SawStop long-term cost/reliability

[Jim Peck]

I'm looking for a new table saw and I want it to be the last table saw I buy. I'm looking hard at a SawStop for all the obvious reasons. I'm posting these musings and questions because I assume other have had (or will have) similar thoughts.

One concern I have about SawStop is the amount of electronics in it. On one hand, the electronics are what make it special because they make the safety feature possible. On the other hand, electronics make the saw far more technologically complex than most other saws on the market.

Most saws are essentially mechanical in operation, with the motor as the only electrical component. No or very minimal electronics (circuit-board based technology) at all. So, I can probably figure out what a problem is and have a good chance at fixing it, assuming I can get the part.

In the same way, I can work on my old car or take it to one of a dozen different garages near me. But if something goes wrong with my wife's Chevy Volt I have no choice but take it to the dealer.

My point is not that I want to work on a SawStop but what happens when the warranty runs out? Am I going to be paying through the nose 10 years from now if it needs to be fixed? Will it turn into a really big and expensive paper weight because SawStop ceased making some little circuit board?

Bottom line: Because the SawStop is a more complex machine, there are more things that can go wrong with it. And if something does go wrong, I only have one source to get things fixed. That makes me hesitate.

Am I making mountains out of molehills?

Am I being naive because all saws are similarly made with electronic components today?

I appreciate any thoughts. Thanks.

[David Buchhauser]

Hi Jim,
My personal opinion is that the Sawstop is a $2000 table saw with $1000 of "safety" electronics added to it. I have seen many discussions about the Sawstop here at SMC as well as other forums. I'm pretty sure that many (if not all) of the Sawstop owners here on SMC will come to its defense and explain why they have made their choices to purchase the Sawstop. On the other hand, there are many who have used other table saws for many years and are perfectly happy with them. I personally would worry about the longevity of the electronics. I have a 5 hp Grizzly with the sliding attachment. This setup allows me to keep my hands and fingers pretty far away from the blade while cutting. I have built several jigs and fixtures to use with the sliding attachment for mitering, ripping, and working with very small pieces of wood.

PS - I am using a Sawstop blade guard for dust collection and it works well on the Grizzly table saw.
David

415586415587

[Dan Friedrichs]

Worst-case, you could bypass the electronics and turn it into a "regular" table saw.

SawStop is no longer a start-up - they were bought by Festool's parent company (TTS), which makes it unlikely they'll go out of business or stop support.

The sheer number of SawStops that have been sold would seem to make it unlikely that you'll have insurmountable problems in the future. If, say, a circuit board fails, it will occur often enough that someone will build an after-market replacement or license the design from TTS to sell replacements (assuming TTS doesn't).

I wouldn't worry about it. By the same logic, you shouldn't buy any cordless power tools that are brushless or use LiIon batteries, as those all contain electronics.

[Bert McMahan]

AFAIK you can just wire the motor straight to a power supply and run the SawStop without any safety features. There may be something preventing that, but I can't see how they'd prevent you from just wiring the motor straight to a power switch.

Disclaimer- I've never looked inside a SawStop, just assuming.

[Mark Hockenberg]

Hi Jim,

I don't own a SawStop, but there's no argument that its' safety feature is a plus. If among all the factors in your decision this safety feature is primary, you should get one. It's a good saw and I suspect you'll love it.

I can't speak to reliability from personal experience, but I've looked at them and they appear to be well-engineered and well-built.

Many of us on the forum will argue that thoughtful work habits are the best safety when it comes to woodworking. That goes for all the tools in the shop. I've seen guys get their fingers injured with belt sanders, routers, and everything else...

When I looked at the SawStop and asked the dealer if I should replace my Unisaw, they said no on multiple occasions. Not that it's way better or worse, they just said that I had a good saw and with good work habits I should save my money.

David (above) bought the 5 horse Grizzly - A solid saw with the benefit of a slider and probably well-suited to his needs.

If I was starting again, I'd skip past the cabinet saw and get a European slider. But that's based on the types of materials that I process. I recommend you think about what you build and buy the saw best suited to your projects.

