Closets

Striebig vs. Sliders - Why Buy a Striebig to Make Closets?

Striebig vertical panel saws present several major advantages over sliding table saws in the custom closet manufacturing industry. Some of these advantages are:
  1. Space savings: probably the most obvious advantage- 70-110 sq. ft. vs. 250-400.
  2. Safety: on a Striebig the panel is always stationary during the cut and the operator's hands are nowhere near the blade.  On a slider the work piece is moving through the blade and the operator's hands are often on both sides of the blade, moving past it, as the piece moves through it.
  3. Cross-cutting is simpler on a Striebig; take the example of cutting a 14" x 97" piece into four shelves, 14" x 24":
    1. On a slider:
      1. The rip fence is set at 24" and so is one of the crosscut stops.
      2. The cross cut stop is flipped up, the piece is put up against the crosscut fence and a trim cut is made.
      3. The work piece is slid (on it's finish surface) up against the rip fence and the cut is made.
      4. That is repeated two more times for a total of three finish pieces.
      5. The remaining piece is flipped over.
      6. The flip stop on the crosscut fence is put in place and the last piece is cut. 
    2. On a Striebig:
      1. The center shelf is used; one stop is set at 24".
      2. A trim cut is made.
      3. The piece is slid to the left (usually on a straight but unfinished edge) to the 24" stop, and four finish pieces are made with four cuts. (Note: This is often done stacking two or three boards at a time for increased output.)
  4. Rip cuts are more efficient on a Striebig: take the example of cutting a 5' x 8' into four 14" rips:
    1. On a slider:
      1. The board is hoisted onto the sliding section with a long side pushed up against the crosscut fence.
      2. The first cut is a "head cut" across a 5' side with the sheet up against the crosscut fence.
      3. The 5' x 8' panel is then rotated 90 degrees and pushed up against the crosscut fence again.
      4. It is "eyeballed " along the long edge relative to the saw blade in order to make a long edge trim cut.
      5. The rip fence is set at 14" and is put into its forward position (in front of the blade).
      6. The board is pushed up against it, and a rip cut made- the finish piece must be received and offloaded from the other side of the table, usually by a second person.
      7. That process is repeated two more times for a total of three finish rips.
      8. The remaining 18" piece is either cut in the same manner, without the use of the sliding table, or it is flipped over so that the straight edge is away from the rip fence; a cross cut stop is set at 14" and the short edge of the panel is squared up against the cross cut fence and stop, and the remaining piece is cut using the sliding table.  This last cut, especially, is dependant on the skill of the operator. 
    2. On a Striebig:
      1. The sheet is rolled up onto the frame and positioned for a left edge trim cut
      2. A left edge trim cut is made with a vertical cut- this will ultimately be a finish end cut for the four pieces. 
      3. The saw head is pivoted and set at a trim cut height, usually with a preset stop on the template bar, and the top trim cut is made. 
      4. The repeat rip device is set at 14"; the saw head is lowered until the repeat rip device contacts the top of the panel; the head is locked, and a cut is made.  The sawyer offloads the piece. 
      5. The saw head is unlocked and lowered again until the repeat rip device registers the "new" top of the panel and the process is repeated two more times (these pieces are perfectly parallel to one another, independent of the skill of the operator). 
      6. The last piece is flipped, put up on the center shelf, and the saw head is set at 14", again usually with a preset template bar stop. 
  5. Stack cutting, especially beneficial in the closet industry where there are commonly cut sizes, is much more realistic on a Striebig than a slider. Two or three pieces at a time, depending on the Striebig model you use, is simple and fast, especially with crosscuts.  Stack cutting on a slider is awkward and rarely done.
  6. Skill of the operator is not as critical on a Striebig as it is for a slider. This is mostly due to the fact that the panel is stationary during a cut, and the operator has only to move a very precisely guided saw head through the panel and doesn't have to be concerned with keeping the panel against a fence as he guides it through the saw. The Striebig has many safety devices in place to prevent the operator from using the saw incorrectly.
  7. Panel stress can be easily seen when cutting on a Striebig because both pieces are next to each other after the cut is made, whether vertically or horizontally. This means that panel stress can be easily identified and corrected, if needed, before an entire job is cut into curved boards.