Got my new SawStop Industrial 5hp

[Steve Rosenlund]

Just got my new SawStop ICS 5hp 52" on Friday. Woodcraft Delivered it and I had some friends help me get it off the pallet. Friday night I got the Extension wing, rails and table installed and leveled. Saturday I installed the overarm dust collection and built my outfeed table. I can't believe how smooth it is when starting up and while running. It's also much more quiet than my old craftsman hybrid. I'm loving it so far. See the detailed photos for the unboxing and the guts of the machine. Before purchasing the saw I was surprised how hard it was to find good photos of the internals of this thing. I'll post more info later, but I have to leave for church. Enjoy!

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[Steve Rosenlund]

Some more photos.

[Steve Rosenlund]

And some more.

[Steve Rosenlund]

Last ones.

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[mreza Salav]

Congratulations! Very nice machine. I have the 3HP version and love it.

[Van Huskey]

Congrats! Get you a pack of hotdogs and a half dozen brake cartridges and go to town! :D

[Steve Rosenlund]

Tomorrow I'll be routing the slots in the out feed table and building my crosscut sled. Then I can build the next in a long line of back logged projects.

[Mike Heidrick]

Owner of that same saw since 2006 - Never an issue at all. Its been perfect for me. I think you will love it.

[Phil Thien]

That is a very nice saw.

I'm looking forward to the rumored job-site unit. Provided it isn't too heavy and is up to the typical SS standards, I might replace my BT3000.

[Steve Rosenlund]

Ok...back from church so now i can rave about it. For the past several years I've been using a 1.5hp craftsman hybrid saw with cast iron tables and delta measurements for inserts and miter slots. It's been ok for my projects to date. I've used it to build my dining room table, my bed, cabinetry and several other projects. I've always been fighting the craftsman's rip fence which wont stay in alignment. The table was never flat and the aluminum 2 piece fence rails were always a disappointment to me. Also the motor just couldn't keep up with ripping hardwoods, whether ripping 12/4 maple for my bed posts or ripping 6/4 oak I would experience bog down, burning (mostly the fence's fault) and I had to use thin kerf blades to make cuts that were only adequate. I nearly always had to clean up the cut faces of the boards with a hand plane due to the blades vibrating and screwing up the cut. And Yes I was using the forrest dampener.

After years of just dealing with the Craftsman, I finally decided to start saving for my dream saw which at the time was a Powermatic pm2000. I wanted a saw with a massive cast iron top and a powerful 3hp motor and a fence that wouldn't need to be meddled with all the time. I would go to the Woodcraft locally and drool over the pm2000 that they had on their floor. I had seen the SawStop videos and the units on the floor of both Woodcraft and Rockler and didn't think too much of them. I wanted a saw that performed well and had top build quality and I didn't think that anyone could rival the Powermatic saws.

That was before I really took a look at the SawStop Industrial. One day at Woodcraft I saw the ICS sitting there next to the PM2000 and not knowing it was the industrial model, started checking it out. I can't tell you how impressed I was by the massive super beefy trunion with the super thick top and just stout build. The fit and finish were also impeccable. I actually started to like it better than the Powermatic. Then I found out that it was an industrial model and not in the same class as the PM2000; that the PCS was the apples to apples equivalent to the pm2000. I also then learned the price of the ICS...ouch! But I was already hooked on the build quality of the ICS and it's rock solid construction. The brake factor never entered the equation until i had to try to convince my wife to let me set aside that kind of money. If I had to choose between the PCS and the PM2000, I"d get the Powermatic 9 times out of 10, but when compared to the ICS, there is no comparison.

There it is in a nutshell; my journey from Craftsman to Sawstop.

This thing is totally awesome. I'm a little scared of the extra power over the 1.5hp model, but it cuts like a dream and i'm in love. Now i'm saving up for a Powermatic 209hh planer and a grizzly 12" jointer. Hopefully the wife will be just as understanding with those too. :)

By the way, this thing was dead on accurate out of the box. Blade runout was non existent. The fence and parallelism of everything was within .0015". The only issue I could find was the measuring tape on the right side of the rail near the 48" wont lay flat against the rail due to the installer turning the tape slightly at that point.

[Neil Brooks]

Lucky duck !

Great saw.
Great pics.

I wish you all the best with it. Should last you a lifetime !

[Sam Murdoch]

Good for you :). I would be extremely happy to own this saw but not likely...

A friendly word of caution - going from the 1.5 to the 5hp if you bind up a board or a sheet of plywood there is NO WAY you will be able to hold on to it with that much power. I have overpowered little saws until I or someone could push stop and though a 3HP won't give you much of a chance the 5 HP will offer no chance at all - unless you can stop the blade with your finger :eek: :D . Just saying that if you work alone a foot controlled emergency stop is an excellent safety feature for a saw with so much power. IMHO. But do enjoy, what a great tool.

[Bruce Page]

Sweet! It has a lot more going on under the hood than my Unisaw!

[Bob Falk]

I have a 2005 ICS and love it.....my only gripe about the SS is changing cartridges for a dado setup....takes 15 min. or more.....perhaps I need to figure out how to afford a second SS just for dadoing!l:rolleyes:

[Mike Heidrick]

I have a 2005 ICS and love it.....my only gripe about the SS is changing cartridges for a dado setup....takes 15 min. or more.....perhaps I need to figure out how to afford a second SS just for dadoing!l:rolleyes:

On mine it adds marginal more time than changing to the dado blade of any saw. Turn a red key, pull it out, insert the new cart, insert red key and turn - maybe 1-2 min more. It is not an additional 15 minutes im my case. YMMV.

[Jefferey Scott]

Congrats on the saw! Thanks for the pics.

[Paul Gatti]

Great saw. I've also been saving for one of these. Does anyone have any plans or links for a folding outfeed table that doesn't require drilling holes in the cabinet? I built one of Jim Becker's folding outfeed tables (http://sawsndust.com/p-outfeed.htm) for my Unisaw, but I really don't want to drill holes in a new Sawstop.

[Rick Potter]

You dog!!!

Congrats,
Rick Potter

[Steve Rosenlund]

I love cutting sheet goods now where before it was such a chore. I just install my duraline hi a/t blade and "throw" a full sheet through as fast as I want with a perfect cut. Love it.

[Earl Fields]

Congratulations on your new SS! And in the words of the famous Tommy Mack, "How sweet is that, guys?!"