Cheers,
Mark

[Patrick Kane]

Agree and disagree with Dan. A cordless tool is peanuts and widely considered to be disposable after 10 years(typical minimum timeframe manufacturers guarantee parts after discontinuing). With that said, i do agree that there are too many SS's out there for someone not to make money off providing parts for them. Not to mention the product and company are healthy and show zero signs of going anywhere in the near term. I dont own a sawstop, but i really havent heard much of the electronics pooping out on them, and its not exactly a new product.

Its not just Sawstop, i have a VFD inside my KF700 that is a proprietary part to Felder and runs $1800-2000 to replace, i believe. Tools are becoming more complex than your daddy's unisaw, but thats not necessarily a bad thing.

[Donn Ward]

Safety features notwithstanding, the SawStop table saw is a very well-built and well-engineered tool. I have owned one for ten years without any issues and this includes a shop move. I would never suggest that any one brand is better or worse than another, having limited experiences with other saws, such comparisons would be baseless. Price is often used as a basis for comparisons and indeed, SawStop is pricer than some brands. Is it worth it? I thought so when I made the original purchase and if I am ever in the market for a new saw, I probably would make the same determination. I think you are wise to ask questions and do your research, but at the end of the day I don't think there is a right or wrong answer.

[Mike Henderson]

You can't go wrong with the SawStop. In essence, it provides insurance against you cutting off (or seriously injuring) you hand or fingers. And that insurance payment is a one time thing - not like automobile insurance.

People will try to tell you that if you are careful you don't need the flesh sensing technology. But there are too many stories of very experienced people who had serious injuries after 40 years of using table saws. I have a SawStop and it saved my thumb one time, and I think I'm a fairly experienced and careful worker.

I had a shop injury (not table saw) and had to go to the ER to get sewed up. For a tensus shot, some lidocaine and suturing it was about $1,000. If you seriously damage your fingers on the table saw, the cost will likely be more and you'll likely have permanent restrictions in your movements.

Even if there was some lifespan to the saw - say 20 years - I'd still buy it to save my fingers. I've grown attached to them.

Mike

[Brian Holcombe]

I decided to buy a short stroke slider because I feel that crosscutting is one of the best uses of a tablesaw. Most everything else I’d rather do on another machine.

[Ben Rivel]

I decided to buy a short stroke slider because I feel that crosscutting is one of the best uses of a tablesaw. Most everything else I’d rather do on another machine.
There is a lot to be said along the lines of this statement. SawStop 3HP PCS owner here and I LOVE it. However, I tend to use any other tool that will get the job done before using my table saw. I dont think its out of some kind of fear of the table saw as I always feel pretty comfortable when Im on it (though I am quite meticulous in planning out my cuts before I make them), its more just that I have a lot of options for making cuts and most of the time I find a quicker/safer/simpler way to achieve a particular cut and end up going that route instead. In my shop the table saw is not the "center" of the shop, but rather just another tool. And yes, to add to Brian's comment, crosscutting is definitely a task table saws are great at!

[Chuck Saunders]

We have 5 SawStops in our Guild shop and there have been maintenance issues with all of them. That being said I have had to replace 1 control box for $100 in the 5 years we've had them. Will you be able to get the control box forever? Probably not but I expect it will be available for quite some time. I have more trouble finding parts available for relatively new Powermatic machines (719T mortiser) that are not electronic at all.
Chuck

[Derek Cohen]

Jim, I was in the same position as you two years ago. I had used a contractor table saw for 20 years. It was 3 hp with a sliding cross cut table - rather similar to the Grizzly of David. My plan was to purchase the SawStop equivalent, that is, an ICS with 36" T-Glide and the crosscut sliding table. After using a sliding table for 20 years, it is now a compulsory accessory.

I also had my eye on a Hammer K3 slider. The more I examined these two saws, the more I realised that they were different in conception, and that this favoured the Hammer.

What is comes to is that the slider on the Hammer can perform both rips and crosscuts, while the slider on the SawStop can only crosscut. The slider on the Hammer runs about an inch from the blade, while that on the SS runs about 12".

