singlespeed68 Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 I have an older Delta contractors tablesaw with none of the newer safety feathers. My wife heard a story of a guy who was using a table saw with long sleeves and got his arm caught in the blade and bleed to death. Very sad accident. After hearing of this, she wants me to buy a Sawstop saw. Anyone have experience with these. I looking at a cabinet saw because it'll be in my basement and I think it'll help with controlling dust better than a contractor saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben@FineWoodworking Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 Try the search feature here. There are dozens of posts with A LOT of info on the sawstop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
singlespeed68 Posted December 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 Thanks, I'll do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMarcel Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 Bryan S had a long thread about dust collection he added to his SawStop like the overhead collection arm that SawStop sells, but made a lot cheaper. A parallel thread we were both hopping between covered my router table in the SawStop extension wing, which isn't anything new except how it integrated the connection to the SawStop dust port. I blogged about my build of the collection arm separately when I made one using a different method. I'll be posting a special wiring entry on how to get a single power cable to the "SawStop" and power both (not hard, but nicer than three power cords to trip over). You can find those entries under the "SawStop" label of my blog here. I agree with you that the cabinet versions have better dust collection than the contractor model. If 220V is an issue for you, they now have a 120V version. Watching a live demo of that 120V saw that Charles Neil recently did, it looked like it seriously out-performed my previous 1.75hp saw and that was the general consensus. I have no regrets about mine (3.0 PCS). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 I have an older Delta contractors tablesaw with none of the newer safety feathers. My wife heard a story of a guy who was using a table saw with long sleeves and got his arm caught in the blade and bleed to death. Very sad accident. After hearing of this, she wants me to buy a Sawstop saw. Anyone have experience with these. I looking at a cabinet saw because it'll be in my basement and I think it'll help with controlling dust better than a contractor saw. Sorry I've been away from the forum for a while. But I saw your SawStop question and wanted to throw my two cents in. I have had my SawStop Cabinet saw for almost 3 years now. I freaking love it. If something happened to it, I would go buy another one tomorrow. The safety feature on it gets all the press, and there are plenty of places out there to learn about that, so I will try to tell you about some of the lesser known wonders of the SawStop Cabinet Saw. BTW - This post gets long, as you can tell I feel strongly about it. 1 – The dust collection is incredible. It may be equaled out there, but I can’t imagine there is anything better. 2 – The onboard computer has blink codes to tell you if something is wrong with your saw and what it is. (Up to and including a blink code letting you know the cabinet door is open.) At first I was nervous about this failing and causing my saw to be useless. But, after three years (including moving the saw twice to new locations) there have been no issues. If there are, there is an over-ride feature. 3 – If you dial their help-line, you get a dude in the US… who is actually a woodworker, I like that. No offense to anyone who prefers to get somebody in Kazakhstan who’s never even seen a sheet of plywood. 4 – Because their arbor is designed to survive a million “Stops” it is way heavier than any of the others you see on the market. Big deal right? Well, I can tell you I tuned my saw the day I got it. (It needed almost none, so mostly it was a process of confirming it was tuned.) Since then I’ve moved my workshop twice. When I set up the saw for the third time in my new shop… You guess it, still tuned. My older cabinet saw would get out of tune if I ran too many pieces of heavy maple through it. This one seems to never vary from dead on. 5 – Did I mention the dust collection? 6 – The riving knife system when I first got it was so easy to use it almost made me sick to think why didn’t somebody come up with this before? I think a few of the newer saws out there may be equal to it today. 7 – Changing the blade is stupid simple. Wrenches wait for you on the side of the machine, ready and willing to change your blade. Even switching to a dado head, which requires a different brake pack can be done in less than a minute. (I can change my brake pack in about 5 seconds… seriously, I’ve timed it.) 8 – I don’t know if other saws have this or not, but there is a lockable turn lever on the side of the machine which disconnects power from the machine. This feature prevents accidently turning the machine on if you are tuning it, or making changes or something of that nature. (May also be helpful when my son, who is now 6 months, starts exploring my shop.) 9 - The manual that comes with it is easy to follow, very complete, laminated, color, and spiral bound to lay flat. Again, it may be equaled out there, but I've never seen anything better. 