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View Full Version : SawStop vs reflective acrylic



Kevin Groenke
03-31-2010, 10:09 AM
If anybody is wondering: yes, mirrored acrylic will activate the brake. Oddly, the saw got 3" into the cut before it decided to stop.

I just thought of placing the stock against the stationary blade. Sure enough... blinking red light - contact detected. Imagine that, there is some metal (or something capacitive) in that metallic looking surface.

When in doubt - bypass: or at least do the touch test.

Of course communicating the touch test to 100's of students can be a challenge. Somebody will surely touch something to a spinning blade or misread blinking lights or turn the key or something else incorrect if we try to give them too much information.

I sent a query to SS though I don't expect anything other than "Yes, the system works: new cartridges are $69.99." At this point we should know better.

-kg

Dan Friedrichs
03-31-2010, 10:42 AM
Yep. I believe there have been reports on this forum in the past of such material tripping the brake.

Dan Lee
03-31-2010, 11:05 AM
Carbon fiber dowel on my CC sled. What a 'well duh' moment that was.

mreza Salav
03-31-2010, 11:23 AM
all mirror surfaces that I know of are created using metals; I had heard that similar story.
One thing you should carefully inspect is to make sure there is no dust of that material left around the brake compartment as it can contaminate the thing and trigger further (new) brakes. Probably SS can provide you with better instructions but I'd suggest to fully vacuum the saw before installing a new brake.