The build quality of the SS in question and the Hammer are on a par, as is the cost (in Oz). The Hammer has a 12" blade against the 10" of the SS. Blade changes on the Hammer are easier than on the SS. The Professional rip fence on K3 is a Biesemeyer style but with high- and low options, and is adjustable for long- and short positions. I had a Biesemeyer on the contractor saw, and the Hammer Professional is better.

Like you, I am suspicious of machines that rely on computers and complex electronics. The Hammer won again in this area (I could not escape this when upgrading my lathe several months ago, since variable speed requires a VFD).

The attraction of a SS is the safety issue. While the Hammer does not have flesh-sensing technology, a slider keeps you out of the danger zone.

If you are looking for an alternative table saw, one that does not rely on sophisticated electronics, then I do recommend a slider such as the Hammer K3. The SS is a terrific table saw, but I would not trade the K3 for one.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Larry Frank]

I really like my Sawstop as it is a well built way saw in terms of fit and finish. I bought it for the quality and the safety. I have had zero problems with it over the 5+ years I have had it. Given my age, I do not worry about parts availability for the next ten years.

Some people like a slider and have room for it but I do not have the room. I have the SawStop PCS and it is cheaper than the Hammer K3.

We are in a world of hurt if we are suspicious of equipment with electronics and computers as they are everywhere today.

[Mark e Kessler]

Would not be to concerned with the "electronics" in the Saw Stop there ain't much, "electronics" at this level are pretty common,reliable and low cost. A lot of the worry with electronics in woodworking equipment is older equipment when manufactures created their own propitiatory electronics which are costly to replace.

Mark

[Mark e Kessler]

However...
If you start to look at other equipment/brands you need to do a little investigation for example if you were looking at Felder and were deciding between a 500 series and a 700 series there is a difference in cost to replace electronics, you might be thinking that the lower end 500 series would be less expensive to replace electronics than the 700 series - maybe but if something electronic fails on the 500 you have to replace the entire "electronics" box on the 700 and up you just replace the failed din rail component than can be bought from pretty much any electronics house.

However part 2 - if you happen to work or know someone that works in an electronics lab for servo controlled motors and software than the repair of that "electronics" box repair becomes child's play...



Would not be to concerned with the "electronics" in the Saw Stop there ain't much, "electronics" at this level are pretty common,reliable and low cost. A lot of the worry with electronics in woodworking equipment is older equipment when manufactures created their own propitiatory electronics which are costly to replace.

Mark

[Brian Holcombe]

I take no issue with electronics in general, as example I have plenty of digital gauges and many have been working for me for a long time. Many electronics are very robust.

However, I feel personally that simple machinery need only simple electronics, mag starter and electronic brake are plenty.

[Mike Cutler]

Jim

I do not own a SawStop, so I have no horse in this race.

Without seeing the actual circuit boards, I will make some assumptions.
If they are well designed, the life of the board, barring failure, should be 40 years. This would be based on the life expectancy of any tantalum capacitors. Regular electrolytic capacitors should have a life expectancy of 15-20 years.
Resistors and diodes are basically environmentally dependent for their age, but if they were sized properly they should be the last parts to fail. Power transistors, rectifiers ,and voltage regulator chips, would be in the 20+ year range. Any IC type processor chips should also be in the 20+ year range, if not longer.
I have worked on obsolete electronics my entire working career. The first parts to fail are the non tantalum capacitors, followed closely by any IC voltage regualtors. It's not uncommon when a circuit board fails that we replace all of the capacitors and any voltge regulator circuit components and the board "comes back to life".
What can make it hard is if the OEM Vendor, now out of business for 2+ decades, never issued schematics and went in and erased all of the chip data printed on any chip sets. This used to be a common practice. If all of the chip nomenclature is visible, and there are accurate schematics of the electronic control circuitry, repairing the board will be a very real possibility.
I would expect, based on my experience with electronic repair for the past 40 years, that aside from infant mortality, it will be some 20+ years before a "trend" in failure begins to occur. By then who knows what can happen.
I think your fine with the original warranty. Any infant mortality failure should happen while it's still under warranty.

