Triggered SawStop Blades/brakes


Torch02

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If you had a real hit, you can send the brake back to SawStop and they will mail you back a replacement. Basically you are out the postage. They want to pull data from the chip to know about the accident. If they figure out it was a hit against a nail or "really wet Oscar Meyer" finger, they'll tell you what you likely hit, but won't replace the brake as it was user error (well, so is a positive hit, but they want that data). At least this was the case a couple years ago. You'd definitely want to call tech support to see if your case qualifies for a brake replacement.

If you can dig the blade out, you can certainly keep it; I've heard some people get teeth re-brazed to replace those lost in the brake, but that's kinda nuts if you've seen the shock wave that goes through the blade on impact. Make a clock out of it. :)

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I have a SawStop and have had one trigger so far. Not my finger, but my aluminum fence on my miter gauge. Stupid mistake on my part. I always check the fence after adjusting it, except this one time :). Interesting fact. While taking class recently, I was using their SawStop. I was trimming off the end of the board and hit a staple, and no trigger. I was told this was suppose to be the case, but never tested it. This is another good reason to always cut at least an 1" off the end of a board. In my case, I didn't have a lot of "extra" board, and the end of the board had been painted over.

Mike

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A normal size staple isn't supposed to trigger it although those big corrugated cardboard box staples supposedly will. The catch is that if the staple wraps around the tooth then makes contact with the aluminum brake, it will trip it. SawStop support recommends (if this is your concern) to either increase the distance to the blade with the brake clearance adjustment (which lengthens the stop time so you could get a worse injury) or to put a strip or two of packing tape on the brake surface that faces the blade. The idea being that the staple won't complete the electrical circuit to the brake and trip; the tape doesn't affect the trigger or brake time. I put the packing tape on mine.

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A normal size staple isn't supposed to trigger it although those big corrugated cardboard box staples supposedly will. The catch is that if the staple wraps around the tooth then makes contact with the aluminum brake, it will trip it. SawStop support recommends (if this is your concern) to either increase the distance to the blade with the brake clearance adjustment (which lengthens the stop time so you could get a worse injury) or to put a strip or two of packing tape on the brake surface that faces the blade. The idea being that the staple won't complete the electrical circuit to the brake and trip; the tape doesn't affect the trigger or brake time. I put the packing tape on mine.

Good tip. The other way a small staple can set off the brake is if it is grounded by the cast iron table top or by a finger, etc.

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