General revamps Excalibur sliding table

General International has redesigned its Excalibur 48" sliding table accessory, which can be added to most brands of right- or left-tilt table saws.

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"A sliding table 'supersizes' a table saw and allows the user to make safe accurate cuts, particularly crosscuts, with much larger workpieces, such as large panels, sheet goods and plywood," explains product manager Norman Frampton.

"To a certain extent, these types of cuts can be done on a regular saw, but usually require an extra pair of hands or some sort of jury-rigged setup to help lift the panel up onto the saw and then to help keep it tight to the fence and supported both off of the front and back edge of the saw. Once a shop starts seeing more and more need for these types of cuts, a sliding table system is a relatively inexpensive way of helping to get consistent accurate results."

One of the major improvements includes the sliding table guide rails and carriage that are supported by three legs that have reinforced leg sockets, multi-position mounting holes for height adjustment and leveling feet.

Six additional guide bearings have been added to the inboard side (for a total of 14) and there's a new runner strip on the inner rail, all of which provides "additional help to bear the load of larger panels better and allow the stock to be pushed through the cut that much smoother. A smoother feed rate makes for straight, chip free cuts," says Frampton.

The entire accessory can now be removed from the saw in seconds, according to Frampton.

"The quick-mount bracket is a real advantage for shops with space issues, particularly if there is only intermittent need for the sliding table. The whole assembly can be removed from the saw by simply undoing four Allen head cap screws and, of course, it can be re-installed just as easily."

The main mounting bracket is now a two-part system 27" in length. This new design features a repositionable mounting plate that can be secured to the main mounting bracket as needed, allowing the user to cut up to 49" with the crosscut fence positioned at the rear of the table.

The angle adjustment rail for the crosscut fence also was redesigned to include positive stops at 15, 22.5, 30, 45 and 90 degrees.

"The user feedback we were getting told us that positive stops at a few more commonly used angles would be helpful," Frampton says, "so we took that to heart and redesigned an easier-to-align setup with more positive stops."

Storage mounts have been added to the outside legs to allow the user to safely stow the fence out of the way when not in use. The table itself measures 30" x 26" and the entire system will take up about 78" of front-to-back floor space and extends roughly 30" off the end of the saw.

The Excalibur 48" sliding table accessory, model 50-SLT40P, sells for $1,099.

Contact: General International, 760 Jessica St., Murfreesboro, TN USA 37133. Tel: 888-949-1161. www.general.ca

This article originally appeared in the February 2011 issue.