My crazy luck and the SawSwap

[Mark Singer]

Yes SawSwap not SawStop.....well actually both:confused:

So I am at the WW Show in Costa Mesa and Jesse from Eagle tools has all of his great stuff...Aggazani Bandsaws, General Stuff and to my surprise is now carrying the SawStop which I really wanted to buy! So I look it over and it looks excellent! They run it and it sounds excellent! A young lady from SawStop performs the now famous "hot dog test" ....a large crowd forms around her and the saw. "Bang" it blew everybody away. So I do the inevitable....order one!
Well the two guys ask me "So your going to get the SawStop"? I say "yes...why take any chances and sometimes my son, Ryan uses it also" They ask, "what saw do you have now?" ....I reply a "Powermatic 66"... They say "Just what we wanted to buy" ...I say " Do you want to buy mine?" wellguess what?:rolleyes: ...Yes the new ones are about $2600 and we agreed on $1400 so it is a done deal and they are coming today! SawStop arrives tomorrow!
BTW...the price on the SawStop is fixed like Festool and the are no discounts... I am ok with that since I really want the extra safety. It also looks and runs like the best of the cabinet saws I have seen, aside of the safety features.
So another interesting win ....win...stroke of luck!

[Greg Salata]

Congrats on the new saw;) Even better is that you made a deal on the old saw so quickly!

Sometimes things just fall into place:cool:

[Alan Turner]

Mark,
I think you will like it. Did you get the SS fence? While I have been a bit critical of it, Steve Gass has just about convinced me that I was wrong and that it is a good fence.

Blow out the inside with compressed air, through the throat plate, from time to time and it will keep the riving knife easily removable.

Enjoy.

[Mark Singer]

Mark,
I think you will like it. Did you get the SS fence? While I have been a bit critical of it, Steve Gass has just about convince me that I was wrong and that it is a good fence.

Blow out the inside with compressed air, through the throat plate, from time to time and it will keep the riving knife easily removable.

Enjoy.
Alan,
Thanks for all your advice on the SawStop. I did go with the SawStop fence. Jesse said it is even better than a Bies! I looked at the Incra Fence and it was a little too techy for my simple brain! :confused: So a got the basic unit 3 HP ...that way I don't have to listen to the pase converter , cyclone and saw running simultaneously:eek:

[Alan Turner]

Mark,
I will be interested to see how the SS 3hp does on the 8/4 Wenge. I have the 5 hp, and have to rip 12/4 hard maple and even 12/4 mahogany pretty slowly, although that is not necessarily such a bad thing.

[Roy Wall]

So a got the basic unit 3 HP ...that way I don't have to listen to the pase converter , cyclone and saw running simultaneously:eek:


My thoughts exactly.......although I thought you'd get the 5hp 1 ph.....

Once again - right place - right time!! Good Story! I'm glad you could buy from Jesse.

[Jim Young]

Looks like there were a couple of lucky parties involved, you and the buyer of your saw. You for getting rid of your "outgoing" saw and the buyer for snagging a good deal on a high quality component. I've been noodling the SawStop also but there are a few things keeping me from it for now, food, gas for the car, house payments, peace w/SWMBO, kid's college fund, etc...

[Jay Knepper]

Mark,

You'll love the saw out of the box, and much more so the more you use it.

The stock fence is, like the rest of the machine, a precise beast. I'm not sure how it got a bad reputation. Perhaps there was a different frence on the earliest units?

I hope they use really cheap blades when doing in the hot dogs...http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon9.gif

[John Bush]

Hi Mark,
You are going to love your new saw, fence included. If you need mobility, the HTC designed for the SS has worked very well for me. I don't have to move it often but is almost effortless when I need to. I was interested in improving the DC above the table and contacted Lee Styron , the Sharkguard innovator, about developing a bladeguard with good dust collection design that is held in the riving knife/bladeguard clamp. My DC drops from above so I can suspend the flextube easily and wouldn't need an arm system for support. He sent an insert prototype and I haven't done any further developement with it. After you are up and running, let me know if you are interested in any improvement in DC from above and maybe we can get Lee involved again. Congrats again. John.

