Sawstop Cabinet Saw Closeup Photos

[John Pennisi]

Link to photos at bottom..

These are the types of closeup photos I might have liked to see before my purchase of this saw, as I wasn't able to get a first hand look at one during my research. That said I'm 100% satisfied so far and have so much appreciation for the quality and build of this saw. Customer support has also been very helpful regarding some questions I had about electrics/wiring. I basically ended up having a conversation with the guy who gave me a series of suggestions/tips in operating the saw. A couple things he pointed out:

1. Get used to using the bypass mode to test woods that might be higher in moisture or woods such as some types of cedar that have a high oil content. Also he said there were a select few synthetic laminates that have a metal content high enough to activate the brake, so whenever in doubt test the material in bypass mode. 2. Make sure a US nickel can slide EASILY between the blade tooth closest to the cartridge and the cartridge. Upon delivery I could fit the nickel in there but only with a bit of a push, so I made a slight adjustment. Also he said the diameter of a standard wooden pencil is a good way to measure how far the riving knife should be from the blade. He said better to have it a bit too far away than a bit to close. An example of why is if one is cutting a large sheet of plywood which is forcefully pushed into the blade and it moves (I can't see myself ever doing this), you want to make sure it has some room to move without getting close enough to the riving knife that the brake is activated. Hopefully that makes sense; it's kind of hard to explain without having the thing in front of me to point to. :)

Well here are the photos with splitter and blade guard attached. Riving knife comes installed; I just made the switch to get a feel for the guard.
I was going to insert the images but they have large file sizes so here's the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26883925@N07/

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

thanks for the pics and the feedback. looks like a well made piece of equipment.

[Matt Benton]

Does anyone know if there are any gloves you could wear that would minimize the possibility of accidentally tripping the brake?

[Scott Rollins]

John I love my sawstop except for one thing. The dust collector hose falls off all the time and sits inthe bottom of the cabinet. I replaced mine with a much more flexible dryer duct hose. No more falling off and the cabinet stays much cleaner down below.
I also replaced the blade gard with one from felder which has a 2" dust collector port above the blade. Works like a charm for about $60.
Here is the thread with purchasing info if you are interested:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=89832&highlight=felder

[John Pennisi]

Scott thanks for the tip I'll look into the changes you mentioned. I guess I'll give it a try as is but I can see what you're saying. Nice Incra setup by the way..

[Jim Becker]

John, it would be most beneficial to the SMC community if you would upload the photos directly to SMC so that they stay with this thread into the future. All too often, remotely hosted photos that are linked to "go away" for a variety of reasons, and that means content disappears for future viewers.

Jim
SMC Moderator

[Don Bullock]

Does anyone know if there are any gloves you could wear that would minimize the possibility of accidentally tripping the brake?

Matt, If your hand has to be that close to the blade doing a cut then use a different saw. The hand has to actually make contact with the blade to fire the brake just like the hot dog does in the test videos on the SawStop website. I wouldn't recommend wearing glove when working on a table saw.

[John Pennisi]

Jim, here are the uploads. I retook them in smaller sizes.

[John Pennisi]

Here are the rest:

[Nissim Avrahami]

I would like to ask...

From what I can see on the pictures, the sawstop comes with a splitter/guard combination or Riving knife.

But, it looks to me that when you use the riving knife, you cannot use the guard (unless you have an overhead guard).

It looks to me a little bit strange that the SS comes with "Euro riving knife for safety" but on the other hand "no blade guard - for no safety"...

Yes, I know that the SS itself is the "guard" but if an accidental contact with the blade (that can be prevented just by using a blade guard) will cost $150....or in case of "override" mode - that can cost much more....it looks very strange that the blade guard cannot be used when the riving knife is installed...

Oh, and by the way, the riving knife just minimizes the chance for a kickback but will not totally prevent it...even with the riving knife, we still get many kickbacks around here.

Regards
niki

[Dan Lee]

I would like to ask...

From what I can see on the pictures, the sawstop comes with a splitter/guard combination or Riving knife.

But, it looks to me that when you use the riving knife, you cannot use the guard (unless you have an overhead guard).

It looks to me a little bit strange that the SS comes with "Euro riving knife for safety" but on the other hand "no blade guard - for no safety"...

Yes, I know that the SS itself is the "guard" but if an accidental contact with the blade (that can be prevented just by using a blade guard) will cost $150....or in case of "override" mode - that can cost much more....it looks very strange that the blade guard cannot be used when the riving knife is installed...

Oh, and by the way, the riving knife just minimizes the chance for a kickback but will not totally prevent it...even with the riving knife, we still get many kickbacks around here.

Regards
niki

Niki
It comes with both a riving knife with atached blade gaurd and a riving knife only. They are interchangeable.

[Roger Jensen]

Are you talking about the dust hose coming off on the outside or inside of the saw?

