It might have been the type of cheese I was trying to slice, purfectlydevine. This particular cheddar came in a 5 pound brick, and it wasn't altered in any way. I also sliced a smaller brick of aged cheddar from a different source, and it came out just fine without any of the crumbling and the slices seemed almost as big as the ones from that brick. When I use my slicer, I run each slice through very slowly so it doesn't tax the motor or the belt. Which types of cheese do you feel are best for sandwiches, burgers, and such?
momcooks: Looking at the photo of your machine, the blade may be a bit more offset on yours, thus making your machine accomodate a longer stroke. The one I have is this one:
http://www.chefknivestogo.com/bermeatslic.html. Although the article states that it's for home use, Berkel informed me that it is a commercial unit and is not rated or marketed for the home. In fact, Superior Products is a bit reluctant to sell such a unit to a home user. Mine is also belt driven, rather then direct drive or gear driven. None the less, it is still a heavy-duty unit and will shave ham and other lunch meats better then any other machine I have encountered. My machine will also ace the slicing of just about any vegetable: tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, cucumbers, perhaps even celery and carrots if they're cut right.
I will add a word of caution here as well: Slicers like the one I have can be dangerous. The Berkel came with several large posters with bright orange warning labels, and the machine is also placarded with warning stickers in several places. Heed those warnings, they are there for a reason. This machine should not be used by someone unless they know what they are doing. That 540 RPM blade can most definitely scare me into common sense.
MrCoffee