Sawstop Cabinet Saw running great

[Tom]

Dear Folks,

I have benefited from this group over the years thought I should contribute when I did something daring and it worked. Basically, I upgraded my 12 yr old Grizzly contractor saw with a Vega fence to a Sawstop cabinet 3hp saw. The saw is a well-designed and smooth running saw. I have had it for three weeks now, and I'm quite happy with it.

It comes with a biesemeyer clone fence which is solid and accurate. The reviews posted earlier are accurate and quite detailed so I won't repeat them. I am a hobbyist and wanted to upgrade to a cabinet saw. I think the sawstop saw is a excellent saw and should be considered if you want to acquire a cabinet saw.

).

The only surprise was the weight of the saw. It comes in one solid piece of steel (~650 pounds) and it was tricky to get into the basement. But with a case of Guinness, three friends, a block and tackle, a piano dolly and a refrigerator dolly, we succeeded.

The manual discussing installation, use and safety features is easy and fun to read. The riving knife on the saw is wonderful and so far, the saw is so much fun to use, that my woodworking project list has doubled.

So, if you have gotten your fingers too close to a running saw blade to be comfortable, and you are considering a new saw, this one is the one to get!

Signed,

Having-fun-in-Jersey

Tom

[Steve Decker]

Come on now, admit it.

You're dying to try the "hot dog test", aren't you?

Good Luck with the saw.

Steve

[dwright]

Welcome to the group! I hope it won't be long before there are lots of us. I'm impressed that you were able to get it into a basement safely. A friend and I struggled to just get mine out of his truck and straight down to my garage floor using a 12 part tackle.

Every now and then, usually before heading in at the end of a shop session, I pop open the doors, pull up the insert, and look closely at the guts of this saw. Every part seems to be overengineered, well made, and suited to its function. Allen head bolts everywhere. Lots of cast iron and very thick sheet metal. No sharp edges.

The only complaint I have about the saw, at least at this point (almost two months operation), is that the anti-kickback teeth on the full guard leave scratches on the wood unless I run the blade at least

1" higher than the top of the wood. I asked Steve Gass if he would personally choose running the blade 1" high or working without the anti-kickback teeth. His choice would be to remove the teeth. They are attached with allen head bolts - easy to pull off and set aside in case you want to try them again later on. No pop rivets on this saw.

I'd be interested in any significant experiences and comments that might come up as you continue to use your saw.

Regards,

Dave

[Edwin Pawlowski]

"dwright" wrote in message

You bought the saw that should be the safest on the market, they you remove the anti-kickback teeth? At the recommendation of Stave Gass yet???????

Maybe a swipe or two with a file to take a lip off would eliminate the marks they leave and you still have some protection.

[dwright]

Ed,

I hadn't thought of trying that. I probably won't get around to it today, but will smooth the teeth but still keep their tips sharp. If that takes care of it then we have a design/manufacturing suggestion for SawStop.

The scratches are very shallow. If ripping hardwood they may not be noticeable at all. Ordinary sanding prep before finishing would probably get rid of them. Might actually be a non-issue.

Take Care,

Dave

[GregP]

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 09:38:56 -0500, the inscrutable "Tom" spake:

That's good, Tom. I'm glad you're happy with it.

But, for goodness sake, be -sure- to tell us what happens when (not if) you trigger that puppy. I want to hear about the down-time, the cost of the mechanism, the time it takes to install it, and how much the replacement table saw blade costs. I understand they eat them during the safety-stop process.

I know that the repair costs won't be anywhere near the $2,500 the saw sold for, but I'm curious about the actual "Oops!" or "Thank God!" costs.

======================================================== TANSTAAFL: There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

Gourmet Web Applications ==========================

[Leon]

The Oops might be a bit costly, but the Thank God cost will be significantly cheaper than the alternative.

[dwright]

The saw cost includes one 10" cartridge. I bought a couple extras plus an 8" dado cartridge. I also happen to have one of the preproduction cartridges. It works too. I don't plan to set any of these off on purpose though.

The cost of a brake release is your blade (presuming it cannot be restored by your friendly and competent neighborhood sharpening service), the spent cartridge ($59), and maybe 10 minutes work.

General word has been that the blade is wasted, but that may not be true. I have one of the stopped blades and its brake pawl hanging on my wall (demo). There doesn't appear to be damage to any of the teeth that aren't buried in the pawl. Several teeth are in the pawl. Even if they are all wasted it would only cost $20 - $30 at my sharpening service to have them replaced and the entire blade resharpened.

[Leon]

"dwright" wrote in message news:41fc3fdc$1 [e-mail]...

I can almost guarantee you that he blade will need to be retrued/flattened again also.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

"dwright" wrote in message news:41fbf968$1 [e-mail]...

I'm thinking may it is just a burr on the tip. Take a look and maybe you can fix it easily. They may get better with us anyway.