Reminder to SawStop Owners:

[John J Wilson]

Hello All,

I own two SawStop table saws and have been very happy with the quality of the tools so far. However, I was ripping some material yesterday on a jobsite and I didn't see some trim nails that were buried in the material. I would have expected this metal (3 nails @ 18 gauge) to have fired the brake on this saw and cost me a brake and a new blade, but nope. Ran right through the blade on my jobsite saw with no issues, and I wasn't in bypass mode. I use every saw as if there is no safety feature built in, and I'm sure that most of you other SawStop owners do as well. I'll be contacting SawStop after the holidays regarding this issue, but I thought it appropriate to put a post up regarding this issue as well. Even though we pay a premium for safety with these tools, this doesn't mean that the feature is flawless and it's very important to understand that when working with them.

John

350110

[Martin Wasner]

Just hitting metal suspended in the lumber does not complete the circuit and therefore does not fire the brake.

[John J Wilson]

Wow, thanks. Is this because the electricity wouldn't be grounded? I'm very happy to hear this is not a malfunction.

[George Bokros]

I believe that the SawStop responds to moisture not metallic material.

[glenn bradley]

From the documentation:

"Generally, the safety system will not activate when a nail or staple is cut. Although conductive, these objects are not large enough to cause the safety system to activate unless they are grounded to the table or operator when they contact the blade."

[John J Wilson]

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate the explanation.

[Dan Rude]

The reason your Sawstop did not fire, is there was no ground. The saw requires a complete circuit. If the nail was in contact with the table or cause a circuit to complete due to moisture. This would have completed the circuit. It is the detection circuit that detects the error. It may be similar to a GFCI type circuit. Dan

[jack duren]

It can activate, but luckily for you it didn't...............

[Alan Bienlein]

They also upgraded the brake by applying a plastic coating to the aluminum brake so that when you do hit a piece of metal the it won't trip if pieces are caught in the teeth of the blade and happen to touch the brake. If you have one of the older brakes they say you can apply some clear packing tape to the surface next to the blade to accomplish the same thing.

[jack duren]

They also upgraded the brake by applying a plastic coating to the aluminum brake so that when you do hit a piece of metal the it won't trip if pieces are caught in the teeth of the blade and happen to touch the brake. If you have one of the older brakes they say you can apply some clear packing tape to the surface next to the blade to accomplish the same thing.

Still happens. We have a new saw...

[Robert Engel]

Geez I wonder if its worth $125 to do a hot dog test every once in a while?

[Mac Cambra]

You can check the monitor by just touching the blade while the saw is in a stopped state (obviously) and you will see the status lights on the switch respond. No need to waste a brake, blade or hot dog for that matter.