sold the unisaw and bought the sawstop

[Bob Cooper]

Saturday morning a guy drove down and offered me 1050 for the Unisaw. 15 minutes after he left i drove to Mann Tool and picked up a 5HP ICS 52" Sawstop. Just got it all put together last night and ordered a new blade. Powered it up, went to bed and getting on a plane...so i'll be out until this weekend. One thing ...it was a pleasure putting this saw together. The manual, the tools, the parts, the paint...everything was just super well done and thus far i've had no adjusting to do.

Well...that does lead me to one question. When i checked the fence's alignment with the miter slot, the far end of the fence is just slightly out (away from the blade)...maybe 1/64th. I've read that some guys like to have the fence slightly out in that direction. Should i leave it?

Here are the obligatory pictures....

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[Keith Hankins]

I really doubt you would notice, but if in doubt, call them they CS is great, and they will help you. I love love my ICS. Only thing I might do differently is I would not have got that big table It tends to just collect things.

Cheers!

[Martin Wasner]

Nice manuals are always a win.

I like my fences toe'd out just a little bit. That's probably about the right amount across the deck. Maybe just a twinge less. Play with it, it's an easy adjustment to make.

[Roger Marty]

Looks like an awesome workshop. Congrats. I feel so much better/safer using my SawStop. It makes woodworker more pleasurable for me knowing that if I screw up, I probably won't lose a finger (on the table saw).

[Rod Sheridan]

Bob, you have a beautiful shop, and now a great saw.

I would check on the toe-out specification for that saw.

On my saw it toes out about 0.005", which is approximately 1/3 of what your saw has.

Now, put the guard back on it before you accidently duplicate the hot dog test:D

regards, Rod.

[Marty Schlosser]

I prefer not to have any toe-in nor toe-out, but as close to dead-on as I can get. That way you can use the fence on either side of the blade.

I concur with Rod (post $5) about guards being in use whenever practical.

[Frank Pratt]

I shoot for just a few thou of toe-out. 1/64 is too much in my opinion.

[lee cox]

How was your Unisaw setup? 1/64 is 0.015625 out.

[Jim Becker]

Congratulations on your new saw!

It's common to have the back end of the fence ever-so-slightly offset to help prevent burning and pinching when you have a fence that cannot be slid back toward the front of the saw so it only extends to just at/beyond the back of the blade. 1/64 is a bit more than I would personally prefer...

[Mike Henderson]

Congratulations on your new saw. You'll love it. Your workshop looks like one of the Fine Woodworking photo shoots. Mine has never been that clean:)

Mike

[Bob Cooper]

Just landed in San Francisco...dinner in the sky club/crown room

thanks for the compliments on the shop...i just wish it was about 5' wider -- it's about 16'x40'. Yes this morning before leaving home i put the blade guard on and took the riving knife off...that too was a pleasure...the tool-less nature of the swap. everything about this saw just feels well made. i know the european equipment is nice but it sure is nice to have a US company just decide to make something nice w/o trying to scrimp on every detail

So this Christmas was a big improvement -- a MM16 and a sawstop...these class of upgrades do not happen very often.

next thing on the list is an actual workbench...i need to start learning how these hand tools work

[Bob Bouis]

I upgraded to a sawstop industrial recently, too. Very nice tool. Almost worth the price.

But I'd advise you to fix the blade alignment issue. On the sawstop it's remarkably simple to do. Get it as close as you can without going over -- like the price is right.

[mreza Salav]

That's a very nice saw; you are going to love it. The fence is super easy to adjust in many ways; I'd think 0.003-0.005" toe out is about right.

[Brett Luna]

That's quite the beast, Bob. Congrats. I picked up and assembled my PCS a 2-3 days before Christmas and I agree. It was a frustration-free experience. As others mentioned above, I adjusted my fence for just a titch of toe out...0.004" if I recall.

[Bob Cooper]

Brett...i understand that getting stuff like this up in Alaska can be a challenge. Glad you have one in your possession.

[Dave Lehnert]

Always fun to get a new tool.

What was the reason you got rid of the Unisaw, The added safety of the Sawstop?

[Brett Luna]

Brett...i understand that getting stuff like this up in Alaska can be a challenge. Glad you have one in your possession.

