Sawstop first impression

[Per Swenson]

Folks, If you are looking for a comprehensive review,
I suggest you read Dave Wright's version on Wood Central (do an articles search there to find it).
Dave writes well
and should be commended on his thoroughness.


Now about me and my saw. First, I have made
a living in the home improvement business for a long time.
Frankly, I am tired of it. Not the work mind you, the new
attitude of the customer base. They seem to expect
top quality and design at borg prices. Framing and sheet rock crews in the North East? I will not pay
a translator.
So builtins ,bars and library's. I started Swenson & Swenson to explore this market. The other Swenson is two people, My father and my son.
Although my son ,15 doesn't know it yet. Bob is 80.
If you correlate driving a car with driving a table saw then you
can see why (for me) sawstop technology is the wise choice.
Fellas, I produce this stuff in my basement shop. We are planning
on a new building, this move is on the horizon. In the mean time
I am working in a space that is exactly like yours. Cramped.
So the slider/Euro/old iron idea is not a option. I wanted the
best North American style 10 inch saw on the market. Sorry
Powermatic and Delta, even with out the technology the sawstop
has them beat. $500 worth? I think so.
The controls alone are akin to spinning the wheel of a bank safe,
smooth and effortless. This saw screams quality.
Out of the box alignment, perfect. Table and cast iron wings, ditto.
Folks if I could find fault somewhere, I wouldn't hesitate to let you know.
Lets remember its a table saw and you can get the same results
on a well tuned contractor saw. Ours is just real pretty, and heavier.
About the incra fence. Again for years I scoffed at the notion of
1/1000 accuracy. What the heck for? Remember I am the guy who could fit kitchen cabinets with nothing more then a circular saw and
a makita power planer. Just like my anti Festool attitude of not to long ago,
I was wrong again. This fence is just sublime. Again you truly get
what you pay for.
A word about the HTC mobile base. Perfect, a 5 year old can
spin this contraption around the room.
About the politics, who cares. My thoughts on this issue
are not suitable for the pages of this forum. I am more then
likely to go out and buy a H1 Hummer, just so I can put a
bumper sticker on it that says, " Earth First!" we will log the
other planets later.

I am a happy and proud Sawstop owner.
Per Swenson
updates will follow.

[Mark Singer]

I guess we won't be seeing in the WW Classifieds any time soon...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Per.....remember me....I said I wouldn't buy one but I can't tell you how happy I am that you're happy with you new purchase and that the initial tests indicate it performs well! It's always nice to know that somebody buys something and gets what they paid for and expected. Keeps us updated as you continue to use it!

[Frank Pellow]

Thanks Per. It sounds like you are a happy guy with your saw. By the way, everything you say about your saw could apply to my new General 650.

[Dave Wright #2]

Per,

Glad the saw is looking good for you, and best of fortune on the new business! I'm interested in the fence. How easy is it to remove so that the top is completely clear? You seem to have the 36" SawStop size. What maximum rip do you get with the Incra on that saw? It looks like the tube that is perpendicular to the fence will extend out to the right and take up room as the fence is moved right. Is that how it works?

Best, Dave

[Jeff Sudmeier]

That looks like a great saw! Congrats on the purchase. As you said, the Saw Stop technology alone will not sell these saws. The fact that they are dead on out of the box(Crate) will help their sales!

[Dave Wright #2]

Ironic that they spend the money to design and build the saw with a pivot pin and microadjustment screws to make slot/blade alignment easy...and then spend the money to get the alignment perfect at the factory anyway.

On alignment: It might be worth noting that the SawStop is neither contractor nor cabinet saw when it comes to cabinet/trunnion/top assembly. The assembly sequence on contactor saws is this: Trunnions bolt to top bolts to cabinet The top is the "meat in the sandwich".

Cabinet saws are this: Trunnions bolt to cabinet bolts to top. The cabinet is the "meat".

The SawStop is: Cabinet bolts to trunnions bolt to top. The trunnions are the "meat". This arrangement provides the solid and direct trunnion/top bolting of a contractor saw (actually a better feature than cabinet saws) with the cabinet to hold the trunnions in place while the top is adjusted.

Sorry to digress. One of the different things about this saw.

[Per Swenson]

Per,

Glad the saw is looking good for you, and best of fortune on the new business! I'm interested in the fence. How easy is it to remove so that the top is completely clear? You seem to have the 36" SawStop size. What maximum rip do you get with the Incra on that saw? It looks like the tube that is perpendicular to the fence will extend out to the right and take up room as the fence is moved right. Is that how it works?

