Sawstop and wet wood

[Dave Anthony]

Yesterday I needed some stakes to hold up some temporary fencing. The box box store wanted $3.75 @ for 3' steel stakes, so I bought 3 redwood fence slats, figuring I'd just make my own. The wood was very wet, and when I touched it to the side of the blade with the saw off, the red light came on. Assuming this meant it would trigger the brake, I dug out the manual to figure out how to use bypass mode. The manual recommended making several test cuts in bypass mode, and if the warning detected code did not appear, it stated it would probably be OK to cut the wood in normal mode. I put the cheapest blade I own on the saw and ran the test cuts in bypass mode. No warnings, so I cut up the boards in regular mode w/out the brake firing. I was pleasantly surprised, and wound up w/~ 50 stakes for 9 bucks. I wondered what other's experiences have been cutting wet wood with a SS?

[Bob Michaels]

When my 5 horse SS was new, about 5 years ago, I must have not been in the "zone" because I started to rip a piece of P.T. 2x4. Sure enough, the next thing I heard was the Big Bang and it cost me a nice WW II and a brake. My own fault, but I sure haven't done that again, without invoking by-pass mode. At least I know it'll probably work if I need it.

[BOB OLINGER]

Without knowing about the wet wood affect, I did about the same thing a couple years ago - started to rip a green 2" x 4' and bang. Result = needed a new blade and brake.