[Jerome Stanek]

Worst-case, you could bypass the electronics and turn it into a "regular" table saw.

SawStop is no longer a start-up - they were bought by Festool's parent company (TTS), which makes it unlikely they'll go out of business or stop support.

The sheer number of SawStops that have been sold would seem to make it unlikely that you'll have insurmountable problems in the future. If, say, a circuit board fails, it will occur often enough that someone will build an after-market replacement or license the design from TTS to sell replacements (assuming TTS doesn't).

I wouldn't worry about it. By the same logic, you shouldn't buy any cordless power tools that are brushless or use LiIon batteries, as those all contain electronics.

There is a difference in a $100 tool then a $3000 tool. All electronics will degrade over a period of time what happens when your saw is 20 years old and the electronics go out Sawstop is the only one making them now and are trying to keep anybody else from making them. You can rebuild a 60 year old Uni but will you be able to rebuild a 30 year old Sawstop.

[Mark e Kessler]

I will add one more thing, I work in product development and when we design a circuit board we test each and every component when the vendor builds it we then test the first articles to make sure they are building it with the spec'd part and it performs as designed. Issues that can/do occur is when GSC gets involved, they have a habit of sourcing "like", "equivalent" parts that have not been qualified by PD, additionally the vendor building the board will do the same thing. Of course there is no way for the customer to know this but if it occurs and parts start failing a company will see an uptick in service calls on that part and any legit company will replace it even if its out of warranty.

Here is my unsubstantiated prediction for Sawstop, they were bought by a new company (we new that) they will continue ship as designed Sawstop products - at some point within 2ish years of the Sawstop/Festool integration the bean counters will want to start cutting costs and will look for ways to do this... even more so with a company that is public (is Festool a public company). Festool is very heavy in electronics could be good for the Sawstop, could be bad...

I would have a worry over electronics in any quality built tool, most of it is simple electronics that are off the shelf and alot of it can be repaired if your handy and have the internet...

mk


Jim

I do not own a SawStop, so I have no horse in this race.

Without seeing the actual circuit boards, I will make some assumptions.
If they are well designed, the life of the board, barring failure, should be 40 years. This would be based on the life expectancy of any tantalum capacitors. Regular electrolytic capacitors should have a life expectancy of 15-20 years.
Resistors and diodes are basically environmentally dependent for their age, but if they were sized properly they should be the last parts to fail. Power transistors, rectifiers ,and voltage regulator chips, would be in the 20+ year range. Any IC type processor chips should also be in the 20+ year range, if not longer.
I have worked on obsolete electronics my entire working career. The first parts to fail are the non tantalum capacitors, followed closely by any IC voltage regualtors. It's not uncommon when a circuit board fails that we replace all of the capacitors and any voltge regulator circuit components and the board "comes back to life".
What can make it hard is if the OEM Vendor, now out of business for 2+ decades, never issued schematics and went in and erased all of the chip data printed on any chip sets. This used to be a common practice. If all of the chip nomenclature is visible, and there are accurate schematics of the electronic control circuitry, repairing the board will be a very real possibility.
I would expect, based on my experience with electronic repair for the past 40 years, that aside from infant mortality, it will be some 20+ years before a "trend" in failure begins to occur. By then who knows what can happen.
I think your fine with the original warranty. Any infant mortality failure should happen while it's still under warranty.

[Pat Marinari]

My first post, so be gentle.

i have a SawStop PCS and love it, but it seems we might be missing one significant point with regard to the electronics and that is that the electronics do not involve the operation of the saw and can be easily bypassed with the switch provided specifically for this purpose. If the electronics fail and parts are unavailable to repair them you would be left with an excellent quality table saw that no longer had the ability to prevent injuries but was just like every other high quality table saw.

For me that the added safety until (and if) that ever happens is worth the additional up front cost.

