Setting up a sawstop

[Nick2cd]

my wife went above and beyond this year. she got me a sawstop contractor saw with the cast iron wings and 36" rails with upgraded t-glide fence. is there anything in particular i need to know before i jump into setup? how is the sawstop stock blade?

[PaulMarcel]

I use the stock blade. They have two models; I have the ones that are bronze colored (premium ones). To me they work well. I'd say use it for now until its dull before diving into other blades.

You might want to check about any promotions available with the saw. I recall there being some promotions like free overhead-collection arms for PCS (1.75 or 3) models. I'm certain the contractor model had one and I want to say it was for the dust collecting blade guard. When I got my PCS, it came with an extra blade. Though it was a promo item, it was actually in the box with the saw.

If it is anything like the PCS, the instructions are thorough, detailed, and well illustrated. Forget banging on the table to align it then bang it again when tightening the bolts moves it... you have a pair of hex cap screws to fine adjust it and lock it before tightening it up. Assembling it is the first thing you do and they made sure the first impression was a good one.

I did the PCS setup alone with no problems.

Don't lose the override keys: easy to do and I know a dumbass who did

Otherwise, enjoy it! Not that there aren't other good saws out there, but those are very nice.

[Beechwood Chip]

Assembling the main unit and the wings is a two person job. Two people makes assembling the rails much easier.

Wax the cast iron as soon as possible, and keep it waxed. If you haven't owned cast iron before, Marc has a good video for guildies on rust prevention, and a more general video for everyone that includes rust prevention. But, he's in Arizona, so you'll probably need to wax your tables more often than he does. In Philly, I got rust on my tables in six months with minimal use, so now I do a quick wax every time I leave the shop, just in case.

I got an extra brake cartridge, just in case. I already owned a second blade. I figured if the brake ever fired I might want to get back on that horse right away. I also got a dado brake cartridge.

The Sawstop zero clearance inserts work well, but you can make your own of course.

I don't have the "dust panel", and I'm using the Rockler "dust right" quick-connect system. It's a pain trying to connect and disconnect stuff from the dust port underneath the table, so I connect a couple feet of flex host to the dust port so that I could connect stuff without lying on my back.

One of the adjustments on the fence is the height that it rides above the table. Mine was too low, and it hung up on the transition between the extension table and the wings. It should ride a tiny bit above the table.

That's about all I can remember from setting mine up. Let us know if you have any questions.

[Nick2cd]

how were the tolerances from the factory....ex) blade alignment to miter slot, fence to miter slot/blade? etc...?

[Beechwood Chip]

how were the tolerances from the factory....ex) blade alignment to miter slot, fence to miter slot/blade? etc...?

Perfect, as far as I could tell.

[PaulMarcel]

I used a Woodpeckers saw gage for my setup. Like beechwood, I had very few adjustments to make. The only adjustment I recall was setting the toe-out of the fence, but since the front rail fits into oversized holes for placement, that's a given.