tripped our sawstop

[aaron allen]

We tripped our Sawstop :eek:

Now I must first state that nobody got hurt and no hot dogs were damaged in the process. The second statement is I love our sawstop aside from a couple of quirks it is a great saw.

Thankfully my boss and owner of the shop is responsible. :D For those who own one please take note. We purchased some saw blades that came coated in a shipping oil/lacquer preservative, which my boss removed with solvent, no problem. He thought it was a wise idea to wash the solvent off with soap and water. After the second 'bath', he installed it on the saw and started it up. Before it got up to full speed, literally a second and a half, the brake tripped and the blade disappeared. I was standing next to the saw and by the time I heard and wheeled around the blade sunk.

Evidently there were moisture droplets in the gullet of the blade that tripped the sawstop. Amazingly, the blade was okay because the saw never got up to full speed.

It was too cool.

[Bob Wingard]

I've tripped a few myself doing demonstrations for my boss & the plant manager where I worked .. .. .. send the blade out for an inspection .. .. .. the ripping action MAY have loosened a tooth or two .. .. .. I'd hate to hear of someone injured by a tool that's designed to not hurt you.

[aaron allen]

Bob,
My demo's are I touch the blade IN THE OFF POSITION and show them the flashing red light. I like your way better though.

[Bob Wingard]

"Bob,
My demo's are I touch the blade IN THE OFF POSITION and show them the flashing red light. I like your way better though."

Hey .. it was GREAT !! !! !!

I got to do two hot dog demonstrations just to show it off to the Maintenance guys. I managed to get it delivered, setup, and demonstrated just before I retired .. .. .. the bosses and the guys who use it thank me every time I see them. This saw is used mostly by a bunch of Maintenance Machanics who use it primarily to cup up Lexan for guards & covers in a candy factory. Most of the guys were scared to death to use the old PM66 that it replaced, because of a few kickbacks that occurred. They now have a sense of safety with the new saw, and they are using it enough to get comfortable with using a table saw again.

[Doug Pettway]

Aaron, not to derail this but what are some of its quirks that you mention? one day i'd like to get one of these but i'd like to know what to expect. i only seem to be able to find glowing reviews for these saws.

thanks,
Doug

[Andrew Williams]

I'll definitely remember this story.

I usually blow all the water off of a freshly cleaned blade (SimpleGreen) with compressed air and paper towels. Once the paper towels are no longer soaking up any moisture, then a little WD-40 and back on the saw. Has worked fine so far. No unnanounced Sawstop tests (hope to keep it that way!)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

What logic prompted the washing of the solvent with water?

[Anthony Anderson]

What logic prompted the washing of the solvent with water?


Cliff, stop bringing up logic. We don't use logic darn it:D. Seriously though, I will remember this thread too. I clean my blades with a spray blade cleaner, really re-labeled oven cleaner, that you can remove/dissolve with soapy water. I would have never thought about extremely small droplets of water left on the blade causing a brake trip. This will really help me in the future. Per's Dad, Bob, also posted about NOT, accidentally, leaving the riving knife in place while trying to cut a kerf into a new blade insert. Yep, I would have probably done that too. Thanks Aaron and Bob, I am sure you have save some accidental SS brake trips. Regards, Bill

[Carl Crout]

It's gonna be funny when excessive humidity or sweat from your hands causes it to trip.........
Whoops............... just cost me a blade and cartridge.
Dang, should have bought the PM with the riving knife instead.:)

[nick brigg]

It's gonna be funny when excessive humidity or sweat from your hands causes it to trip.........
Whoops............... just cost me a blade and cartridge.
Dang, should have bought the PM with the riving knife instead.:)


is that even possible? enough humidity in the air for it to mimic moisture in flesh?

[Andrew Williams]

I'd say no. But if you don't dry off a wet blade it is quite believable that drops of water could create a bridge from the blade to the brake, causing grounding of the safety current and bang....