SLR Vs Gang Vs Woodmaster

[ATLGA]

We have been using a fella nearby to blank our lumber for the moulder. He is slowing down and I think he may shut his doors. Ive been using the forum search tool today to discover the best option for us.

We dont have a huge shop and funds are limited. I checked IRS Auctions and it looks like a SLR saw can be had for less than $5k but thats still a lot of coin for us to drop.

The Woodmaster 725 with pro pack is still less than that and it can do several other things other than just blank lumber. My only concern is I saw two posts that indicate it needs to have materials SLR on one side before being blanked...

Fellas can anyone offer me any additional insight on my conundrum?  Thank you guys! 

[pineywoods]

You can straight line rip on a woodmaster, but you have to think a little outside the box. Use a good straight planed board as a sled. Needs to be wider than your rough stock. . Set up the guides to match that board. Nail or screw a small thin board across it  a few inches from one end . Lay the rough stock on top of the sled, one end against the cross piece. Set the saw depth so it just barely cuts into the sled. Re-use the sled on the next piece..Works better if you have the slick plastic bed overlay... 

[ATLGA]

Piney,
Thats sounds interesting. Are you using this system? Do you have a picture of it setup. I just seems like I could save some money and space using the Woodmaster..... I just dont wanna create a slow or dangerous system for my team.

[pineywoods]

No pics yet, but I'll take care of that. I'm getting set up to make a bunch of oak tongue and groove flooring. Straight line rip the rough stock on my woodmaster, then run it through a shaper.

[Sawmill_Nick]

I've can't speak for the woodmaster but I have found that the SLR is a great tool.  Very quick to change the widths of blanks and the cut speed is extremely fast.  I purchased a mattison 202 SLR on IRS auction approximately a year ago for less than 2K.  There are deals to be had on these machines if you have the time to wait and watch for them.  Just my thoughts.  Nick

[Larry]

First be warily of SLR’s.  If the feed is wore and most are, parts are very expensive and may not be available.  If I had room I would buy one.

If blanks are close to size I do it all on the mill.  Did a bunch of cedar a few days ago for T&G.

If I have a lot of random width I straight line with a rip sled on the table saw.







My jig doesn’t use clamps so it’s about as fast as you can shove through the saw.  Still it’s slow and not a production technique.  I suppose 600 foot/hour.

After that feed to a gang rip or set up a feeder on the table saw.  Gang rips are selling about scrap now...in fact I can see the arbor of a big one I parted out a while back laying in front of the shop.  You know us Ozarkians like our yard art.

[ATLGA]

No pics yet, but I'll take care of that. I'm getting set up to make a bunch of oak tongue and groove flooring. Straight line rip the rough stock on my woodmaster, then run it through a shaper.

That sounds great if you can take some pictures for us! It just seems like maybe an "easier" option with more features than an auction SLR....  i hate using the word easy with regards to lumber 

[redbeard]

  I do the armstong method also using a sled jig and unisaw (table saw) I like the looks of your jig larry can you eloborate more on it. 

  

 

[red oaks lumber]

get a straight line gang rip, the money you spend on it will pay for it self in a couple months on time and labor saved. if your making floor blanks for 3" cover floor we start with a r. sawn 1x8 ripping 2 blanks at once at feed speeds at 100 l.f. per min.
 i guess what i'm saying is in aliitle time you can have a lot of blanks made. the most we have ripped in one shift is 8,000 sq.ft.

[Larry]

The sled is hardwood strips glued together with a thin plywood skin each side for stability.  My sled is 12' long.  Hardwood runner that tracks in the miter gauge slot.  Board to be edged just lays on the sled with one end shoved into drywall screws for alignment.  Some have added a Destato clamp to hold the board.

It’s essential to use a rip blade with a splitter.

[ATLGA]

get a straight line gang rip, the money you spend on it will pay for it self in a couple months on time and labor saved. if your making floor blanks for 3" cover floor we start with a r. sawn 1x8 ripping 2 blanks at once at feed speeds at 100 l.f. per min.
 i guess what i'm saying is in aliitle time you can have a lot of blanks made. the most we have ripped in one shift is 8,000 sq.ft.

Red Oaks I am a little confused. can you elaborate a little more?? ive not seen a SLR saw/Gang Rip Saw combo.

[red oaks lumber]

it might not be called that   does the same things as a s.l.r. only it has a stackable arbor meaning you can put more saw blades on using spacers to set the desired width, still uses a laser to guide for the first cut. maybe look up gang rip saws, its not an edger though.

[trim4u2nv]

We bought a mattison 202 in 2005 and its still working great to this day.  It had a sharp chain and good motor.  But the electrics were buggered up.  $100 in starter parts and pushbuttons on ebay and we had a nice saw for $400.  It was never abused because no one could keep it running without taping the start button down.   Found the stop start wired incorrectly and a couple of minor starter problems

  .

