PCS vs ICS - What would YOU do?

[Brent Ring]

I have made the decision to get a Sawstop. There is a local dealer that has a used ICS that I could pick up for $2800. It looks to have the 50" fence, was used for 6 months and has 6 months left of the factory warranty. I am going to look at it on Sat am.

A separate dealer, who is authorized Sawstop, is who I have been dealing with to price out a PCS. Budget-wise, I have been shopping for the PCS with a 36" fence, an extra brake for both normal blades and a dado set. Of course there is no discounting, other than maybe free delivery to my home.

Both saws are 3 hp 1 phase - the ICS has a non-sawstop mobile base.

What are your thoughts? ICS or PCS? Outside of looking at a non-sawstop saw, or a tricked out contractor version of the Sawstop, what would you do?

By the way, I am upgrading from a Ridgid 2422 folding table saw. Dont even get me started about how excited I am about that change.:D

What would you do?

[Van Huskey]

I would get the ICS assuming it is in excellent condition. The ICS is the best 10" "American" cabinet saw made.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Well, I just recently bought the PCS. But if I were you, I'd get the ICS in this case. Sawstops are somewhat difficult to find used, and as you know, new saws pretty much never get discounted.

The ICS does have some nice features that the PCS doesn't have. The only thing that I like better on the PCS is the dust collection in the blade guard, but SS customer service confirmed that they are working on an accessory dust collecting blade guard for the ICS.

Assuming the ICS machine is in good shape, do that.

[mreza Salav]

I was looking to buy a PCS when I (quite surprisingly) found a slightly used ICS (well the earlier version) for $2900 with 52" fence. I got that one without a doubt
Note that the motor has a 5 year warranty and the rest of it is pretty hard to break (if it's in working order).

[Philip Rodriquez]

I have an ICS. For the price, I would jump on the ICS, no question.

In my area (Denver), I've seen 2 come up on CL. Both were gone within an hour. My advice is to not wait!

Lastly, don't buy an extra regular brake. If you are careful, you will never need it. However, do get the dado brake and an extra ZCI for the dado.

[Brendan Plavis]

How long have you been working with tablesaws? If you have yet to cut your hand off, then dont bother getting an extra brake. If you are careful, you should never trip it. Use that money to get a good blade or something. Cross the extra brake bridge when you get to it. You dont want to go into it with the mindset that the brake is there and will prevent you from harm... Treat it like regular tablesaw, or else you might get cocky. Dont forget... even if it retracts, it can still take off a sizable chunk of finger... Not to mention, since its electronic, it probably goes bad after so long of sitting on a shelf, so if you dont plan on needing it, dont buy it. Its like buying food at the grocery store, without the intention of eating it...

[Matt Meiser]

If you don't buy the extra brake you are going to nick your miter gauge on day 1. If you do, you'll never use it. :)

[Paul Ryan]

The ICS no question. Check on the warranty as far as I know the ICS has a 5 year warranty. Dont walk, run in good shape a ICS for under 3K is a heck of a deal. I say buy the extra brake too, you dont want the saw to be down because you tripped the brake.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I bought the ZCI for the dado, and I don't think I'd do it over again. It's nice that it fits right out of the box, but what would be better is if it had an area in the middle with replaceable blanks that you could attach/etc. As it is, if I do a 5/8" dado and cut a wide opening, it won't be very useful for when I want to do 1/4" dados.

So I think I'll still end up making my own.

[Van Huskey]

How long have you been working with tablesaws? If you have yet to cut your hand off, then dont bother getting an extra brake. If you are careful, you should never trip it. Use that money to get a good blade or something. Cross the extra brake bridge when you get to it. You dont want to go into it with the mindset that the brake is there and will prevent you from harm... Treat it like regular tablesaw, or else you might get cocky. Dont forget... even if it retracts, it can still take off a sizable chunk of finger... Not to mention, since its electronic, it probably goes bad after so long of sitting on a shelf, so if you dont plan on needing it, dont buy it. Its like buying food at the grocery store, without the intention of eating it...


I find this approach a little odd. If a person is going to get lax by having a extra blade cartridge around then the SS is NOT the saw for them!!! The majority of trips are not a result of blade to flesh contact and if you have a fully stocked Woodcraft next to your house then fine, otherwse a trip might but you down for days. Electronics going bad by sitting on the shelf? If you think this is accurate then how often would you change the cartridge that hasn't tripped? I guess he should get a new one and throw the old one out just to be safe. As a general rule electronics don't go bad not being used and Mr. Gass has never placed an expiration date on them...

Get the saw AND get an extra brake, if my PM had a unique internal fuse in it I would have another on hand. Not every trip is due to lack of safety, not having an extra is like in the days of household fuse boxes not keeping extra fuses around because you have to do something stupid or unsafe to blow one, they blew for all sorts of reasons.

[Brent Ring]

If you don't buy the extra brake you are going to nick your miter gauge on day 1. If you do, you'll never use it. :)


Matt,

You and I must share the same kind of luck. Unfortunately, it always involves extra money spent!

[Chris Nolin]

I bought a used ICS--actually the "CB" model, which is what it was called before they differentiated between the ICS and PCS. You can tell if your saw is a CB by looking for "CB" in the serial number. I learned that the CB saws use a different brake cartridge than the true, named ICS saws. The CB saws' cartridge has a clear plastic cover, while the ICS cartridge cover is colored light blue. And I understand the PCS cartridge is some other color. Nice to know, in case you're buying an extra. The guys at Woodcraft didn't realize there was a difference.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

ICS no question. Doesn't the saw come with the dado brake and ZCI? Mine did. Ask them. I'm sure that if it was original equipment, that they'd give it to you. My additional $.02 is to try and move teh saw around with the mobile base. If it's easy to move about, then it's okay. The SS base is awesome. 4 swivel casters makes it a lot easier to move the saw for us space challenged people. Since you have to deliver the saw, that would be a good time to change the base.