SawStop PCS trunnion or other issues

[Jim C Martin]

Hello All:
I'm still trying to decide between the SawStop PCS and ICS. My google searches turned up several posts from when the PCS was just introduced in which people were critical of the trunnion design claiming it was more like a hybrid than a true cabinet saw. The guys at SawStop encouraged me to go for the ICS saying it was easier to work on and also commented on the trunnion but I reckon they have a bias toward selling the more expensive ICS. I’d actually prefer the 27” table depth of the PCS because I have some nice cast iron extension/router tables I’d like to use (of course I could make those work with a spacer of some kind).
Anyway, I’d like to hear if issues with the trunnion ever really emerged. None of my searches turned a real problem, only the prediction of problems. If there are real issues, I can ante up for the ICS. Any of you had issues with the PCS and wished you’d bought the ICS?
Thanks,
Jim

[Mike Henderson]

Nope, I bought the PCS and never wished for the ICS.

Mike

[Jim C Martin]

Thanks Mike. Nothing fiddley about working inside the cabinet? That's what the guy at SawStop inferred. Price is about $650 less for PCS with way I want to buy it. Not a killer but not chump change either.

[Mike Henderson]

I assume you mean how difficult is it to change a blade, a brake, or adjust the riving knife. These are all done from the top and I haven't had any real difficulty doing any of them. Just read the instruction manual first so you know what to turn and which way.

You can get some sawdust accumulation in the bottom of the saw and I've opened the access panels to vacuum that out. Otherwise, I haven't had to go into the unit.

Mike

[Jim C Martin]

I think the guy was hinting at things like adjusting the parallelism of the blade to miter slot, that kind of thing. I should call him back and ask him to be specific.

[mreza Salav]

Jim, the manuals for both saws are extremely well written with detailed instructions on how to do every possible adjustment you would imagine and are available online from sawstop webpage.
(just follow the "support" link for manuals). Check those out to see the real differences. I just did a quick glance at the PCS version and it appears making adjustments to the top is very similar (if not identical) to the ICS version.

I didn't know the difference of the two is only $650. If that's the case I'd pony up the extra cash for the ICS (although in my earlier post I suggested to get the PCS version). As said, I have the ICS version.

[Victor Robinson]

I had to make a repair to my PCS. The tachometer went bad, and replacement required working inside the saw underneath the trunnion. I'm not sure how it would be different with the ICS, but perhaps the repair would take 45 minutes instead of one hour? Space was cramped, sure, but I didn't feel like there was some inferiority of the trunnion design that made my repair much more painful than it needed to be.

Like Mreza said, the manual is excellent, and should you need to make an adjustment or repair not in the manual, you will get excellent written & diagrammed instructions for that as well.

[Jim C Martin]

Jim, the manuals for both saws are extremely well written with detailed instructions on how to do every possible adjustment you would imagine and are available online from sawstop webpage.
Thanks, this was really helpful. Looking at the figures in the "Making Adjustments to Your Saw" section I can see what he was getting at.
Cheers,
Jim

[mreza Salav]

Again, if the difference of a fully equipped ICS and PCS is only $650 I think it's worth the difference; you'd get larger table, and a few extra improvements (e.g. the motor cover door is steel vs plastic, extra cast iron in blade shroud and so on). I also think the heavier mass of ICS will handle any possible brake fire (or miss-fire) better than PCS. In a few of magazine reviews ICS was the top table saw of pack (sometimes along with unisaw).