SawStop Jobsite Saw

[Warren Wilson]

I am beginning to feel the limitation of my DeWalt contractors saw. I enjoy furniture making, but due to space constraints I am limited to a jobsite-style saw. (In turn this requires the use of a lot of jigs!)

Has anyone bought and used the SawStop jobsite saw, and considering it is much more expensive than other similar saws is it a significant upgrade? I certainly like the one-turn blade lift and the full-sized arbor for dados. Six inches of table in front of the blade does not seem like a good design feature.

(For the purposes of my decision, the "stop" technology is not a big factor: though my fingers might not agree).

[Peter Kelly]

I can tell you that It is extremely loud.

[Harvey Miller]

Two comments (one of which will probably get me burned at the stake)-

Bosch is introducing their new jobsite finger saving saw (GTS1041A Reaxx) 'fall 2015' so waiting a bit longer will give you more choice.

I used a Ryobi BT3100 for many years- it's not much bigger than a jobsite saw, but it had a decent fence, and a sliding miter table with 16" cut width. Some people loved them (versatile), some hated them (too delicate), but a lightly used one might be a good option for you.

[Matt Day]

Just a comment, but the footprint of a contractors saw and a cabinet saw is basically the same.

Extension wings and outfeed tables add to the footprint, but there are some great plans for fold down ones.

[Vic Damone]

As good the Sawstop portable/jobsite is there are many obvious sacrifices to even the most modest contractor table saws except for the space you save. That said, I've made the switch from an Incra fenced stationary table saw to the Sawstop Jobsite and my subjective comments relate to my personal needs. With my recent move my woodworking has decreased a great deal yet homeownership without the ability to rip a stick is a ridiculous reality.

As a sort of reference some years back I did own a Rigid portable that failed within a few weeks while in the process of building a Maple workbench. At a substantial increase in cost almost every aspect of the Sawstop Jobsite betters the Rigid. From memory, the rigid took up a bit less space when stored but the SS is easier to move about and much easier to put into and out of use.

The SS blade/riving knife to fence relationship was wider at the outfeed by .002" right out of the box which is .001" greater than my stationary saws setup and well within my personal tolerance for what I consider one of the most important measurements on any table saw.

With minimal practice the OFF paddle can easily be hit with a knee if needed.

Dust management is very good using a modest generic shop vacuum. I can't comment on the addition of the over the blade dust management which SS offers as an accessory.

I found the four adjustable point blade insert to be somewhat flimsy at the outfeed end.

The right side expandable table and the storage box underneath it are very handy. The blade up, down, and tilt, are simply worth the price of admission. Silly fun!

The rip fence, push stick, and power cord storage is simple and functional.

While the rip fence is very clever it suffers like any other T-fence with movement at the outfeed end. The fence scale is acceptably knuckle tapingly accurate but the Incra system is sorely missed. Ripping an eight foot 2X I felt the need to clamp a support to restrict fence movement at the outfeed as well as a method of outfeed support. Your techniques may vary.

As mentioned above the induction motor is loud and only marginally more powerful than the Rigid, again from memory.

In my subjective opinion these portable saws are underpowered and lack the mechanical stability of universal motored iron tabled saws which I feel makes them inherently more dangerous. Without going into personal tablesaw techniques the presence of the active moisture detecting blade break technology makes the Sawstop Jobsite vastly more comfortable for me to use compared to the Rigid. This last point goes directly to the cost of ownership. As with most all other Sawstop products there are many other brands that offer similar or varying quality without active blade protection at many different price points.

[Nick Decker]

New member here, been lurking a while...

I see that this thread is a bit old, but I recently got the SS Jobsite saw and wanted to add my thoughts.

I moved to the Jobsite (JSS) from a Dewalt jobsite which was driving me nuts. It was hard to adjust pretty much everything, and that was necessary a lot. What pushed me over the edge was that it would not stay in square when doing a crosscut with a 45* bevel. The JSS does that just fine.

I'll echo Vic, in that I like just about everything about the JSS, except that it's not a cabinet saw. Alas, some of us just don't have the space.

The fence on the JSS is something of a mystery to me. Yes, you can lock it down in front and still reach over and deflect the rear end of it. I brought that up to a customer service rep on the phone (a very nice and knowledgable woman) and she insisted over and over that they had tested that issue thoroughly and that it was a non-issue. I insisted that standard practice was to keep pressure on the board toward the fence when ripping, and she kept insisting that it wasn't a problem.

The mystery to me is that in practice it hasn't been an issue. I was cutting some 1/16th inch strips from red oak the other day and every one of them was the same thickness front to back, to the thousandth. I can only assume that SawStop knows more about this stuff than I do. I haven't had need to rip any eight foot boards, like Vic mentioned, so I can't speak to that situation.

Anyway, just wanted to post about that, and to say hello.

[roger seckler]

Two years ago I started looking fo a job site saw and I looked at all I could find in my area.I bought the porter cable saw.A very good saw and great fence.plenty of power,not as loud as other saws.and less money than the Bosch.dewalt.

[Ben Rivel]

Bosch is introducing their new jobsite finger saving saw (GTS1041A Reaxx) 'fall 2015' so waiting a bit longer will give you more choice.
So much for that one huh?