisCA":wl4kxbly said:
I Built my own base based on a woodgears.ca design and it's super stable because it's only on wheels when it's in motion, otherwise it sits on it's own feet.

Hi Dennis do you have any pics?
 
Stuck my head into Axminster tools today to see what they had on offer table saw wise but the only thing that compared to the xcalibur was there industrial range saw which was full £1200 more expensive! it did have the sliding carriage and was a 300mm blade but still the price difference is astronomical, and I would say it was an identical saw in terms of looks and the design. They did offer me a display model jet jts600 xm panel saw for £800 which was £450 off the marked price but the saw did not look half the saw the xcalibur is I may be wrong as I'v never used either saw but that was my gut feeling, so the xcalibur is still my front runner, I had a bit of a measure and with the sizes Dave gave me I should be able to get it in and have room to manover if I cut the rails down abit
 
Well I made my mind up today and pulled the trigger on the Xcalibur saw sent Woodford a deposit and should be in position of my new saw some time at the end of January :D thanks for all the help, info and advice I'm sure i'l have more questions when it arrives :wink:
 
This has been a great tread, some really useful and practical comments posted.

I see that a number of the forum members have these saws now, I am quite seriously thinking of ordering one.

Now that the ones on this tread have been in use for a while now, are there any issues arising now?

Does the sliding table have the degree marks for mitre cuts?
 
There are degree marks, and you can really lock the angle down with the two grips, however it takes so long to set it up for perfect right angle cuts, that I never like to move mine, so I don't. seems a shame, however getting back to perfect 90 is just too time consuming.

DcuX1Cj.jpg
 
I have taken delivery of my Harvey tables saw yesterday. I also bought the sliding table.

It looks like I am going to have to shorten the rails and box section for the fence. Is this the norm when fitting a sliding table?
 
Hi, I think I posted about this a while back.

This does seem to be a flaw with the rail set up and the sliding table.

I know I had to cut about 20cm off the box section.

Basically you can mount the rails and box to some matching holes slightly further along, so just shift to the right, however it doesn't shift quite enough, and you have to cut something off. Get the angle grinder out!

Also you have to discard one cast iron "wing".

The final thing was that the gap for the mitre slots wont match up, so I cut a new pair to fit.

Then the final final thing was that I used the default position for the measuring line, and therefore used less of the tape than I should, and hence the last 10cm has no scale. I should have done it the other way.

Would some pictures and measurements help?
 
Hi wcndave

Many thanks, you have explained it perfectly, thanks.

My concern is that this is a one way trip, if I find I don't get on with the sliding table. Its a bit new and unknown, but am sure it will be fine.

PS do you use a dado stack and if so, who did you get it from?
 
Amendment to previous answer, just popped down to have a look.

I did not need to cut the rails, as they have holes in the correct position, however I did have to cut out two small sections for mitre slots - only needed if your sledges and so on have the mitre come out the front.

The back rail did not need this modification as it sits below the level

The box section I cut a little bit off.

With the rails and box aligned to the left, as close to the sliding table as possible, I get 88cm possible right side cut with the fence. The fence will go further to the right as the rails / box are moved to the right.

In terms of one way trip, I don't think you need worry. If you revert to left wing, then you will simple lose some box section on the left, which means if you put the fence on the left, it won't go so far. I never put the fence on the left. Ever. So would not be a problem at all, I'd probably leave where it is now to get more space on the right.

However as it's longer to the right, the tape is not long enough, so move the mark to the right side, and put tape on, and you can have tape right up to 90cm mark. I didn't do this, so I get up to 75, then have to measure after. (I moved the tape, however I'd already cut it with the marker on the left)

In terms of getting on with sliding table, I love it, I can't imagine not having it. The only downside is that with the square fence in place, you get about 10cm clearance on the left of the blade. If you pull the table back, you have about 1.5m from mitre fence to blade. So, if you cut a board that's more than 1.5m long, and you're cutting off more than 10cm from left side, it gets in the way. You can remove the mitre fence, however I spend hours getting it square, so I never do that. It also means I don't use it for angles, unless I have a big project with lots of precise angle cuts.

I cut larger boards to rough size with tracksaw anyway, so none of this is really a problem.

One other slight downside with sliding table is that the power switch is behind you when working at table, however again, not a big deal.

I don't use a dado stack, although I am seriously considering it. Watching Marc Spagnolo and Steve Ramsey makes me want one. Reading all the UK stories about why they're bad puts me off. I think I would probably get the one from woodford though, as it's definitely going to fit, and I wouldn't use it enough to need something very expensive.

You probably need an outfeed table at the back. I built one on wheels which is also a cupboard, so I can move to where I need based on size of material. With all that in place and the S/T, the footprint is quite high - for an ideal set up.

With all that in place though, I have a pretty amazing set up, and I am sure you'll enjoy it too!

Just lay out your box and rails and think hard what you're doing before you cut anything!!
 

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