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Thread: New SawStop Contractor saw making raising blade gear noise

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Bellevue, WA
    Posts
    4

    New SawStop Contractor saw making raising blade gear noise

    Hi everyone,

    I’m new to the woodworking community and am looking forward to many years of woodworking projects and being a contributing member of this forum.

    Before I get started I need some help with a possible issue I’m having with my new SawStop Contractor saw.

    I purchased the saw during the holidays and after putting it together noticed that when I raise and lower the blade, it sounds like the elevation gears are not mating, or meshing properly. When I raise and lower the blade on the SS Contractor saw in the Seattle Woodcraft, it’s very smooth with none of the gear sounds I’m hearing on my saw.

    I called SS Customer support and after sending them a sound file they agreed with me that the gears didn’t sound right, and they arranged for me to pick up a new saw to replace my first saw. I picked up the second saw and it makes the same sound but not as loud.

    I contacted SS Customer support again, telling them the new saw has the same sound, but a little quieter, and they said “Congratulations on getting your new saw!”, and “I am not hearing anything out of the normal besides the sounds of the inner workings of the saw”, and to go ahead and start using the saw.

    I’d like to get the opinions of some experienced users regarding the noise I’m hearing and that SawStop is now saying is “normal”. It wasn’t normal when they replaced the first saw, and when I listen to the two saws it sounds like the same sound just a little quieter on the second saw.

    Could you please take a minute to listen to these two short videos and let me know if the sounds I think I’m hearing are normal when raising the blade, and to a lesser extent when lowering the blade, and do you also hear it on the video for the second saw?

    1st Saw Video - https://youtu.be/blpvyxC8oZM

    2nd Saw Video - https://youtu.be/YyhhyX_6Q9A

    Thank you in advance for your comments and any suggestions you might want to offer.

  2. #2
    Find the gears, put some grease on them and see if that cures it.

  3. #3
    that's normal. Mine has sounded like that since new for almost a decade.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Lewiston, Idaho
    Posts
    28,504
    Contact SawStop service!
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Harrisburg, NC
    Posts
    2,255
    I have a Sawstop ICS and it also makes a noise when lowering and raising the blade, albeit, different than yours. Find the gears and put some garage door lube on them, grease will collect sawdust. I don't worry about it, hand cranking will never wear them out and it will most likely go away. How many times can they send you a new saw, and it's not like it's a "performance issue".
    Richard

  6. #6
    I like how you presented your problem to SS or to forum members for help -- with videos or audios.

    The sound from the second video does sound a lot better than the first one. As others have pointed out, I wouldn't worry about the sound as long as you test cut some boards and the boards come out to spec. Spray some lubricants (use the right kind) to see if it makes any difference.

    My PCS doesn't seem to make any sound at all when i raise and lower the blade (just checked, your post made me curious). I can't remember if the SS contractor saw I last used made any sound close to yours (it has been quite a while since I used a SS contractor saw).

    Simon

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Bellevue, WA
    Posts
    4

    Responding to comments

    Everyone,

    Thanks for your responses. I'll respond to each of them below.

    Jim, I have spoken with SawStop during this whole process and they think it's the miter gears that are the problem. It's not as easy as just reaching up inside the machine and putting some grease on some gears. The miter gears are in a housing that you have to disassemble to get to. SawStop sent me a PDF on how to replace the miter gears, and it's not until step 14 of 24 total steps, after you've put the saw upside down, that you can access and work on the miter gears. The miter gears are not just sitting out in the open waiting for a dab of grease. I looked all other gear surfaces that are visible and they have grease on them.

    Richard,
    after hearing the sounds the first saw made SawStop agreed it wasn't normal and they set me up with a replacement saw, which is also making the same sound, just not as loud. I also went down to Woodcraft in Seattle last night and made a video of how their display Contractor saw sounds, and it is very smooth with none of the gear grinding noise I keep hearing on my saws. Click on the attached link to hear what the Woodcraft display model sounds like:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoB569LL-FM

    Ken, I have contacted SawStop service, please see my post. I will have to contact them again, but I wanted to get some input from the forum members first.

    Richard, "Find the gears and put some garage door lube on them, grease will collect sawdust. I don't worry about it, hand cranking will never wear them out and it will most likely go away. How many times can they send you a new saw, and it's not like it's a "performance issue". See my response to Jim about the miter gears and greasing them. I don't want another new saw, I want the miter gears to not grind on each other as I raise the blade. If you bought a new car and the transmission was grinding, essentially a bunch of much more complicated gears, would you accept it? If they gave you another car and that transmission also grinded, but not as loud, would you accept that?

    Simon, thanks for the positive comment on the post. I went down to Woodcraft last night and their display Contractor saw, and all the saws on display, were all smooth with no gear grinding sounds. Listen to the video I added in this post.

    Guess I just want my saw to be like the ones on display, and I don't like the sound of misaligned gears grating on each other on a saw I just paid $2,500 for, and it's supposed to be a premium brand. Everything else is quality, why am I having to deal with misaligned gears making noise?

  8. #8
    Given what you have done and you still feel some unease with the saw, I would return the saw and get a refund unless WC wants to try a third time for another exchange.

    As I said, my PCS makes no gear sound whatsoever, neither the other two ICSs I use now and then.