[Mark e Kessler]

There are other electronics, the bypass switch for example... but still a valid point I doubt that part is more than 100-125 to replace.

mk


My first post, so be gentle.

i have a SawStop PCS and love it, but it seems we might be missing one significant point with regard to the electronics and that is that the electronics do not involve the operation of the saw and can be easily bypassed with the switch provided specifically for this purpose. If the electronics fail and parts are unavailable to repair them you would be left with an excellent quality table saw that no longer had the ability to prevent injuries but was just like every other high quality table saw.

For me that the added safety until (and if) that ever happens is worth the additional up front cost.

[Jack Frederick]

This will depend upon ownership of SS. If their attitude is to keep driving support, then "future" parts may be there. Things do change within companies and their attitudes on that support. Generally with model changes a number of replacement parts are produced to take care of future problems and when those are gone, that's that. Years ago I represented a company that had changed models, for the better, but continued with excellent support for the electronics on the preceding unit. One of the components became NLA and they were unwilling to re-develop a part for a product that had been discontinued for 12 years. Those things happen. I looked on FB Marketplace yesterday and there was a '36 Unisaw for sale. I blame Delta and PM for creating that attitude that the things should last forever. I have the PCS and love it. I had a restored '48 Unisaw and it too was great. I miss it. I like the layout of the SS. Its dust collection is light years better. Perhaps the biggest thing for me is the safety aspect of the SS. I got along nicely for years with the Unisaw, but occasionally someone else is running the saw and I am slightly less nervous about it with the SS.

[Jim Dwight]

I've only had my PCS about a year but I don't worry about it long term. It is just a sturdy well made cabinet saw with some extra electronics. If the electronics ever fail and are unavailable, which seems quite unlikely, I would just convert it to a regular table saw. At most, that would mean a motor replacement. I don't think it's likely at all. If festool fails to provide support, there is a market, seems like somebody else would step in.

[Mark e Kessler]

Unless the motor has an encoder (more than likely not) the motor probably not in play, would be just the switch an potentially some wire jumping


I've only had my PCS about a year but I don't worry about it long term. It is just a sturdy well made cabinet saw with some extra electronics. If the electronics ever fail and are unavailable, which seems quite unlikely, I would just convert it to a regular table saw. At most, that would mean a motor replacement. I don't think it's likely at all. If festool fails to provide support, there is a market, seems like somebody else would step in.

[John TenEyck]

I love my 1945 Uni, but would not even consider it if it were still offered today and I wanted to buy a new saw. I wouldn't let concerns about long term reliability influence my decision. I would think about which machines fit the way I work, fit into my shop, and offer the best safety features. That would be a SS in my case, but only because a 10' slider won't fit into my shop.

John

[Mark e Kessler]

Will a 9' slider fit? I got it in a 24' x 24' with and 16"jp and it fits well, you will be better off with a slider any day of the week... I would even consider an 8' but always get the biggest you can fit...

mk


I love my 1945 Uni, but would not even consider it if it were still offered today and I wanted to buy a new saw. I wouldn't let concerns about long term reliability influence my decision. I would think about which machines fit the way I work, fit into my shop, and offer the best safety features. That would be a SS in my case, but only because a 10' slider won't fit into my shop.

John

[Tom Trees]

Rob Cosman demonstrates the sawstop in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSvoV_DWjAE
(Not that I would condone Rob's behaviour on a tablesaw!)
Electronics aside, the saw has these features that looks smart, and if buying new I'd not consider anything less.

The trunnion design is resting on a pair instead of just a single support... I believe?
Which has less chance of slop whilst the blade is tilted to 45, so will be parallel with the miter slots.
These fillets can make lethal spears!

The saw has a riving knife which is the proper way to do things.

Just my two cents
Tom

[Derek Cohen]

That would be a SS in my case, but only because a 10' slider won't fit into my shop.

My Hammer K3 has a 1250mm slider (there is a size smaller than this available, an 850mm). This is know as a short stroke slider. This one requires about 1500mm behind and in front of the 300mm blade for travel - that is 3.3m in all). That is probably the same that you would have for the average SS if you are working with hardwood, as I do.

