Another Sawstop question....

[Jay Jolliffe]

I am getting a new table saw & it might be a SawStop if my wife has her way since I ran the end of my finger into the blade, got 12 stitches to hold everything together & Is still numb on the end. To the SawStop owners. Are there any complaints about the saw. Will the Jessum sliding table fit ?. Is there a mobile base available for the saw & who makes it?.

[Anthony Anderson]

No complaints whatsoever. Best tool purchase I have made. I opted for the 5hp version. HTC make a mobile base. SawStop is coming out with their own version supposedly this summer, and from what I have read it will be a lower profile design. I believe that "Mike in Bloomington" has put a Jessem slider on his SawStop. Get one, you won't be sorry. Good Luck. Bill

[Joe Jensen]

I am getting a new table saw & it might be a SawStop if my wife has her way since I ran the end of my finger into the blade, got 12 stitches to hold everything together & Is still numb on the end. To the SawStop owners. Are there any complaints about the saw. Will the Jessum sliding table fit ?. Is there a mobile base available for the saw & who makes it?.

I've had a SawStop 5HP 1PH for over a year and I have zero complaints. I don't have a mobile base, but several owners here have one and I know is specific to the SawStop. I have no experience with the Jessum sliding table.

I started in my dad's shop 30 years ago with a 1940s Sears saw. After college I bought a used Unisaw that I used for 7 years. Then I had a PM66 for 15 years. I believe the SawStop is superior to all three of those even without the safety feature. The tilt and raise mechanisms are amazingly smooth and nearly effortless. The top on the PM66 was larger than the Unisaw, and the SawStop is larger than a PM66. I was in a store last weekend and I was really surprised at how small the top looked on the Unisaw (guess that's from having the SawStop now for a year).

Also, I encourage you to go to their website and download the user manual. Read the section on how to adjust the saw. With the SawStop you can adjust the blade alignment in more ways than any other saw I've owned except for my old 14" industrial Dewalt RAS.

IMHO your wife is right. If you can afford the SawStop, it's a great safety advance...joe

[Roy Wall]

Jay -

I use a ShopFox mobil base but haven't moved the saw an inch in 2 years. The HTC is probably a better base from what I've read.

A Jessem Slider will fit without moving the on/off switch...I believe.

My only complaint was the $400 shipping I had to pay for the saw. I bought it direct from Sawstop before they had vendors such as Woodcraft carrying their saw. I think it is a good table saw.

[Dan Lee]

Jay
Had mine for 4 months and no complaints. I had a PM66 for 3 years prior. The only thing I liked better was the top surface after 3 years it looked new.
My SS scratches and blemishes easier, I'm talking about a very minor cosmetic issue here which would not have had the slightest influence on my purchasing decision
Dan

[Cary Swoveland]

The Jessem Mast-R-Slide works fine with the Sawstop. A picture of mine is at: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=57127&highlight=sawstop+cary

Cary

[Joe Jensen]

Cary, that shop is WAY too clean. I don't think mine has been that clean since I moved to the current home 17 years ago :rolleyes:

[Al Willits]

""""""""
My only complaint was the $400 shipping I had to pay for the saw. I bought it direct from Sawstop before they had vendors such as Woodcraft carrying their saw. I think it is a good table saw.
"""""""""

Seems as I remember there's a shipping charge at the woodcraft stores, went online to see what it was, but don't seem to be able to get into the product listings for the Mpls Woodcraft store..?

Must be friday....:D

Al

[Don Bullock]

Jeff, I am very sorry about your accident. It's things like what happened to you that convinced me that I needed one. After I showed my wife some of the SS videos she wanted me to have one.

No, I have never had a shop accident with any of my woodworking machines and have not even had a close call. I felt, however, that if I did have one with my table saw I would have a hard time recovering mainly because I know that the SS technology is avaialble. Yes, I use push sticks and feather boards as well as practicing safe techniques, but those things alone do not prevent accidents.

I have no regrets about purchasing a SS. It is a fantastic, high quality saw. You will be pleased with everything about it. Even without the blade brake the SS is a well made saw and it's easy to use. I paid the extra $200 for the 5hp. My wife decided that since we were paying that much, I neede the best one I would ever need. I haven't installed a JessEm slider, but I did opt for an Incra TS fence system. There was an extra cost because the top of the SS is deeper than other table saws. I'm not sure how that affects the JessEm slider.

As for the shipping mentioned above -- It seems that the charge that used to be required by dealers may have been added into the cost of the saw or eliminated. It is no longer listed on the SS site. When I bought my saw, the extra shipping charge was not on my bill. That's something that you'll have to find out from the dealer if you decide to buy one. I would also suggest finding out what "service" the dealer will provide for you. Some only have them drop shipped from Oregon, while others uncrate the saw, check it out, set it all up and placed it on a HTC base that I bought from them before delivery with no extra charge.

[Andrew Williams]

I am very happy with the SS. Since it is my first full-size cabinet saw I cannot compare it to others in regards to the one thing I would state in addition to what the other folks said. It seems like the roostertail of dust from the blade is a bit much, but it's dust control is way better than my last saw so I am not complaining. Ditto on the table scratching easily. I am not sure where they came from but I already have a few scratches.

These things are minor in comparison to the positives.

[Jay Jolliffe]

I want to thank everyone for their input on the saw. I'm pretty sure it will be a saw stop when I get a new saw. I have used one when I took a 12 week course in woodworking & it's a really nice saw. My wife is pushing for one for the safety reasons & I know she's right since I've already had an accident, well a few but she doesn't know about them. Only the one that mangled my finger because of the blood all over the place. Thanks again. BTW if I got it from Sawstop the shipping would be $600.00 & then it would be hard to get.