It's not so bad where I am. There are two Sawstop dealers in the Anchorage area: a local hardware chain and my wood monger. I ordered from the latter on a Monday and was notified on Thursday of the next week that it had arrived. Had to pay freight, though.

[Bob Cooper]

Always fun to get a new tool.

What was the reason you got rid of the Unisaw, The added safety of the Sawstop?

almost entirely safety. I wanted a riving knife and the flesh detection. The catalyst was my sister moving to my town and she’ll likely use the saw and I figured a single event would more than offset the cost.

What im really glad about is that I don’t have to choose between ‘well built machine’ and ‘safety feature I really want’. So I’m glad Sawstop chose to build a really nice machine vs trying to save a few bucks.

[Joe Mioux]

you will love it. I have one for 10 years and it is still a magnificent machine.

[Bob Cooper]

Thanks. It’s hard for me to believe these have been available that long. I still think of them as being “that new saw on the market”

[Johnny Barr]

Bob, have you checked blade to slight alignment? If so what was it out of the box? Mine was 0.01" which according to Sawstop is "just" OK but following their video and reading the manual I had it to under 0.001" in under 30 minutes. It is easily the most elegant way of aligning a table saw. You use adjusting screws instead of hitting it with a soft blow hammer.

[Bob Cooper]

Johnny

no I haven’t done that yet but it’s on the list. Nor have I checked runout but I will once I get back home

[Brad Adams]

I'm thinking of selling my Unisaw and getting a Sawstop also, mainly for the riving knife, but my son is taking an interest in woodworking and I would feel better with the sensing technology when I teach him to use it. I'm still torn though on buying a small slider instead.

[Joe Jensen]

Congratulations, IMHO the Sawstop ICS is a clear step above the Unisaw even without the brake technology. Clear choice :)

[Joe Jensen]

Thanks. It’s hard for me to believe these have been available that long. I still think of them as being “that new saw on the market”

I bought an ICS in 2005...joe

[Johnny Barr]

Johnny

no I haven’t done that yet but it’s on the list. Nor have I checked runout but I will once I get back home


Keep us posted

[Bob Cooper]

Will keep folks posted
Brad...I too thought about a slider but I really had no way to try one out to determine if I liked working with one. I’ve been pretty happen with a traditional tablesaw and I figured I’d i ever wanted to sell the ICS I’d have no problems doing so.

[Roy Turbett]

...... When i checked the fence's alignment with the miter slot, the far end of the fence is just slightly out (away from the blade)...maybe 1/64th. I've read that some guys like to have the fence slightly out in that direction. Should i leave it?



A slight toe in the fence is different than a slight toe from the miter slot. You want to get the miter slot as close to dead on as you can because you will be using it in conjunction with a miter gauge for cross-cut operations and want to make your cuts square.

Some prefer a slight toe in the fence for ripping operations on the theory that it helps prevent kickbacks and burning. This can be done by adjusting the fence. I prefer not to do this so I can rip from both sides of the blade.

I traded my Unisaw for a Sawstop ICS and the only thing I really don't like on the Sawstop is the fence is too long for ripping dimensional lumber. I liked being able to shorten the Unifence so it extended just beyond the blade when ripping dimensional lumber.

[Simon MacGowen]

the only thing I really don't like on the Sawstop is the fence is too long for ripping dimensional lumber. I liked being able to shorten the Unifence so it extended just beyond the blade when ripping dimensional lumber.

I have had not any issue with ripping d.l. (on the PCS or ICS), including the notorious 2x4s and 2x6s. I set the riving knife in line with the blade (teeth) on the fence side.

Another solution which I have seen used on a Sawstop is to add a shorter subfence to the main fence. I have never tried that however.

Simon

[Von Bickley]

Congratulations on the new shop. Hope you got a good deal at Mann Tools. Is Ronnie Mann still working or has he retired? You do know that the Columbia Woodworking Club meets at Mann Tools.

[Bob Cooper]

I think he’s still working. Also I just started going to the club meetings so if you attend be sure and look for me

[Matthew Hills]

Any luck with the bandsaw? (saw the Fluke with it in the background, behind your sawstop).

Matt

[Bob Cooper]

Definatly the Eaton switch... waiting on the part