    How about upgrading your Contractor saw to a PCS as an option to consider? They have similar footprint if space is a concern. The price difference is not a lot if you plan to use the saw as your last saw (10, 20, 30? years).

    Simon

  9. #9
    Sounds like you just need to return it and get one that does not grind, as you will never be happy with the current ones. I tend to agree with others, its not like those gears are turning at high RPM, so chances are they will never wear out, it could be they need to wear in, and then the sound goes away. Perhaps that is what happened at the store.

    Not sure who is taking the hit on the saws, is it the store or Sawstop? If Sawstop, keep up your fight until they make it right.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Central Missouri, U.S.
    Posts
    1,263
    Karl, I say they give you a saw that doesn't make that noise (at all) or your money back. Agree with you, you paid good money, they owe you a good saw.

    FWIW, my PCS makes no noise like that whatsoever.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Coastal Southern Maine
    Posts
    350
    I would ask if you can trade for the saw on the floor of your local Woodcraft.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Edmonton, Canada
    Posts
    2,479
    Have you tried putting any lube on the gears and the lifting mechanism/way? I think you are worrying about nothing here....

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Bellevue, WA
    Posts
    4
    Thanks everyone for your additional comments and input. I'll be contacting SawStop early this week with an e-mail to a manager on the customer service team with the hope of getting this gear noise issue resolved.

    After poking around with a flashlight I was able to see the elevation miter gears, which are in the back of the saw, not near the front as SS customer support had said. I can see the miter gears rotating as I turn the handle, and they do have an ample amount of clean grease on them, so I really don't think putting more grease on them is the answer.

    I think we are making this simple problem overly complex. There’s just a set of simple set of miter gears that need to be aligned properly so the sound will go away, nothing more. If you had a bike that made noise due to an improperly adjusted derailleur you would take it back to the bike store to get it adjusted so the chain would stop making noise on the gears or derailleur. Sawstop just needs to adjust these miter gears so they line up properly and stop making noise. End of story. The problem is that there is no SawStop store that I can just return the tablesaw to and have a technician adjust the gears, like in my bike store analogy.

    I'll update this posting when appropriate and I'm looking forward to getting this saw up and running and working on a variety of woodworking projects to come.

    Thanks again for your input!
    Last edited by Karl Kramer; 01-21-2019 at 2:18 PM.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Bellevue, WA
    Posts
    4
    Everyone,

    Sorry for the delay in telling everyone the final outcome of the gear grinding noise on my Contractor saw. I've been busy doing other household projects, installing dishwasher, drywalling, son's sports and life in general. I've also just been enjoying the 1.75 HP Professional saw that I ended up getting.

    Long story short, Woodcraft and Sawstop took back the second Contractor saw that was still making the gear grinding noise, although not as loudly as the first Contractor saw I had, and I ended up upgrading to a 1.75 HP Professional Sawstop, before the price increase, with the 36" table extension and the best fence. The Professional saw is great, all very smooth and quiet when raising and lowering the blade, plus it seems to be a much better saw for only a few hundred dollars more, after subtracting out the additional cost of the cast iron wings, which are part of the Professional package. I'm very happy with the Professional saw!

    Many things just seem to be better on the Professional when compared to the Contractor. The easy things to point out are fact that the miter gauge that comes with the Professional saw, at first appears to be the same as the Contractor, but it actually has adjustment screws/springs built into the bar to take up any slack between the bar and the miter slots. That little, and I'm guessing very inexpensive improvement, makes the Professional miter gauge better, although I'm sure its nowhere near what the aftermarket miter gauges are, but you wonder why, for probably a $1 in manufacturing costs to do that one change, why they didn't do that for the miter gauge on the Contractor saw. Another very low cost improvement on the Professional saw, that I wonder why they didn't just include in the Contractor saw, was the nice little plastic allen wrench holder they include with the Professional saw. Guessing it costs a quarter to include, I'm sure its some cost cutting decision they made, and I understand all that.

    The ability to make adjustments to the saw seems to be much easier with the Professional saw versus the Contractor saw. If you are thinking about buying one of these saws I would strongly urge you to download the manuals for each and go through each of them and you will see the differences in the ability to adjust the saw. After having both saws, the Professional since the end of January, I'm very happy with it and am glad I upgraded. It just seems to be a much better long term-investment than the Contractor saw. The Professional gears are smooth and quiet when adjusting the blade, while the Contractor saw made a grinding noise, which Sawstop said was normal on the Contractor saw.

    I also wanted to thank my Seattle Woodcraft for being so helpful in this process. I know that having to accept two returned Contractor saws and package them back up on a pallet and send them back to Sawstop was not what they want to do, but they're in the retail game and returns are part of that. It's my money and that gear grinding noise was a deal breaker.

    I've made a nice crosscut sled according to William Ng's 5 cut method, and it came out to be 2 thousands off over 20" range after I completed it (after making one fence adjustment it was perfect, guess I got lucky, but after screwing everything down and and finishing it was out by 2 thousands, good enough for me). I've also made a few other things for around the house that I'm very pleased with, just enjoying making stuff.

    I wanted to thank everyone again for all their input and now I just have to get onto the business of enjoying the saw and making stuff for around the house. Can't wait to keep making stuff, and buying other tools as well.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Scarborough(part of Toronto|) Ontario
    Posts
    306
    Congratulations. The extra money you spent on the professional version is well worth it, I think.
    Enjoy!

    Tim

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