Here you see how much space I have behind the K3 for the slider table (noting that the sliding section can be locked into the table and used as a cabinet saw) ...

https://i.postimg.cc/C19qCzPr/Overhead2.jpg

And in front ...

https://i.postimg.cc/76FDZ9tw/11a.jpg

I am really not intending this post as a sales pitch. It is just to help clarify the area needed for a short stroke slider that is competition for a typical cabinet table saw.

Now, here's a new thing: there is a jig that can be made (I plan to make it, and then will post pictures) that will make it fairly easy to rip as long as you want on the slider. It is essentially a slider-on-the-slider, and one can either make the parts oneself or get them from Felder.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Keith Mathewson]

I was an early adopter of SS, I’v Had mine in a commercial shop now for several years. In that time I’ve replaced a significant number of components on the saw, none of which have been electronic. It has not held up nearly as well as the previous powermatic 66 however it has tripped 3 times in those now many years. Would the operator have been injured on the 66, hard to say but as a business owner responsible for the equipment and the subsequent insurance claim I prefer replacing the SS brake then paying the lawyers hourly rates

[Larry Frank]

I was an early adopter of SS, I’v Had mine in a commercial shop now for several years. In that time I’ve replaced a significant number of components on the saw, none of which have been electronic. It has not held up nearly as well as the previous powermatic 66 however it has tripped 3 times in those now many years. Would the operator have been injured on the 66, hard to say but as a business owner responsible for the equipment and the subsequent insurance claim I prefer replacing the SS brake then paying the lawyers hourly rates

I would be interested in what components you have had to replace.

[Brian Holcombe]

My workshop is super tight and I also have a short stroke slider. Ideally, I'd like a lot more room around it than I have, but it works for my purposes. I've grown quickly accustomed to using a European style fence. The extrusion on the fence can be pulled back and used as a stop so it's very handy for things like tenon shoulders or anything else where you'd want to work from a fixed distance.

I use it for Kumiko also, so I suspect it would be handy for a person who makes windows and doors in a one-off or short-batch basis.

I rip on a bandsaw and parallel in the planer for anything less than 9.25" wide.

[Jim Becker]

While I'm also a slider fan and owner, I would have zero concerns about long term support for SS, especially now that the brand is owned by the parent company of Festool as noted previously in this thread. Interestingly, Felder has introduced a sensor system that's initially debuting on their highest end sliding table saws. Unlike SS, it doesn't require physical contact to sense flesh. Even though the nature of a sliding table saw inherently reduces the risk of hands being near the blade, it's good that "that side" of the industry is looking to increase safety from table saw accidents, too.

[John TenEyck]

Will a 9' slider fit? I got it in a 24' x 24' with and 16"jp and it fits well, you will be better off with a slider any day of the week... I would even consider an 8' but always get the biggest you can fit...

mk

Maybe if I completely reconfigured my shop and removed a support post. But an added problem is my shop is in the basement with no access other than a 32" door in a hallway at the top of the stairs. I've gotten a 14" J/P down there by taking it apart, and a 17" bandsaw with a hoist and shoehorn, but I don't think there's any way a slider is going down there w/o substantial disassembly, something I would only consider doing with a used machine. And with maybe 10 to 15 years left to push wood over my machines I don't think the benefit is worth the effort, expense, and especially the time.

John

[Brian Holcombe]

John, I took mine apart to bring it into the basement. Literally down to nuts and bolts. Those saws are not overly complicated.

[Alan Lightstone]

I've owned two SawStops. Initially a Contractor's saw, and now a 5HP, 3-phase ICS beast. I'm extremely impressed by the build quality, and not worried about support in the future - especially now that Festool owns them. No electronics issues in the 5+ years I've owned one. And I see patients who've lost fingers to table saws all the time.

Clearly time will tell, but I have no concerns. My $0.02

[mreza Salav]

My experience with their CS is top notch, second to no other company even after the warranty was well past the date.
Have their ICS version and is a very well designed and well built saw. If I was going to spend $7k+ I would look seriously at sliders.

