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Every now and then a tool comes along that is so
revolutionary you ask yourself "Why didn’t someone think of that
before?" The Canadian made JessEm Mast-R-Slide 7500 is just such
a tool. At face value, you may think that it is just another
table saw accessory. But if you work with sheet goods, or use
your table saw for crosscuts of any sort, this accessory will
open up a whole new world of capacity and accuracy.
The Mast-R-Slide is a sliding table, designed to replace the
left cast iron wing on most North American style contractors and
cabinet saws. It is finely engineered from custom aluminum
extrusions, guide rails and bearings.
Sliding tables have been around for years, albeit most of them
are large, awkward, and require support, either in the form of
legs or swing arm, making them too expensive and problematic for
most non-professional shops. Even if the price of such a sliding
table fits your budget, the need for the support legs means that
you cannot use your saw with a mobile base.
The Mast-R-Slide ships with absolutely everything you need for
installation. It is extremely well packed, the components are
beautifully engineered, and the instruction manual is well
written and easy to follow.
The hardest part of the installation may be bringing yourself to
cut back the fence rails on your current table saw. To allow the
sliding table to move past the front of the saw, the table saw
fence rails cannot extend past the left edge of the main portion
of the saw’s cast iron top. By cutting back the fence rails you
will lose the ability to make rip cuts to the left of the blade;
but that is a minor feature to sacrifice for what this tool has
to offer.
After carefully unpacking all of the pieces set about the
installation process. The most time consuming part is removing,
cutting and reinstalling the table saw fence rails. With that
out of the way, the rest of the installation proceeds quickly,
and without any difficulties.
Remove the left cast iron wing of the saw, separate the two
halves of the sliding table were separated, and bolt the bottom
section to the table saw. Then re-attach the sliding table top
section. All that's left is to level the surface of the sliding
table with the saw. That is accomplished with a series of
setscrews that adjust the guide rails up or down. With the table
leveled, the fence is then adjusted square to the blade.
The fence can be mounted at the front, center or rear of the
table, and it can be quickly removed for rip cuts. The center
mounting position is optimized for mitre cuts, the very front
position gives added capacity for cross cuts, and the rear
position offers the maximum crosscut capacity of 36". The fence
is also equipped with a flip stop that can be locked down
anywhere along the length of the fence, allowing you to make
repeated and accurate cuts for multiple parts. If that’s not
enough, the 30" fence can extend to 48" to handle long pieces as
well. An extension wing support table can be located anywhere
along the left side of the unit to provide additional support to
the work piece. After cutting a part to length, mount a dado set
in the saw, use the scale to adjust the flip stop, and cut
perfect tenons in record time.
When not being used as a sliding table, this unit can be locked
into place in four different positions; flush front, flush rear,
centered, or fully retracted. Most woodworkers are naturally
skeptical about jigs and accessories that make extravagant
claims about versatility and ease of change-over from one mode
of operation to another. However, this isn’t the case with the
Mast-R-Slide. Changing from cross cutting mode to rip mode is
simple, and takes no more than 30 seconds. Simply release the
fence from the table using the two threaded knobs, lock the
table into position and you’re in rip mode.
To return to crosscutting, place the fence in the desired
position, and use the threaded knobs to lock it down. Unlike
most sliding tables, the fence goes back on at exactly 90º – it
is dead on every time, a truly impressive accomplishment. In
fact, its accuracy, coupled with its greater capacity, is likely
to make this your tool of choice for all crosscuts (much to the
chagrin of your compound sliding mitre saw and radial arm saw).
The key to the exceptionally smooth operation of this sliding
table is the system of 30 double-sealed, precision bearings,
running on multiple guide rails.
For its ability to make extremely accurate crosscuts up to 36",
its repeatability, quality, and ease of conversion from one mode
to another, the JessEm Mast-R-Slide 7500 is easily the most
impressive new tool to come along in a long time.
If your saw has a cast iron top and a three or four
bolt-mounting pattern, you owe it to yourself to add this tool
to your collection. If your saw doesn’t have such a cast iron
top, you might want to upgrade to a saw that does…. It’s that
good.
Reviewed by Michael Kampen
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Product:
Price:
Manufacturer:
Source:
Specifications: |
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MastRslide 7500
$570
JessEm Tool
Company
House of
Tools,
Atlas
Machinery,
Marson
Equipment
- Maximum stroke: 37"
- Length of cut off fence: 28" extends to 48"
- Length of rail system: 27"
- Sliding Table Dimensions: 7-7/8" x 40"
- Outrigger Table Dimensions: 8-1/2" x 8-1/2"
- Sliding Table Width including Outrigger: 16-3/8"
- Maximum Cross Cut (w/fence in front position):
34"
- Maximum Cross Cut (w/fence in middle position):
25"
- Maximum Cross Cut (w/fence in rear position):
36"
- Weight: 48 lbs
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© Canadian Woodworking
Magazine, 2007
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To report any
specification errors on this page
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jessem.com
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MastRslide installed on table saw |
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Repetitive crosscuts up to 36" with the fence |
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Double sealed precision bearings |
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MastRslide installed on General shaper |
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