10 – Oh and by the way, the blade stops spinning if you touch it. That may one day save my hand or finger. As you can see, I love this saw. I would not recommend buying any other. I dropped about 4 grand on mine with everything I got when I bought it and every day I use it I think it was a bargain. My wife totally supported my purchase. Because when I told her it was going to be the SawStop at 4 grand or another saw which would be 3300 to 3600, she said it was a no brainer. As usual, she was right. Last thing, if you ever want more information, or want to discuss the saw, I'm always read to do so. IM me if you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_in_SD Posted January 7, 2011 Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 It's funny, I had an old Delta contractors saw (34-444 -- good saw BTW) and had a very minor incident with my finger (minor results but could have easily been major...). I was reluctant to spend the money on a SawStop but I did really like the fit and finish on the display models at the local Rockler. But it was my WIFE that insisted that I buy a SawStop. Didn't take much arm twisting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flairwoodworks Posted January 8, 2011 Report Share Posted January 8, 2011 Oh, no - she wants you to buy a SawStop. Poor you! <big grin> Right now, SawStop is offering a FREE UPGRADE, depending on which model you get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon003 Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 I love mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBaiga Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 quick question for saw stop users - since they fire whenever contacting conductive materials and fingers, hotdogs or pieces of metal are all sensed equally, do any of you pass a hand held metal detector over boards to be on the safe side? it would seem like a logical expense/precaution at the hand-helds are cheaper than the brake cartridges and replacement blades. i also thought it was interesting in the "live finger" demo that the guy dips his fingers in water....so would a drop of water or sweat set off the system...what about a liquid/resin/sap void in a piece of green stock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMarcel Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 I had a metal detector long before the SawStop. I didn't want my planer chewing on staples and nails either. Small staples shouldn't set it off. Not enough change to the capacitance of the blade. Why a staple can set it off is when a staple wraps itself around a tooth of the blade, swings around, and makes contact with the aluminum brake. It's that which allows a staple to set it off. I had a long discussion about it with a tech guy at SawStop when I first got my saw since I had an early manual with a couple typos or clarifications to add. We got on that topic. If the staples concern you, there are two options that I ended up blogging about here. Essentially, you can put a strip of packing tape on the face of the brake; it stops a flying staple from completing the circuit. Or you can adjust the brake back from the blade so the staple couldn't touch it, but that's frowned upon since it increases the stop-time when the brake needs to go off. I put packing tape on mine as it has zero effect on the braking mechanism and can stop a mis-fire from an errant staple I missed. Not sure why they had water in the demo. A drop or two of sweat wouldn't set it off just like a small staple wouldn't plus you wouldn't be making a circuit with something significantly changing the capacitance of the system. I wouldn't worry about that, though I'm curious of the water in the demo. If you are running green stock, you should run in override mode. Obviously if you are a guy routinely running green lumber or reclaimed potentially nail-ridden lumber, a SawStop may not be the best idea for you. After you cut something in override mode, the lights will tell you if it would have fired without the override. One suggestion I had for the tech support guy back when I got the saw is a way to know how close you were to that threshold. For example, if I cut in override mode and it says it wasn't going to fire, was I 50% the way to the threshold or 98%? If I was 98%, a second cut closer to the pith might fire. If I was at 50%, likely I can cut anything in that piece with no concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBaiga Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 interesting. you mean like have a capacitance meter output displaying the sensor reading input. it should be possible to rig up a meter since they can generate time course plots in their white paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMarcel Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Maybe they could. There's some level input examined by the brake logic. I don't care to really see a number, but the second light (the blinking red on self-test and blade spin-down) can generate green and yellow colors. It would be nice if in override mode, it did something like display yellow after cutting something that has a high, but not too high, moisture. Blinking yellow being close to tripping, but wouldn't have tripped. And the solid red like it has currently to mean that it would have tripped. At least then when cutting questionably high moisture content wood, you could use the yellow light to mean you might have a false save. If it was solid black, then it the material is considerably dry and not an issue. Right now, you could be on the cusp of setting off the brake with some material and you still get the black. I think I'll send this idea to SawStop again; back then the PCS had just come out and I honestly didn't have it thought out this much (if this is 'much' ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBaiga Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 great color coded security alerts for your table saw. we have an orange alert for some knotty alder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlh6902 Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 Not sure why they had water in the demo. A drop or two of sweat wouldn't set it off just like a small staple wouldn't plus you wouldn't be making a circuit with something significantly changing the capacitance of the system. I wouldn't worry about that, though I'm curious of the water in the demo. If I am remebering the video correctly, they were icing the finger, since the EXTREME lighting needed for the high-speed cameras would burn you otherwise. By icing first, that allowed a longer time under the lights before his finger would be grilled like a hotdog. Sorry... I couldn't pass that one up. Carl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 I can tell you that green wood doesn't set off my Sawstop. There's a fine woodworking or Woodworker's Journal, or Wood magazine article