SawStop Industrial Tablesaw

Ahhhh, the much awaited and very controversial SawStop tablesaw.  There is so much good to say about this saw I’m not sure how to get it all in, but there are some issues that I’ve run into that are worth mentioning here.  Even the best can have issues afterall!

A little about my SawStop cabinet saw:

• It was probably from one of the original batches of SawStop’s made as I purchased it not too longer after they began selling them.  I acquired this saw in 9/2006.
• Specs:
  • Industrial model
  • 5HP, single phase motor
  • 10″ blade
  • 52″ fence
  • Footprint: 20″x25″d
  • Cast iron table: 24″x30″d
  • Extension table
  • 685lbs
  • Left-tilt
  • 4″ Dust Collection Port
• It’s been in use in my hobby shop, maybe seeing 8-10 hours of use per month (light load by any measure).

It’s controversial.  SawStop has taken a fairly long road that ended with the company making their own saw in the end.  Although its not something I want to go into detail with in a review, the short of it is that SawStop creators came up with a revolutionary product that will stop a spinning blade if, and when, it comes in contact with human flesh.  Stephen Gass (SawStop inventor) started down the road of politics and regulations in hopes of getting laws changed to improve saw safety (and sell their devise/design).  There was a lot of push-back and resistance by manufacturers … so in the end, SawStop created their own complete table saw.  Search the net and you’ll get the whole story … but that’s enough to help you understand the high level details I think.

It’s impressive. To tell you the truth, it worked out fairly well for us (the end user) that SawStop ended up having to make their own saw.  Why?  They stepped up the game a notch and offered a superior cabinet saw with several improvements … going where none of the other mainstream manufacturers had gone.  The (new referred to as) Industrial version of the SawStop offers a larger cast iron table (30″ deep), heavy duty gears and inside components, quick-release riving knife, enclosed blade cavity for improved dust collection, and obviously the braking mechanism.

It’s safer, not safe.  There is a difference between “safer” and “safe”.  No tool with sharp teeth and powerful motors is going to be “safe”, however the SawStop is a “safer” tablesaw.  Even without the brake mechanism, the SawStop is a vast improvement over conventional saws on the market.  Between the riving knife (an anti-kickback device) and the larger cast iron top to support the material being cut, there is a level of “safer” reached.  Add to it the brake system, and this saw is light years ahead of the competition.  But like an air bag in a car, the brake doesn’t make it “safe”, just “safer”.  In the event you have an accident, there’s a darn good chance the brake will trigger well before you amputate a finger or destroy a hand.

It’s about time. SawStop set the bar high and now a few other manufacturers are following to keep pace.  While they don’t have the brake technology, they are bringing up the overall level of safety by adding riving knives and offering other improvements.  In the end, we (the end user) benefit.

It’s for anyone, but not everyone. Unfortunately technology and quality cost money and for some this added value will not be enough to justify the cost.  While the SawStop would be an excellent cabinet saw for just about anyone, the additional cost of the technology will keep some away where the cost cannot be justified — or afforded.  That’s unfortunate, but how most everything works (computers, automobiles, space travel, you name it).

Issues & Resolutions I’ve had:

• (10/06) Immediately after getting the saw, I equipped it with a brand new high quality blade.  One of the first tests I did was check the fence runout.  Runout was minor (+/- .003 – .006 in.).  That seemed acceptable to me, so after a few more tests I took to a cut.  For the next week, every cut I took had noticeable “scratches” on the edge of the board cut.  This was a bit frustrating.  In the end, the fix was to refer to the manual and tweak the fence a hair.  That did the trick and it’s run well ever since.
• (12/06) The saw began to screech when starting up.  Just a short, but concerning, screech.  After emailing SawStop support, they pointed me to a belt adjustment.  It would seem the belt had stretched a little after several hours of use.  That one tightening job did it and its worked fine ever since.
• (12/07) The most frustrating problem with the saw I’ve ran into was a continual slippage that would occur after I tilted the saw blade to 45 degrees.  Not every time, but it happened at least three times over the first year and each time I was down and out for a good 45 – 60 minutes trying to fix it.  The fix was to tighten a hex head bolt that keeps the gears in contact with one another.  It would appear that the stress of the 45 degree angle caused something to loosen just a hair … and just enough to cause the entire assembly to “slop” back to a lesser angle.  Fed up with my unsuccessful attempt to fix it, I contacted SawStop support.  They not only pointed me to the page in the manual where it was fixed, but also made themselves available for more emails as I continued to deal with it.  In the end, it would seem I just needed to make the bolt a bit tighter than I had been.  That sounds easy, but it’s buried in the cabinet of the saw and took a bit of squirming for me to make that happen.  However, even since the last adjustment (nearly two years ago), it’s not slipped again since.  Here are a few images that I had taken at that time, and a video, both of which I had provided to SawStop support at the time.
  
