SawStop PCS Arrival and Assembly

[Michael Peet]

I've only seen a couple threads so far on the SawStop PCS (Professional Cabinet Saw), and I wanted to give something back to this site with my experiences and impressions assembling this new saw!

I am fairly new to power woodworking machinery (as you will no doubt notice from my sparsely-populated shop in the following pictures), but I have been reading many threads here at SMC about setting up table saws. Let's get started.

The saw was delivered on Thursday, so on Friday my dad and brother came over and helped move it into the basement. Here it is upon opening the packaging, then with everything except the main cabinet removed ready for the trip into the basement:

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With three of us lifting it was not difficult to move the unit onto the cart. I chose to load it upside-down on the cart, as the bottom of the cabinet is open and therefore would not have been able to sit on the "floor" of the hand truck. I should also note that I strapped the saw to the hand truck for safety.

Although the fully-assembled saw with 36-inch rails weighs 426 lbs, I would guess that a good 150-200 lbs of it is "other stuff" that I was able to carry downstairs by myself - extension wings (about 40 lbs each), rails, fence, etc. The three of us had no trouble going slowly down the stairs with the hand truck.

Here it is in its new home:

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Saturday the fun really starts as I begin assembly (continued).

Mike

[Michael Peet]

The only issue I found upon opening up the packages was what appeared to be rust inside one of the handwheels:

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After a soak in some Evap-o-Rust, I discovered that it was not actually rust (but I'm not sure what it was). A few minutes with a wire brush removed most of it:

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I checked the wings for flatness and they were pretty good:

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Inventory of the parts from the main crate:

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Ready to start assembly (continuted)!

Mike

[Michael Peet]

The instructions are very well done. Even having never done this before I was able to put it together alone without conceptual difficulty. The blister packs of fasteners and such was a nice touch. The components are all named and numbered and referenced in the instructions by these identifiers, which made it fairly foolproof to find the right part.

The first couple of steps were installing the handwheels for the blade elevation and angle, followed by installation of the motor cover. Each was easy enough. The trouble started with the installation of the extension wings. They were way too heavy for me to hold in place while simultaneously bolting them to the saw's table. I ended up stacking up a bunch of garbage to the right height so I could simply lay a wing on top and then tighten the bolts underneath at my leisure:

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I attached the first one and found to my concern that the wing, while flat itself, did not seem to sit flat with the main table at the front of the saw (the back was fine):

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I did not measure the gap but it was obviously unacceptable. Hastily, I decided I needed to shim. I used a piece of aluminum tape leftover from installing the dust collection ducting:

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Apparently, this tape was too thick because after re-bolting I discovered that the wing now tipped down at the end. I tried again with a piece of cellophane tape, but it did was not enough. I was growing pretty aggravated at this point so I don't have any pictures of this process. :o Finally, in frustration I removed all the tape and just tried the other wing; it went on without much problem. I got it to within .003" and decided it would do for now:

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Later I would discover that you can adjust the tips of the wings up or down when attaching the rails. I wish I had known that ahead of time! I will also note that installing the wings should have been step 1; the blade angle handwheel and motor cover were both in the way when trying to bolt the wings on.

The first wing went on the other side without drama:

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Next I will install the rails and spend some time tweaking the combined table for flatness (continued).

Mike

[Michael Peet]

After putting the rails on I really had the opportunity to to go around and adjust things nice and flat. If the tip of the wing had to come down, I wedged a scrap of 2x4 against the ceiling and tapped it with a mallet until it was perfectly flat, then tightened down the bolt attaching the end of the rail to the wing:

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If the wing had to come up, I had a similar scrap to jam against the floor. Here's a before and after; you can see the 2x4 it just in the foreground to the left on the second pic:

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This system worked really well and I was able to chase the gaps around without too much trouble (although it was time-consuming). I could even adjust the bolts holding the wings to the main table without a stack of trash in the way holding the wing up. The very worst spot I had after all this was .002". I decided to go with this for now and revisit if I must.

That's all I had time for on Saturday. Sunday I will install the mobile base and fence / extension table (continued).

Mike

[Michael Peet]

Next I will install the mobile base. Once again, all the attachment hardware comes in a nice blister pack and there is another instruction manual with directions:

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Since you need to access the bottom of the saw to install the mobile base, they recommend tipping the saw over onto the rails to allow access underneath. I was able to do this by myself, nice and slow, no problem. I set cardboard under the cabinet and rails to prevent scratches from the concrete floor:

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Installing the mobile base was pretty easy, although there is a bit of fiddling in a small dark area with a 400 lb saw over your head. Nonetheless, it went smoothly and soon we were mobile:

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Extension table and fence are next (continued).

Mike

[Michael Peet]

The extension table is covered with a lightly ridged plastic coating. Unfortunately, the coating on one corner was either sloppily applied or damaged in shipping:

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I decided that the damage was not going to affect the operation of the saw, and was going to be covered by the rails anyway, so I went ahead with the installation. The extension table and fence once again came with clear instructions and part labeling. There were two additional bolts included in this package; apparently an update to the original instructions and parts:

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I was a bit surprised at first that the table had a wooden frame underneath:

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A bolt is mounted on the saw-side of the extension table. It connects to the underside of the wing and controls the height of the table relative to the wing. This makes it very easy to adjust it to the perfect height:

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The remainder simply went together without fuss:

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So far I am very happy in general with the fit and finish. Almost all the threaded components went together easily; only a couple were tight. Tables were flat, holes lined up, and the instructions were clear. I must say I was very impressed with the instructions; there was simply no guesswork.

