No longer a sawstop brake activation virgin

[joe milana]

Well I stuck a new Forest WW II box joint blade on my saw to cut some jack miters in a cabinet face frame. The first cut was a cross-cut through scrap 1x2 birch to see how it cut. Second cut was through scrap 1x2 piece of ply with saw set to 45 deg. bevel when the brake activated. What the ....???? I have no idea what set the brake off so it's in the mail to sawstop and after a trip to WC and $200 later, I am up and running again. I will admit I stared at the saw for about an hour before getting the courage to fire it up again.
The weird thing is that once I finally fired it up, I swear it sounds different and has been bugging me. I ran the saw non-stop for about 5 min., shut it down, then reached in and felt the arbor bearings to find them "warm to almost hot". I emailed Sawstop and received a response almost immediately stating: "that doesn't seem right"...end of message. I will continue to monitor. Anyone else have such an issue with their sawstop?

[george wilson]

Was the wood wet,or damp AT ALL? If so,it may have carried your body capacitence to the blade.

[joe milana]

No way. It's scrap from the stock I have been using for months. Drier than a bone.

[george wilson]

I tell you,I am waiting for the SawStop to be perfected further. By now,I'll probably stay with my 10" DeWalt table saw. Had it since 1964. Only ever owned 1 other,before that one. I did get a SawStop for my old shop before retiring,since we had a new woodworker there. I found that even with the safety features turned off,we could only use 10" blades,and the safety system had to be satisfied,even when off,before the saw would start.

I had a friend who had several accidental brake firings. I laid it to someone contaminating the saw with mirror plexiglas,and aluminum sheet metal chips. It was in a model shop. Now,I'm wondering,have you ever cut metal on it?

[joe milana]

Good question George, but the answer is no. I can see how metal fragments could adhere to the inside of the cabinet and then dislodge and cause a misfire. I even thought that since the blade was brand new, maybe there was a metal shaving stuck to it or something, but I doubt it , and I did wipe the blade off, and I always wipe the arbor flange when installing a new blade.

[Steve Jenkins]

did you double check the clearance between the riving knife and the blade. Being a boxjoint blade it may be slightly larger or be a bit wider.

[joe milana]

I don't use the riving knife or the guard, and the blade is a "nickels" distance from the brake. That's a good point though, I figured a 10" blade was a 10" blade.

[Ron Knapp]

Did you check your miter gauge for nicks? you may have hit it when you beveled the blade. I saw a live demonstration of that happening.

[george wilson]

Not all 10" blades are 10" I had to readjust the brake pad on our new SawStop when I installed a WWII blade.It was only 9 15/16" diameter,so I had to set the brake pad closer than for the blade that came with the saw.

[joe milana]

Ron, I was using the stock miter gauge. I can't get the blade to hit it even raised all the way up and tilted to 45. I did think of that and go check because this is my first left tilt saw. The whole thing is wierd. When I put the blade on I noticed it was not very flat ie. i could hear it rubbing slightly on the ZCI. Runout was about .010. I thought this was unusual for a NEW forrest blade but I fired it up anyway thinking I would take it back later and exchange it. Two quick cuts later and it was toast.

BTW, I contacted Forrest and they said they would not repair the blade, it was unrepairable. I have heard of others returning blades for tooth replacement?!?!

[Scott Rollins]

Happened to me. An almost impossible to find nick in the paint of my miter gauge. I had to look for a while to find it. I would suggest re-running the miter gauge through the slot with the blade tipped to 45 deg but not running :eek: and see if you can find the nick that way. My saw did not sound any different though...

[joe milana]

I just went and checked it again...see...

[george wilson]

Now that the blade has been crashed,it's teeth are gummed up with aluminum,and it may have beed warped by the crash. Probably cheapest for them to make a new blade than to try to fix the old one.

You should have sent it back without running it on that twitchy saw.

[Karl Brogger]

If only a few teeth need replacing that's no big deal. Neither is a bent/warped blade. I've had plenty of them straightened out by the guy who does my sharpening. I think he does it with a spendy anvil, and a spendy hammer, beyond that I have no clue.

I'm not a fan of the Sawstop. The only thing that can prevent an accident is not putting yourself in a position to get hurt. I don't know of a single accident that I've ever had, or has happened to someone I know that couldn't have been avoided by pulling my/their head out of somewhere dark.

[J. Z. Guest]

Looking at your picture, the blade seems awfully close to the insert. Is it touching? Is that the stock sawstop insert?

[joe milana]

Isnt that the Idea? Zero clearance insert. Yes, it's the stock phenolic insert. That IS one thing that impressed me with this saw. Even at 45 degree tilt, the blade clears the insert (if it's a straight blade) with just a few thousandths clearance .

[Ray Newman]

I read & heard of bake firings of undetermined origin w/ the SawStop.

If I recall correctly, when SawStop examines the brake & determines it was an accidental firing, they'll replace the barke mechanism. I can't recall what SawStop did or does about a ruined blade in such situations.

Please keep us informed.

[Brian Penning]

Why not use the riving knife?