• (5/09) New Zero Clearance Insert, Accidentally Triggered Brake
  A bit embarrassing of a story, but none the less it happened so I’ll tell it.  It all started with the decision to buy a new, un-cut zero-clearance insert from my local Woodcraft.  I hurried home to install it, popped it in the cast iron top just as I had done so many times on my previous cabinet saw.  Turned the saw on and started to raise the blade.  See the problem yet?  Me either, obviously.  It was a bit of a chore raising the blade (first sign of a problem), but I “powered” thru it thinking ‘this is some tough plastic!’.  Things just didn’t seem right and it was getting tougher and tougher to raise the blade, yet it was not popping thru the insert.  Finally, I decided one more good crank should do it … when POP!  I knew that sound as I had heard it at so many woodworking shows hanging around the SawStop booth … the blade went off.  It only took a millisecond for me to realize the error in my ways.  Figured it out yet?  I forgot to remove the riving knife!  In essence I was jamming the riving knife into the underside of the zero clearance insert until it finally made contact with the blade itself.  And since my hand was on the saw, we triggered the brake.  So much for that Forrest WWII blade.  Lesson learned.  So hopefully someone will read this well before they make the same mistake and save themselves the embarrassment and money.  The good news … I know the braking system works!
• (5/09) After Triggering the Brake, It Wouldn’t Start Again
  After the incident outlined above took place, I installed a new brake and new blade.  When you turn on the SawStop it runs a 20 second diagnostic test before you can turn it on.  Well, it kept failing the test and I couldn’t figure out why.  Did I read the manual?  Well, of course not.  I emailed SawStop support and explained the scenario.  They graciously pointed me back to the manual (as they had done every time in the past), to the exact section and page.  It would seem the incredible force of the brake had caused the space between the blade and brake to become greater than allowed.  SawStop support recommended that I check the gap between the blade and brake. They recommended using a nickel to set the gap. The idea is to set it so the teeth are just barely touching the nickel.  Sure enough, the gap had gotten too wide because after an extremely easy adjustment I was back in business.
• (2008) Soft metal, tough bolts, hard headed.
  When I originally received the saw I installed the front tube with the included bolts.  While I didn’t think I was “heavy handed” (hard headed, yes), I must have been because nearly all had stripped out.  This really took away from the saws enjoyment because every time someone bumped the tube I’d have to check alignment and make tweaks (read: hammer).  I finally got to a point it was driving me nuts.  Though I had technically caused my own problem, I felt better blaming the soft metal used for the tube.  I contacted SawStop looking for the price of a new tube, when they decided to WOW me.  They could sell me a new tube, but they were not very cheap (well, not as cheap as me).  They then continued to offer that they would give me a tube off a returned, or serviced, saw if I would pay shipping.  Uhhhh, yes!  A few weeks later I had a brand new front tube along with the bolts to secure it.  I was a lot more careful this go around installing it, and it has ever since been great!

A few words about SawStop customer service

If you’ve read this far, then you already know they have treated me well.  I’m no one special, but they don’t mine.  They are a relatively small company, which is extremely nice.  When you contact them, you get real people who live and breath this product day in and day out.  They know it, and they know it well.  Up to this point they have impressed me with their knowledge, and pleased me with their service.

A few pictures of my saw

For more information about the SawStop go here.

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