SawStop Blade removal issues

[tim walker]

I have a 10" Forrest combi blade on my SS Cabinet saw. Was going to change it out for a dado blade (first time attempting to remove it) and the blade keeps hitting the dust shoot, therefore cant slide it off the arbor. I don't want to break anything. I have removed blades many times before but this has me baffled. Could it be because the teeth are close together?

[Jim Dwight]

Tim, I have difficulty understanding the challenge you face but I will say that I find blade changes on my PCS to be more challenging than my previous saws. Dado blade installation is even worse because you have to change not just the blade but also the cartridge. The cartridge tends to get made more firmly in place by dust and gunk. Then there is the throat plate to address. All doable but the safety system, while very worthwhile, does make some things more difficult.

More to the point, I think if you keep messing with it you will find a path to getting the blade out. It might help to remove the riving knife and/or blade guard. Also may help to raise the blade.

[tim walker]

I just passed gas thru my brain I think. Duh me I did not have the blade raised high enuff. Shame on me.

[Steve Demuth]

I just passed gas thru my brain I think. Duh me I did not have the blade raised high enuff. Shame on me.

The human mind is an amazing thing. We figure out stuff that is unbelievably complex, and then one day, we can't get a blade off a saw arbor. And I mean no offense in that - not long ago I was out with a tractor and brush hog, whacking down brush along a fenceline that I had just ripped out. I saw a bent off steel post in the ground ahead of me, so I stopped the tractor and shut it off. Dug out the post, answered an email from work on my phone, and then hopped back on to finish the tractor work. Tractor would not start. One click when you turned the key, then nothing. I swear I checked every wire and connection in the starting circuit on that tractor, detached, cleaned and re-attached the battery lugs, and then sat down on the seat and damn near wept with frustration. Walked home and had an iced tea, then walked back to the field, and as I mounted the tractor for maybe the fifteenth time since I had stopped for that post, noticed that I had not fully returned the PTO clutch lever to the disconnect position, so the starter circuit was locked out by the PTO safety switch. One wiggle and, about 2 hours after I started, away we go.

I'm paid very handsomely to design next generation hospital and research IT systems - things with millions of moving parts that must more or less work in unison, but in that moment, I couldn't debug a circuit that has a grand total of 5 active components in it. Go figure.

[Michael Burnside]

I just passed gas thru my brain I think. Duh me I did not have the blade raised high enuff. Shame on me.

I was going to reply. I’ve done exactly what you did, so don’t feel too silly.

[Peter Mich]

Been there, done that. Worse, I’ve done that more than once! Welcome to the club.

[Jim Becker]

I learned that same lesson when I had the SS PCS in my temporary gara-shop...ironically, blade changes on my slider also benefit from raising the cutter up high, too.