[Jay Knoll]

Mark

Congrats on the new saw! Did the have the "soon to be released" contractor saw on display? I'm interested in the safety but can't swing the cabinet version.

Jay

[Jerry Olexa]

Sometimes everything goes right...I'm happy for you, Mark. Congratulations....Enjoy your new tool safely:)

[Joe Unni]

Congratulation Mark!!

I look forward to the update(s) on how the saw performs for you.

-joe

[Robert Mickley]

Gotta love getting a new toy,,err tool I did sort of the same thing, when I bought my Uni at the auction last year, I sold my rigid contractor saw to a guy there. He picked it up that night

[Jim Becker]

Congrats on the new saw, Mark!!

[Mark Singer]

Thanks everyone! The guys came today and picked up the Powermatic...I was sorry to see it go....it was a great saw! Nice father and son team....they will probably join SMC...I showed them the website. Jerry May Senior and Junior...they live in Wrightwood.

[John Miliunas]

Well now, I'm green (or is that black?) with envy! :o I think you'll really like that unit! As for getting through really thick stock, if you don't already have one, pick up a Forrest 20-tooth ripping blade and dedicate it for just that. WOW, like cutting through butta', I tell 'ya! :D Congrats Mark...It will look awesome in your shop! (errrrrrrrrrr....Studio!) :D :cool:

[Martin Shupe]

What do they say? "It is better to be lucky than good!"

Someday, when I get my own stand alone shop, I'd like a Sawstop. Of course, if money were no object, I'd love a Felder!

[Joe Jensen]

Alan,
Thanks for all your advice on the SawStop. I did go with the SawStop fence. Jesse said it is even better than a Bies! I looked at the Incra Fence and it was a little too techy for my simple brain! :confused: So a got the basic unit 3 HP ...that way I don't have to listen to the pase converter , cyclone and saw running simultaneously:eek:

I was able to buy a 5HP 1PH sawstop. I havent' tried to rip thick stock yet, but the 5HP motor looks to be the same size physically as the 3HP, and both are smaller than the 3HP Baldor that was on my Powermatic 66. Anyone here know how much correlation there is to motor size and HP?

[Ken Werner]

Mark, I've been thinking alot about buying the SS. And I also worry about my son Ben, using a TS....Thanks for sharing your story and good fortune. I think we have alot to do with the "luck" we get. Sounds like you made a great choice. Please post what you think of the saw after some use.
Ken

[Bob Swenson]

Mark, I hope you like the Sawstop as much as we do, every time I turn it off
with my left thigh I think about just how well designed it is.
What’s not to love?

[Jim Murphy]

Did you see Time Magazine has named the SawStop one of 2006 Best Inventions in its latest issue? Imagine that, a woodworking tool in a news magazine. Must be a first.
Congratulations on your new saw, and great luck.:)
Jim M

[Tom Ruflin]

Mark, congrats on the new saw and selling the old one as you bought the new one! I have a sawstop with the sawstop fence. The face on the fence was not flat, out by like .005 so I took off the face and checked the metal part of the fence. Part of the problem was a build up of paint at both ends. I used a fine file to remove some of the paint and then some brass shim material to get it straignt and flat. Other than that I really like the fence as you can totally adjust it to get it square with the blade and the table and all the parts are heavier material that the Biesmeyer fence that I looked at. When my saw was delivered one of the faces on the fence was damaged, sawstop over-nighted a new one to me with no questions asked :) .

[Gary Herrmann]

Nice gloat, Mark. I looked at one, and would have liked to have gotten one, but the price put it out of my reach at the time. I'm very happy with my General 650, but I feel a little twinge of regret when I read things like this.

Maybe when my son gets a bit older, I'll take the plunge. Post pics and impressions when the big black toy arrives.