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Altendorf slider info:)

Mucraft

Plastic
Joined
Sep 8, 2020
Hi all, My name is Aaron and I am a woodaholic:)
My small wood shop in California burned down a year ago and I have spent that year working in the field and purchasing machines at auctions around California. I just leased a new space and ran three phase power and I have a ton of setup, maintenance, tuning, and dust collection questions regarding my newly purchased used machines.
Ill start with the Altendorf...I have a 1992 Altendorf F-45 sliding table saw that is in great shape but seems to have two problems that I cant seem to sort: first; the cast table seems to be slightly higher than the aluminium sliding table...has anyone here had that problem? I can't seem to find how to adjust(raise)the sliding table? Second; when i plugged the machine in the scoring motor was working fine.....I purchased an Amanna scoring blade and now it wont turn on:( the main blade/motor works fine. Any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated!
 
Not familiar with specific model; does that table slide on phenolic trapezoidal ways?

smt

OK, thought yours was an older machine and you might not have a manual.

The F45 has eccentric mount rollers. So just adjust them up.
My slider is a different brand - there are also hold _downs_ above the rollers on mine. IOW, if yours has such they will have to be loosened/raised, before raising the lower rollers. (Again, i don't know if this is the case.)

Specs for setting your saw rollers and table height are on pages 44 & 45 of the manual.

https://www.daltonswadkin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Altendorf-F45-F45-Elmo-Manual.pdf
 
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I have an Altendorf F45, the sliding table is not adjustable but the cast iron top is adjustable and it should be pretty straightforward to set it perfectly. The slider and table need to be exactly aligned for best performance.

Not sure why your scoring is not working, is the belt ok? Start at the beginning to diagnose the problem and if you are not good with electrical stuff then get your electrician to do it for you next time he comes by to hook up another machine.

As a side note I use my scoring blade all the time and even more now that I discovered it has a height stop. I used to set it by trial and error and wished it had a stop built in and of course it does! It is an Altendorf! Simply the best sliding saw ever made. Mine is 1988 or 87 and still runs and cuts like new. Particularly impressive is the blade height adjustment as I have never had to lube it , just use it and it works perfectly, same goes for the tilt with that massive trunnion and all the weight, so easy to use after 32 years of service.

I also have several different thickness' of riving knife to match the different blade thickness'. The riving knife is simply the best and safest part of the saw and if yours does not have one installed then you are asking for disaster. It is so easy to have a small or large panel slide back into the blade by mistake. Properly set the riving knife never needs to be removed from the saw, it should be set just below the top of the blade which means you can make partial cuts into the stock without any problem. My saw also has the original dust collecting safety guard and I would not use a slider without one unless I was desperate as it is another must have safety feature.

Good luck with your saw and all the best,
Michael

 
Michael -
glad you chimed in.
Were there different models of F45 produced over the years?
Not arguing with your direct experience in any way - but why does the manual show the rollers can be adjusted through eccentrics? & state a spec for setting the height above the CI section?

smt Cain panel saw, SCMI roller top
 
Stephen,
The manual is from a newer machine but the adjustments are the same.
The rollers need to be adjusted for the correct sliding action and figure 5-46 shows the adjustment bolts for the main table.
I have had to change the roller bearings a few times and it is surprising how they wear out with such a low speed application.
The only bad thing is the bearing has a phenolic wheel cover and that is a complete casting encasing the bearing, the good thing is the bearing is a common size, 6211 or something like that. I just cut the old bearing out carefully on the lathe and installed new bearings into the phenolic wheel. The new bearings add up if you buy from Altendorf as there are quite a few of them.

Cheers,
Michael


I did not have the manual when I set my machine up 14 years ago and 0.1mm is not very much so flush is also good in my opinion.
 
Old thread but...Sliding table is a tiny bit higher than fixed table. This keeps the drag down a bit and when working with sheet stock a tiny bit of air gets under the fixed table side of the sheet. This allows the cutoff to float free of the blade. Both of my F45s are set up this way.
20190404_115145.jpg
 
Can you define “tiny”? This is a machining forum and tiny is not a measurable reference. (grin)
Not saying it is wrong just that I have had no issues with my setup.
I have had no trouble with drag and most sheet goods these days are not particularly flat except for mdf.
Sometimes the sheets are not flat enough for the scoring blade to cut all the way along.
 
Can you define “tiny”? This is a machining forum and tiny is not a measurable reference. (grin)
Not saying it is wrong just that I have had no issues with my setup.
I have had no trouble with drag and most sheet goods these days are not particularly flat except for mdf.
Sometimes the sheets are not flat enough for the scoring blade to cut all the way along.

This is a wood working thread on this forum. Tiny is a blonde c hair. I have measured many, not telling you how many. My operation cut thousands of sheets of melamine. Striebig upright panel saw and an Altendorf in a cutting cell. Bust 1 or 2 cuts on the upright, finish on Altendorf. Difference is maybe .005? You will not have that difference full stroke. We did cut full stroke a lot and scoring needed to work full stroke. Having a pre mill edgebander allowed us to cut faster and slight chipping no longer was an issue. One saw is 30+ years old and was the most heavily used. Cleaned and oiled the phenolic once a week. Still cuts like new. Both saws went into "fit up" use in the hand work room when the rear loading beam saw came online.
 
I try to set my saw shaper sliding table +.002 at least in the area of the shaper. A sliding saw I try for .004 or less but there can be .004 variation over the length. . The extrusions or the cast iron table will have some variation and the slider will rise at the end opposite of either end of travel. The only real reason is for bevel cutting as variation can screw that up a little. Most sliders adjust the subtable of the extrusion and are a pain to fiddle with. My old SCM has a non adjustable slider so you must shim the cast iron and the trunnions to get everything lined up. Altendorf uses a different bearing system than most saws and I've no experience with their quirks. Dave
 








 
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