out there someplace where they tried all kinds of stuff to get an accidental firing of the brake on a SawStop and they came to the conclusion that it’s really hard to get a nuisance trip. I sweat like Ozzie Osborne playing Jenga and I’ve never tripped mine. I stand by my argument that it’s the best freaking table saw out there and to buy any other cabinet saw is foolish. (Sorry Powermatic) I’ve posted my reasons for this several times. So I won’t jump on my soapbox again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMarcel Posted January 13, 2011 Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 That sounds like a great article. I'd love to read it. If anyone remembers where it is, please post. Yeah, Ozzie sweats. Whenever someone mentions Ozzie in concert, I remember the Iron Man live video. Dude was swimmin' in the stuff. Great visual on your part, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryangel69 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I can tell you that green wood doesn't set off my Sawstop. There's a fine woodworking or Woodworker's Journal, or Wood magazine article out there someplace where they tried all kinds of stuff to get an accidental firing of the brake on a SawStop and they came to the conclusion that it’s really hard to get a nuisance trip. Chet I was watching a Sawstop demo last weekend and the dude said particle board would set it off. I sounded up (as I do too often) and told him I had never heard that before. Never in anything that I have read in my research and lurking though old posts. Have you ever heard this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flairwoodworks Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 Chet I was watching a Sawstop demo last weekend and the dude said particle board would set it off. I sounded up (as I do too often) and told him I had never heard that before. Never in anything that I have read in my research and lurking though old posts. Have you ever heard this? I've heard that bits of ground-up metal can sometimes be found in particle board. If that's true, that would explain it setting of the saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmk89 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Share Posted February 21, 2011 I've heard that bits of ground-up metal can sometimes be found in particle board. If that's true, that would explain it setting of the saw. Surely a piece of metal large enough to give the resistance/conductivity to set it off would be one that damaged you blade anyway! Sawstop seems to be a product that throws up more urban myths than KFC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Chet I was watching a Sawstop demo last weekend and the dude said particle board would set it off. I sounded up (as I do too often) and told him I had never heard that before. Never in anything that I have read in my research and lurking though old posts. Have you ever heard this? Chad, I haven't heard of that. I've cut particle board on mine and didn't even think about checking it, or running it in safety mode. As a matter of fact I bought a bunch of melamine coated particle board from Menards, because it was dirt cheap. I've been using it this past week for shop projects (including drawer fronts on my outfeed table) and so far not even a blink from my sawstop. Sorry it took me a while to get back to you. I've been trying to avoid posting in any of the SawStop threads as I've been accused of being a SawStop vendor. In reality I'm just a hydrualics engineer/salesman who has a really tiny little custom cabinet business I do on the side. I like my Sawstop a ton, but I have no vested interest in the company or anything. I did meet Steve Gass twice. I saw him speak and chatted with him briefly. I can tell you he seems like a good guy. Plus there were literally hundreds of guys coming up to him who'd had "sawstop saves" and they treated him like a rockstar. I've mentioned many times that I don't agree with some of the politics behind what Gass is said to be doing. By the same token I have close friends with whom I don't agree with their politics. Normally, I dig this forum because as a rule we avoid those issues and talk about woodworking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryangel69 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Thanks Chet. One if the local cabinet shops let me molest his saw and was nice enough to answer all my questions. Most of their cabinets are particle boxes. I just could not imagine him overiding the safety of seventy percent of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flairwoodworks Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Surely a piece of metal large enough to give the resistance/conductivity to set it off would be one that damaged you blade anyway! Sawstop seems to be a product that throws up more urban myths than KFC I really have no idea how much metal is needed to trigger the blade. I do know that most carbide blades can cut through 18 gauge pneumatic nails while not causing damage. I would think such a nail would trigger the brake. Anyone care to touch an 18-gauge nail to their SawStop, using the "test" feature (not a running saw of course)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChetlovesMer Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Sawstop seems to be a product that throws up more urban myths than KFC Now I know why we SawStop users like our saws so much "Because he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes ya crave it fortnightly, smartass!" Geez, I hope somebody gets that or I'm just going to sound like a moron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedbro1 Posted March 3, 2011 Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 Here's my setup. I love my Saw Stop. TeddyB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric_Sweeney Posted March 5, 2011 Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 I just got mine today and put it together. I got the 3hp professional cabinet saw with the 36" fence. Now I need to make a new outfeed table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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