A New Sawstop PCS Owner

[Larry Frank]

It was like Christmas when I was a kid (long time ago). My Sawstop PCS arrived today and is in boxes. I opened it to get the manual and have been reading through it getting ready to put it together. The manual is well written and the parts are clearly identified.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom on putting it together or helpful hints. I plan to pretty much follow the instructions.

My only change will be to increase the height to be comfortable for me.

I was pretty surprised when I discussed getting the saw with my Chief Financial Officer (wife). It did not take much to convince her. As others have found, the safety is a selling point as well as the quality of the tool.

My only minor regret is that I am selling my Jet Xacta which has been a very good cabinet table saw. It is for sale in the classified section and am anxious to find it a good home and will be negotiating the price for it.

[Cliff Holmes]

Congratulations! That's one fine saw, if I may say so myself

Check out my blog, http://www.thewoodnerd.com/blog, back in late January when I got my SawStop. I had several entries about issues and hints with assembling and aligning the SS.

[Michael Peet]

Congrats on the saw, Larry. You will love it.

There are several threads around here on PCS assembly if you do a search. The biggest lesson I remember from mine is: don't worry about leveling the wings when you attach them - they have some play and you can tweak everything perfectly level when you attach the rails.

Mike

[Prashun Patel]

I love mine!!! Best manual of any product.

The only complaint I have about the saw is the above table dc. I'm not as big a fan of the guard's dust catching as everyone else is. I do think it's a great guard in the sense that it's tool-less and pretty skinny, so using it's easy.

[Cliff Holmes]

I agree, the guard dust system isn't a great as claimed. I think it would be much improved if the side wings stayed parallel to the table like the PM2000 does.

[Cliff Holmes]

the safety is a selling point

Exactly, now you can be careless and irresponsible since the SS gives you a false sense of security! (runs for cover)

[Keith Albertson]

The toughest part for me was leveling the wings, and securing the switch-box to the saw. My switchbox still wiggles a little. Like everyone else has said, check here for threads both on the sawstop and tablesaw wing leveling. There are several good ideas I wish I saw BEFORE I struggled getting things level.

On a second note, if you have room, you might want to keep your jet. I encorporated my delta contractor into an outfeed table set up, since it was a nice, flat, sturdy surface. And I had lots of jigs already made for it. I'm slowly replacing those with jugs for the Sawstop, and now the Delta does duty pretty much as a dedicated dado saw. Even if you don't use the saw, the money you'll get from selling your Jet might not be much more than you'll spend making an outfeed table.

[Prashun Patel]

One of the (understandable but unfortunate) surprises for me with the Sawstop was that it can only use an 8" dado stack, and requires a dedicated dado brake. It's a pain enough having to swap in the dado stack, let alone having to swap out and align a brake too.

I had a 6" stack on my last saw that is now worthless. Aparently running the saw in bypass mode doesn't solve the problem, because the saw won't run unless there's a minimal distance between the brake and the blade. So, you can't run an 8" stack on the 10" brake, nor their 8" dado brake on a 6" stack.

[Will Overton]

One of the (understandable but unfortunate) surprises for me with the Sawstop was that it can only use an 8" dado stack, and requires a dedicated dado brake.

Then you didn't do your research.

Still waiting for the phone call saying that mine is ready for pick up. I hope there are no surprises.

[Sam Blanchard]

Congrats Larry - you're going to love it.
Just one bit of advice from an owner of the original model cabinet saw: make sure and pay attention to the setting of the blade/brake distance when changing blades.
DAMHIKT

[Victor Robinson]

Have to agree with Prashun. Though I knew about the dado stack issue going into the purchase, it's the only thing I have found wrong/annoying with the saw. The fact I need to spend an extra $170ish just to use a dado stack is slightly annoying, given I bought a $3k+ saw. Actually it's not even the cost so much but that I have to go back to a SS retailer to purchase the insert and brake cartridge. It would be nice if we could order the accessories online.

It's a minor point, and doesn't take anything away from the fact you're going to love this saw. And if it ever saves your fingers, you'll love it even more...

[Prashun Patel]

You can order that stuff online; there are many OL retailers that'll ship it. I knew it needed new brake too, but I didn't realize it only worked with an 8" stack.

Not cryin'. Just sayin'. I still love my saw.

[Will Overton]

You can order that stuff online; there are many OL retailers that'll ship it.

ToolKing even sells the accessories through Amazon.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

I had a conversation with SS customer service a few months ago...they are great BTW...when checking the brake gap (between blade tooth and the aluminum face) use a US nickel instead of the yellow plastic doo-hicky attached to the allen wrench. Blade tooth can just pass then you are set. The yellow gauge it seems can get scratched pretty easily after repeated uses and its precision lost. Not so when using 5 cents of currency.

Also, when using a stacked dado...remember to leave off the outer arbor washer when over 3/8".

Enjoy!! It is awesome!! I love my PCS. And every time I look at another owner's manual I wish it was as good a Saw Stop's.

[Alan Lightstone]

Best instruction / assembly manual of any product I have ever purchased. Just follow it step by step, and it will go together in no time.

I was so stunned by the ease of the assembly procedure that I sent a friend pictures of how everything was packed.

Enjoy the SS. You'll love it.