[Jim Barstow]

I’ve had a sawstop for 11 years and never had a problem with the electronics. The idea that safe practices take the place of the sawstop technology misses the whole point. No one claims that a SS precludes the necessity of following safe practices. Accidents happen on those rare occasions when they are not followed. No one is perfect.

[Phil Mueller]

Derek, over the many years I’ve enjoyed your posts, I think I have only seen a close up near or around your work bench. This is the first, I believe, that I have seen your entire shop layout. Appears very well organized and well equipped for the garage space. Very nice!

[Mark Blatter]

I have never seen any info or discussion on where the electronics are located. I am sure there are some built into the saw, but obviously the cartridges have some too. Any one know how much is in the saw verses the removable cartridge?

[Chuck Saunders]

Most of the electronics are in the control box. The cartridge has the electronics necessary to fire the cartridge. There is an encoder on the arbor.
Chuck

[Rod Sheridan]

Maybe if I completely reconfigured my shop and removed a support post. But an added problem is my shop is in the basement with no access other than a 32" door in a hallway at the top of the stairs. I've gotten a 14" J/P down there by taking it apart, and a 17" bandsaw with a hoist and shoehorn, but I don't think there's any way a slider is going down there w/o substantial disassembly, something I would only consider doing with a used machine. And with maybe 10 to 15 years left to push wood over my machines I don't think the benefit is worth the effort, expense, and especially the time.

John

415834415835

Here's a B3 heading up the exterior stairs, through a standard doorway then onto a landing, turning 90 degrees and going down the basement stairs.

My shop cat Ellington and I did that alone on a Saturday.

It's even easier if you hire someone..........Regards, Rod.

[Jim Becker]

'Creekers Paul Mosteller and Steve Wurster were just standing with me in my shop discussing this very thing about how Steve got his Felder short-stroke slider into his basement shop a number of months ago. That involved deconstructing a door/frame in his case to get the couple extra inches necessary to get the toy, err...machine...into where it needed to go. :)

[Derek Cohen]

Derek, over the many years I’ve enjoyed your posts, I think I have only seen a close up near or around your work bench. This is the first, I believe, that I have seen your entire shop layout. Appears very well organized and well equipped for the garage space. Very nice!

Thanks Phil. I tend only to show photos that relate to specific topics. Much of the time I illustrate builds. I am quite envious of those with cavernous shops, and with fancy cabinets. Mine is crammed into half a double garage, as my car (a rag top) needs to be parked inside at night.

To return to the thread: I would be very satisfied if I had a SawStop. But I am pleased I purchased the Hammer K3 instead. When used as a conventional cabinet saw, its footprint is really quite small ...

https://i.postimg.cc/d0Cg7BBN/Ca.jpg
Regards from Perth

Derek

[Edward Dyas]

Myself I would find it pretty risky to purchase a sawstop saw. Companies today tend to suspend parts for the machinery they make before they are very old. You then have machine that the parts are proprietary which you may find yourself not being able to get and can't have your local machine shop make.

[Frank Pratt]

Myself I would find it pretty risky to purchase a sawstop saw. Companies today tend to suspend parts for the machinery they make before they are very old. You then have machine that the parts are proprietary which you may find yourself not being able to get and can't have your local machine shop make.

This has been addressed in previous posts.
- SawStop has sold enough machines that the part supply stream is likely to remain robust.
- SawStop is owned by Festool, which has a pretty stellar reputation for customer service.
- Worst case; the company goes belly up or quits making parts. Then you just bypass the electronics (a trivial & inexpensive job) and you're left with an excellent saw that is just missing the safety brake.

[Phil Gaudio]

I had a UNISAW. I have a SawStop. Get the SawStop: fit and finish is at least as good as the UNISAW. I have not had one problem over the 5 or so years I have been using it.

[jack duren]

keep the dust collection and box cleaned out on the SS. They wear out like any other saw overtime. Unless you want the safety feature the powermatic or unisaw they will work just fine...