[Nissim Avrahami]

Thank you so much for the clarification Dan

I asked because on one of Johns's pics on "Flicker" I looked at the picture titled "Blade/guard" and I could not see the riving knife behind the blade (or, the riving knife is positioned very low) so I thought that it's a splitter.

Regards
niki

[Matt Benton]

Thanks, Don.

For some reason, I was imagining the hand completing the circuit, instead of the workpiece.

Its been a long day...

[Mike Heidrick]

I would never use gloves with a spinning blade/cutter of any kind - Too great a risk to catch and pull you hand in.

[Scott Rollins]

Are you talking about the dust hose coming off on the outside or inside of the saw?

The hose would come off the trunion connector on the insode of the saw especially when I would tilt the blade off of 90 deg.

John, I do love the incra fence on my TS. It is extrememly repeatable. Thanks for the compliment

[Don L Johnson]

John,

On the nickle measurement, a friend of mine was using his saw and it would just lose power. He would start it back up, and it would power down again. After talking to the techs, the distance between the blade and brake are critical enough that if it is too much, the SawStop will power down. His measurement now is a somewhat worn out Buffalo Nickle. In addition, his son has a SawStop as well, and engaged the braking system when he turned the saw off, went to measure the board, and the metal tape measure touched the blade as it was still moving (the saw had been turned off), even though pretty slowly. Lesson learned there is to wait until the blade completely stops before moving. Happy sawing!!

[Don Bullock]

John,

... Lesson learned there is to wait until the blade completely stops before moving. Happy sawing!!

Don, that's a great "lesson" to learn with any saw.

[Anthony Anderson]

I would never use gloves with a spinning blade/cutter of any kind - Too great a risk to catch and pull you hand in.

Ditto! I could envision a mangled hand with numerous broken bones in the hand and wrist, before the brake system gets a chance to perform its' intended purpose. Just a thought though. Bill

[Jared Cuneo]

What a great saw. Too bad some extra safety is out of my price range :(

JC

[Brian Penning]

Does anyone know if there are any gloves you could wear that would minimize the possibility of accidentally tripping the brake?

Well you could have my brother's old pair. They're a little chewed up though. The blade snagged his glove and pulled his hand into the blade.(wasn't a SS)
Lost 1½ fingers.

[Scott Myers]

Congrats on the new Sawstop. I too just pruchased one and am impatiently awaiting its arrival. Good information to know on the brake and riving knife clearances. Thanks.

[John Pennisi]

John,

On the nickle measurement, a friend of mine was using his saw and it would just lose power. He would start it back up, and it would power down again. After talking to the techs, the distance between the blade and brake are critical enough that if it is too much, the SawStop will power down. His measurement now is a somewhat worn out Buffalo Nickle. In addition, his son has a SawStop as well, and engaged the braking system when he turned the saw off, went to measure the board, and the metal tape measure touched the blade as it was still moving (the saw had been turned off), even though pretty slowly. Lesson learned there is to wait until the blade completely stops before moving. Happy sawing!!


Don,
I forgot to mention that the guy from Sawstop also did mention this to me. He said it is actually best to wait a couple of seconds after the saw has been turned off to get close to the blade. He said that the brake mechanism is still active for a second or so even after the blade stops. Even though it seems obvious to wait until the blade stops to make a measurement or get close to it, I think we are all familiar with looking at a blade "coasting down" or spinning slowly before stopping so we can move right in and make a more accurate measurement, etc.
Thanks for mentioning this.
John

[John Pennisi]

Scott,
I'm sure you're looking forward to receiving the saw. The packaging on mine was impressive and setup went without a hitch. Let me know how you like yours if you don't mind!
John

[Mike Heidrick]

The status light blinks while the brake is still active while the blade is stopping/saw is powering down. Once green all is clear. It is just a fraction of a second between a stopped blade and green light not a couple seconds.

[Rod Sheridan]

John, thanks for posting the photographs, very informative.

In the EU, blade brakes are required because people are impatient.

Thanks for the reminder to wait for the machine to stop completely before lifting guards or making adjustments, being in a hurry around machinery is easy to regret later.

Have fun sawing, regards, Rod.

[Nissim Avrahami]

In the EU, blade brakes are required because people are impatient.
Probably...because the blade brake became a requirement after accidents survey that indicated that many accidents happened during the blade run-down...

The brake must stop the blade within maximum 10 seconds (on my TS - 6 seconds) and it's very convenient.

But, because of the brake, we cannot use dado blades anymore...:mad:

niki

[Scott Myers]

Sure thing John. I won't mind posting (gloating?) on it. Got to set it up and give the table a good wax first though! Should I get out my big car polisher and make it shine? Rub it down with cloth baby diapers? LOL :D

I was just informed today by Woodcraft that they expect it in next Tuesday as they tracked it today. It's sitting in Dallas at a truck terminal at the moment I am told. Guess I better start wood shopping and decide my first project with it, huh?