[James Phillips]

Be prepared, you will pay shipping regardless of where you get it. If you are getting the price from the SawStop site, add shipping cost to get to the price your local store will sell it for.

[Jules Dominguez]

Ditto all the above, including the scratches. I don't have a project at the moment, as I'm dinking around with some minor home repairs, but sometimes I go to the saw and cut a board just because it's fun.
If you get one, be darn sure to re-adjust the brake cartridge when you change blades. I just discovered my 10" Freud combination blade is actually 9 13/16 diameter. I didn't notice it until I found that the riving knife is slightly higher than the blade. If you set the blade cartridge to a 9 13/16 blade and then switch to a 10" blade that's really 10", without readjusting, you're courting the cost of a blade and cartridge.

[Andrew Williams]

Ok not to hijack the thread but we really need a Sawstop owners' group...

Here's a question for all SS owners... How long do you wait before running a glued-up piece of wood through the SS? 24 hours? longer? less? Does it depend on the glue or type of joint? I wonder how much moisture there would be in a glue-up 24 hours after joining.

[William Nimmo]

Most of the wood is cut then glued. I usually don't handle a glued joint until the next day anyway.
The worst is you might get a wet wood error warning if you cut through a major moist glue up.

[George Pretty]

Cary, Whose fence did you use with the SS in the picture?

[Mike Heidrick]

Cary, Whose fence did you use with the SS in the picture?

Jointech makes his fence.

Quoting Cary from his other post "For the fence, I Jointech's Sawtrain rails and Smart Fence, and a Jointech Clincher that I already had. (The latter is the bridge to which the fence is attached.)".

Hope that helps.

[don steward]

I am getting a new table saw & it might be a SawStop if my wife has her way since I ran the end of my finger into the blade, got 12 stitches to hold everything together & Is still numb on the end. To the SawStop owners. Are there any complaints about the saw. Will the Jessum sliding table fit ?. Is there a mobile base available for the saw & who makes it?.
Seems like a lot of extra money to spend when all you need is a pushstick and common sense to get the same safety results.

[David DeCristoforo]

Whatever you say or hear about Sawstop and their attempt to force other mfgrs to use their technology, whatever the extra premium you have to pay to have this technology on your saw...it's worth it. Trust me on this.

Last May, after over 35 years of working on machinery every effing day, I finally got "bit". Somehow (don't ask because I really can't figure out how this happened) my left thumb got into the blade. The cut was right through the upper joint, an 80% amputation. I really thought I had lost the thumb but somehow, the surgeon managed to reassemble the hash I brought into the hospital into something that looks like a "pretty good" thumb. He had to fuse the bone so the thumb does not bend and the nerve damage was irreparable but what I have is a whole lot better than nada and it would be perfect for hitch hiking in England. My left hand usage is severely limited by this and I am in the process of retraining myself to do things that I have been able to do easily for many years.

I have had to answer the same questions so many times that I'm ready to scream every time someone asks about it. No, I was not in a hurry. No I was not doing something stupid, just ripping a piece of stock, just like I've done a thousand times before. No, the blade was not dull nor was it the wrong blade for what I was doing. No, I was not distracted by anything. Nor was I daydreaming or doing anything else but paying attention to my work when BAM! and in the next moment I was swearing like a drunken sailor.

If I could go back and change one thing at this point, what do you think it would be? Do I really need to answer that question?

[Mikail Khan]

.

Last May, after over 35 years of working on machinery every effing day, I finally got "bit". Somehow (don't ask because I really can't figure out how this happened) my left thumb got into the blade. The cut was right through the upper joint, an 80% amputation.


I'm convinced-Sawstop technology is worth the cost.

David thanks for sharing that info.

[Dave MacArthur]

Thanks David, for posting. Last night I wrote a reply to this thread, but deleted it as having no value to the thread, and everyone can have their own opinions. Having been a safety officer for many years investigating fighter aircraft accidents, I have my own opinion on what kind of things can happen despite the most diligent attention of some extremely attentive and skilled people. Your story was very convincing, and I know how you feel about being questioned... no one EVER believes such things "just happen", until it "just happens" to them, and sooner or later it generally does. Safety measures are put in place to protect folks when despite all diligence, mistakes are made. There's a reason we call them "accidents" instead of "Purposefuls".

I don't own a SawStop, in fact I have an old PM66 just new in my shop. But I am re-evaluating my insurance/cost decision, thinking about your words and all the things I want to do with my growing sons that will require both thumbs ;) Thanks for posting!

[Chuck Lenz]

I'm sure the SawStop is a nice saw, and I could see it's place in a bussiness with employees or a school shop, they may get a break on insurance, I'm not sure, and can use it as a tax write off. But there are other tools in the shop that will bite you also. I've been a woodworker for around 30 years and there isn't enough money in this craft to justify the cost of new industrial equipment. I own a Contractors tablesaw with some modifications, not alot, but some, and it's works great for me, but in the last couple of years I feel like I'm looked down upon because I don't own as much as a Unisaw. I'm starting to feel like woodworking is becomeing a rich mans game with unrealistic machinery bragging rights. Whatever happened to the days of keeping it simple and haveing alittle fun while puting some pride into your work ?

[Jim Becker]

This thread has really gone astray from the OP's question: Any complaints about SS by owners? If you are an SS owner, your input will be appreciated...

Jim
SMC Moderator

[Bob Michaels]

I replaced my PM66 with a 5 hp SS and haven't looked back. It's the best quality cabinet saw available today and the safety issues make it a very compelling purchase. Check out this lively thread that I satrted just before I sprang for the SS :


http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=53084