Best, Dave

Yes you are correct, the arm extends to the right.
The whole fence removes in seconds, it will slide to the left,
off the rails. The base lifts off by turning 4 knobs. There are
stops in the rail so when you put it back on it realligns it self.
I have room to the right so the arm is not a problem.
Rip capacity is 32"
What you get with this setup is speed, repeatability and accuracy.
I hope this helps.
Why did I pick this setup?
For too long I was a opinionated arrogant carpenter
who thought change was kept in a jar.
I will no longer scoff at innovation.
Nor will I spin my wheels in the rut of ignorance.
I have been on that road for a long, long time.
Per

[Tyler Howell]

Go Get em Per and thanks for sharing.

[Rich Konopka]

Good writeup Per !! You had me LOL regarding the Hummer bumper sticker.

Curious about the Incra fence. Did you use an existing fence and modify or buy the Incra new? If new, do they have one specific to the SS?

I have the incra fence on my router table and it is awesome !!

Thanks

[Per Swenson]

Good writeup Per !! You had me LOL regarding the Hummer bumper sticker.

Curious about the Incra fence. Did you use an existing fence and modify or buy the Incra new? If new, do they have one specific to the SS?

I have the incra fence on my router table and it is awesome !!

Thanks

R ich,

Thanks for asking, The incra is brand new from the good folks
at woodpeckers. I can not say enough about the quality of
service from these guys. The saw top is 2" larger in length
then a normal N/A table saw. So its a custom order at stock price.
The old Per would of clamped a 2x4 to the top and thought
he was clever and thrifty.
Per

[Mike Vermeil]

Per,

I gotta tell you, you're one of the funniest guys on this forum and I always enjoy your posts, but I've gotta know. I always picture you speaking with a thick Scandinavian accent - something between the hockey store owner in the movie The Mighty Ducks, and Jamie Lee Curtis in her famous scene in Trading Places.

Am I right?

Mike

[Per Swenson]

Nah, Far from it.
I was born and raised in Hells Kitchen, Greenwich Village, and the
Upper west side of NYC. With all of the expensive private schooling
that goes with it. I presently live in Northern New Jersey and pretend
to be a uneducated redneck. A combination that sounds like,
"Wass it to ya, gowan to da shore?" or " Yew order those flippin
winders yet ,yo?"
I hope this helps your understanding.
Per

[Dev Emch]

Hey Per.... & others

For what is worth...

Two of best joints are the lock mitre for long grain and the dovetail for butting two end grains together like in a drawer or box or what not.

In kitchens, you have lots of drawers and not alot of money in the estimate. Often, there is repeition. In this case, I use a Liegh D-4 and wouldnt think of anything else.

But in one off, high end, furniture or items with monster tails, I do this by hand. Yes, I will use a bandsaw on a 2 or 3 inch wide by 1.75 inch thick dovetail. I also use routers free hand to clear debris but pair to the line with chisels.

But here is the point, (finally). For those of you who cut dovetails by hand using chisels, dovetail saw or hacksaw and layout tools such as a marking gage, you routinely work to +/- FIVE THOU or 5/1000 th of an inch. Not Bad Huhhhh! And you should always give your work DA FINGER! Close your eyes and feel your work. Very soon, you will be able to feel a 1 or 2 thou gap or error. If its graduated, then you need the calibpers.

But your right, if you breath on your work, it moves. If the day is hot or cold, your work moves. But the point is, you can now work to about a thou if you need to with the saw. It will take practice as just because you fence says so, your technique may have robbed you of a couple of thou.

Is this all necessary. NO. Is it a nice thing? Yup. For example, if you cut the mortise using any of your methods, (I like to cut the mortise first and size the tenon last), then you get to cut the tenon. Using the incra fence, a caliper and a tenon jig, you can cut a tenon that can actually "POP" the joint when you remove it! That is, its air tight enough that you can feel air compression going down and a distinct pop when you pull it out. This is where that accuracy earns its keep.

By the way, given a choice between the PM66, the unisaw, the general and the sawstop, I would say its a toss up between the general 350 and the sawstop with my leanings to the sawstop. I like the pictures you have posted. My major complaint about it is its lack of panel ability. But that can be said as well about my two saws and why I am after the T-73. So much of this has gone to panel processing. Building anything on a commercial job today from solid stock is getting rather rare.

[Ken Waag]

Per,

I am glad to hear that the saw was everything you hoped for and more. Like others here, I enjoyed your post for it's honesty and humor. I'd mentioned that I was curious about the fence and have been tempted to go that direction. Your pictures and comments have been a big help to me, and I've decided to go that route. I already have an Icra ultra positioner so I just need the rail and mount kit. Also, I have my router set up in a cast iron wing on the far right so the sytem will do double duty for me.

Thanks for posting!
Ken