I am still waiting for a dial indicator, some ductwork, and my electrician to install a 220V outlet nearby, so I'm not quite done yet! I am glad to have this part behind me, and look forward to blade and fence alignment once my indicator arrives.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

[Michael Schwartz]

you will love that saw, I own the sawstop contractor saw with cast iron extensions, and the full sized 52" fence. If i move up to a larger shop at some point I will probably get a PCS as my second table saw. Looks like you have done a very thorough job so far setting it up, but most importantly have fun using it!

[Paul Ryan]

The very worst spot I had after all this was .002". I decided to go with this for now and revisit if I must.


If you are going to worry about .002 out of flat on an extension wing, you need to find a new hobby. We are wood working not building satelites. You will love the saw I have had mine for 7 months now and am very happy. Let us know if your blade is parallel with the miter slots. I had to adjust mine it was about .011 out of parallel but was simple to adjust the table.

[Salem Ganzhorn]

I have to put a mobile base on my saw too, was thinking engine lift or something. I never considered tipping the beast on the rails! That looks a little scary :).

Thanks for the pictures, enjoy your saw!
Salem

[Mr. Jeff Smith]

Thanks for the write up and the pics, much appreciated.

[Richard Gibson]

Reminds me of ME about 4 months ago. I love mine hope you get it running soon and enjoy!

[Barry Vabeach]

Mike, great pics and story, I know how long it takes to put together such a post, but it is really helpful to have someone do it.

[jim tracy]

Dido what Barry said, excellent post thank-you for the info.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Mike - great writeup and pics on the saw. I hope you continue to be thrilled with it.

Question...what tipped you in favor of the integrated mobile base, instead of the industrial mobile base?

EDIT - I just noticed on the price list that the industrial mobile base is more $$...makes sense, since it has 4 pivoting casters and not just the 2 that are in the initegrated base.

So let me ask a different question - how do you like the integrated base? I don't see moving the saw a lot, but my shop is pretty small and I'm wondering if the industrial base would 'work' better...

[Bill Neely]

Very nice saw and I liked your presentation. My take on alignment is that I try to get everything as close as I possibly can because that's the best it's ever going to be! My .002 cents.

[Andy Sowers]

John,

I have the PCS saw with the ICS mobile base. I *REALLY* like it. When I originally ordered the saw I ordered it with the PCS integrated base, but at the time they were out of the PCS version (I participated in the field testing program earlier in the year). So instead of waiting for the backorder to get filled, I upgraded to the ICS version.

Day to day, I don't move my saw around too much, but when I do its great being able to pump the pneumatic pedal once or twice and take advantage of the 4 independent swiveling casters. Especially true in a smaller sized shop like I have. Its a real pain having to move large equipment around doing "23-point turns" like you would have to do with two fixed casters on the PCS version.

Hope that helps.
Andy

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Good feedback - thanks Andy.

fwiw, I recall seeing some places selling the base for the PCS for 199 (300+ from SS)....I think it's the same one. And I did see a base (299) but with 8% Bing Cash Back....

[Andy Sowers]

Keep in mind that if you purchase the ICS version for your PCS saw, you'll also need to get PCS retrofit kit. When I bought my base directly from SS, they included the kit at no extra charge. The kit amounts to new steel rails (and a set of bolts/nuts that are needed to adjust the base to the slightly smaller footprint of the PCS saw.

Andy

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Thanks again.

One more question - I'm curious what shipping charges (from SS to your dealer) you got hit with? My local place wants to hit me for a $350 shipping fee, but a pricelist I saw from another dealer indicates the SS drop ship fees are actually much less...

[Garth Keel]

and the pictures! With the pics it really helps. This is the #1 saw on my list.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

I place my order for the PCS yesterday...and am a little nervous about getting it put together and set up.

Ever put together a Grizzly G0490 jointer? ;)

[Paul Ryan]

Matt,

Dont worry about assembeling the saw. I put mine together all by my lonesome. I unloaded it from my pickup by my self and assembled alone. But it went real easy. The saw is packaged pretty well unless you do something dumb like run into the box with forks on a lift the saw wont get damaged. To unload from my pick up I have 2 ramps that I slide the box down on. Then it is just a matter of following directions. Put the mobile base on before you lift the saw upright, that will save you some trouble. As long as the wings arent on the saw lifting it upright isn't bad, easily done by yourself unless you have a bad back. The wings are the worst part but just time consuming. All told with adjustments I had about 6 hours into my saw. Good luck.

[Michael Peet]

John - I like the mobile base insofar as I can move the saw around on my own. Already I have wished for 4 casters instead of the 2+2 arrangement, but this is more of an inconvenience than a complaint. I would probably go with the integrated base again.

Bill - That is my philosophy too ;)

Finally got the electrician here over the weekend. I'll probably post a followup on installation of an Incra TS-LS on it.

Mike

[Michael Peet]

Matt - ditto on Paul's response. The instructions are pretty good and everything is clearly labeled. I also agree that the wings are the worst part of it. If I were doing this all over again I would just bolt them to the saw first without worrying about making them line up perfectly. Once you get the rails on, THEN you can go back and loosen the bolts holding the wing to the main table to make fine adjustments.

I haven't put a jointer together yet ;)

Mike