Scott,
I'm sure you're looking forward to receiving the saw. The packaging on mine was impressive and setup went without a hitch. Let me know how you like yours if you don't mind!
John

[Glenn Clabo]

Should I get out my big car polisher and make it shine? Rub it down with cloth baby diapers? LOL :D

They still make those???? Oh the memories...all bad btw.;)

[John Pennisi]

I dealt with Woodcraft in Rochester NY and the owner their was great. He kept me posted on tracking and then gave me a call to make sure I received it in good condition. The electrician just left after installing my sub-panel and all the 220 power I should ever need! Time to move from 2x4s to hardwood!

[Scott Myers]

I have to go pick mine up from my local woodcraft, as I didn't pay the extra for home delivery and tailgate service. All part of the adventure. :)

[Mike Heidrick]

Should I get out my big car polisher and make it shine? Rub it down with cloth baby diapers? LOL :D


I love mine clean. I love mine even more completely saw dusty!

[Scott Myers]

John,

You asked me to put up a post when my saw came in. Well, it's in! I got it moved into my basement workshop last night and have attached a photo of it sitting there waiting for me to assemble it. Note I took off the cast iron table extension, which is laying on top in the photo. Compared to the Steel City cabinet saw I recently moved out, this thing is HEAVY!! Lots of cast iron to be sure. I took off the door and anything else loose to move it. When I took the Steel City out of my basement, my wife and I moved it up with no sweat at all. Me and two big guys sweated our combined rears off taking this one down working with gravity. Go figure. The thing is a hoss. The three of us couldn't lift it by hand high enough to get it on the mobile base sitting beside it. We tried a couple of times and finally just said "no way". We figured we would need 4 good strong guys at each corner and one more person to slide it under. Instead, I'll be rigging the hoist up in the rafters today to get it on the mobile base. That's much safer anyway.

And the mobile base. The thing is a piece of art! Talk about quality. I've not seen one made to this quality level... ever. Even the paint on it is without blemish or orange peel and is super glossy, like the saw itself. I still can't get over it. It's the Ferrari of mobile bases! I guess it should be for $300. I love the hydraulic lift feature. Very nice.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

has anyone that hass purchased recently, or is looking to buy one, gotten any feel as to whether or not pricing is softening? How about 'wiggle' room on the "shipping?" nothing like $3k+ for a saw, and then get whacked with $500 shipping.....

[Scott Myers]

Perhaps prices MIGHT soften, but things will have to get pretty hard financially. Frankly, after buying one and knowing just how much material, workmanship & design went into one, I'm not sure how much they could put one on "sale" for. From a sales management standpoint, once you open the "sale" or "discount" door, it gets really hard to close it up again. So I would bet they would be pretty slow to lower the price. Just a guess mind you.

[Scott Myers]

We have liftoff John. The Sawstop is up and running. I'll put up a gloat of my own with a photo or two.

[Don Bullock]

has anyone that hass purchased recently, or is looking to buy one, gotten any feel as to whether or not pricing is softening? How about 'wiggle' room on the "shipping?" nothing like $3k+ for a saw, and then get whacked with $500 shipping.....

John, with the declining value of the dollar in today's market I would be very surprised if the price of a SawStop doesn't go higher.

[John Pennisi]

I spoke to a Sawstop rep on their customer service line and when I asked her about possible future products she did say sometime in the spring they will be coming out with a new saw. She was very vague about the details and I didn't want to push it, but when I asked about pricing she said it would likely be somewhere between the cabinet and contractor's saw, which I imagine hints at a hybrid. She said it may hit the market sometime in the spring. I'll leave it up to others to determine the reliability of this information; I'm just passing along information that one woman at Sawstop told me.

[Scott Myers]

John,

I was told this same thing by SawStop. Of course, they were unsure when it would be released. But who cares? We have the original 635 lb. beast! (36" fence rails)

[Kenneth Seifert]

Paid 4032.00 for cabinet saw + 52 in fence + ext table + mobile stand + daddo brakecart.
+ 10 in brake cart. +10in blade

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Probably...because the blade brake became a requirement after accidents survey that indicated that many accidents happened during the blade run-down...

The brake must stop the blade within maximum 10 seconds (on my TS - 6 seconds) and it's very convenient.

But, because of the brake, we cannot use dado blades anymore...:mad:

niki
Nissim, I you talking about different kind of saw or SawStop? On SawStop you can use dado - just change brake cartridge on a special one for dado.
Ed.

[Scott Myers]

I think Nissim is talking about a friction brake on European saws that engages every time the saw is shut off, if I understand his meaning. He mentioned the European Union (EU), so this must be some requirement over there.

Is this right Nissim?