[slohand]

For straight edging moulder blanks for a small operation, I would recommend the Woodmaster. I bought a Woodmaster 725 used locally for $1200. Cheap because it had a 7-1/2 HP 3 phase motor on it which few people can use.

It can be used as a single sided planer, or with the extra stuff, a sander but so far I've only used it for straight line rip, making moulder blanks that go straight into my Logosol 360. For that it works well.

I put a piece of 2x2 steel angle in front, on a 12' table,  as a straight edge, notched so the feed rollers don't touch. Then I set the saw about 1/4" or so from that. Put the board against the fence and feed thru at full feed speed. With care, you get a nice straight edge for the moulder.

I considered an SLR and, if your operation is big enough, its likely the way to go. But it is definitely a  crap shoot which can get expensive if the machine is worn out. The woodmaster is cheap and uses off the shelf stuff mostly and is reliable. Most important for me is that it works, and can be used for other things such as sanding without buying yet another single function machine.

[ATLGA]

For straight edging moulder blanks for a small operation, I would recommend the Woodmaster. I bought a Woodmaster 725 used locally for $1200. Cheap because it had a 7-1/2 HP 3 phase motor on it which few people can use.

It can be used as a single sided planer, or with the extra stuff, a sander but so far I've only used it for straight line rip, making moulder blanks that go straight into my Logosol 360. For that it works well.

I put a piece of 2x2 steel angle in front, on a 12' table,  as a straight edge, notched so the feed rollers don't touch. Then I set the saw about 1/4" or so from that. Put the board against the fence and feed thru at full feed speed. With care, you get a nice straight edge for the moulder.

I considered an SLR and, if your operation is big enough, its likely the way to go. But it is definitely a  crap shoot which can get expensive if the machine is worn out. The woodmaster is cheap and uses off the shelf stuff mostly and is reliable. Most important for me is that it works, and can be used for other things such as sanding without buying yet another single function machine.

Slohand,

Thank you for your input! I was hoping this was a workable solution. Everyone has given me really great ideas. Could you snap a picture or two of your setup? This sounds like a very affordable that doesn't force us to buy another single purpose machine. 

[oakiemac]

I'll have to disagree about the woodmaster. You can get one to work but it is SLOW and not very accurate. Spend the money and buy a SLR or gang saw. The SLR will be more versitile. I bought a Silver SLR used for $4500 and it has more then paid for itself. It has a smaller foot print then the Dehl and madisons and I have a small shop. If I had the room I'd buy an older Dehl. The woodmaster will only do 4/4 lumber at best. With a good SLR you can go up to 12/4 and SLR1E thousands of bf where you would be pulling your hair out with a table saw or woodmaster.

[scsmith42]

Comparing a large SLR to a Woodmaster is like comparing a semi to a one ton pickup. 

You did not state what your production volume is, but if you're trying to turn out any significant production the SLR will pay for itself in short order.

Even the slowest feed rate on my Mattison 202 (it has four feed rates) is about 4X faster than a Woodmaster that a friend of mine uses. 

[ATLGA]

Fellas,

First I wanna thank everyone for their diligent input into my questions.

I know that I may end up offering SLR services for hire at some point. ... with that in mind it seems the Woodmaster may be a little slow for what we need.

Lets say I need to run off 10-20,000 LF per month.. would the Woodmaster just take too long? Sounds like it might.   

[Cedarman]

For straightlining I use our WM sawmill.  We run lots of 3 to 6" wide for T&G.  We edge 12 to 18 boards at once.  Sometimes just one edge, sometimes both edges. 
We don't have room for any more machinery.

[scsmith42]

Fellas,

First I wanna thank everyone for their diligent input into my questions.

I know that I may end up offering SLR services for hire at some point. ... with that in mind it seems the Woodmaster may be a little slow for what we need.

Lets say I need to run off 10-20,000 LF per month.. would the Woodmaster just take too long? Sounds like it might.   

The max feed speed on a woodmaster is 23 fpm.  20K lf will require 869 minutes at max feed speed.  Based upon working 50 minutes per hour, that works out to be about 17.4 hours of labor to produce 20K lf in "a perfect world.

Typical SLR's from Diehl and Mattison have feed speeds from 40 - 130 fpm.  At the second slowest setting (63 fpm), what would require 17.4 hoursper month flat out on the Woodmaster will require 6.3 hours on a Mattison / Diehl at half throttle.

On an annual basis, the larger machine will save you 133 man hours of labor.  That's over three weeks of labor for one individual.

And I'll bet that you can find a good used large SLR for about the same price as what you'd pay for a Woodmaster.

[oakiemac]

I agree with SCSMITH. I have made money off my SLR but not from ripping for hire or charging extra fro SLR1E lumber, most of the money made is from selling lumber to cabinet shops or others who only buy SLR1E lumber. In other words I would not have gotten the order if I couldnt put a straight (glue line) rip. It aslo serves to make blanks but as Red Oaks pointed out there are even better machines for this but it would have to be a dedicated machine for blanks only where the SLR is more versitle.