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Thread: SawStop Blade Touching Question?

  1. #1

    Question SawStop Blade Touching Question?

    I know this might be a dumb question, but here goes: Does the SawStop safety mechanism engage the brake if the blade is touched ONLY while the blade is moving? What about if the blade has stopped but the saw is still plugged in - will it still engage? I ask because for the past 30 or so years with another manufacturer's saw, I often slightly rotate the blade (by hand) to get a tooth right at the top for depth measurement, in addition to using brass measuring bars that occasionally touch the blade. I never unplugged that saw while doing this - dangerous? Well, maybe some folks might think so but I've never heard of a saw turning itself on, and I never have anyone in the shop while I'm working.

    If doing a procedure like that on a SawStop would engage the brake, then it seems like there will be a LOT of unplugging and re-plugging during a work session.

  2. #2
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    Only when the blade is moving. I do all the things you've described and there is no issue. It will trip if you touch it after you've turned the saw off but before the blade has completely come to a stop, but once it's stopped, it's safe to touch.
    --I had my patience tested. I'm negative--

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F Franklin View Post
    Only when the blade is moving. I do all the things you've described and there is no issue. It will trip if you touch it after you've turned the saw off but before the blade has completely come to a stop, but once it's stopped, it's safe to touch.
    What Paul said emphasizing "Completely come to a stop." One time I brought a metal ruler in close to set the fence for the next cut, the blade was all but stopped and the ruler barely touched the blade and set it off.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Citerone View Post
    What Paul said emphasizing "Completely come to a stop." One time I brought a metal ruler in close to set the fence for the next cut, the blade was all but stopped and the ruler barely touched the blade and set it off.
    I unfortunately did the same thing.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  5. #5
    Thanks guys - now I feel better about purchasing one of those saws.

  6. #6
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    Watch the lights on the front

  7. #7
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    You should definitely read the manual. Lots of good info in there.

  8. #8
    There is also a switch on the saw, separate from the blade start switch, you can turn off if you want. I have turned it off because we were expecting a bad storm, for instance. No need to unplug if you want plenty of margin. But I normally just leave it "on" and have never had an issue. I touch the blade as long as it is not moving.

  9. #9
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    Frank Pratt: suggested and i agree about reading the manual.

    SawStop manuals are available on-line at:https://www.sawstop.com/support/manuals

  10. #10
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    Besides the quality of the saw, the SawStop manuals are very good as well. Easy to read, easy to understand, and thorough. If the manual can't answer your question, then they have very good tech support that will be happy to help out.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Pratt View Post
    Besides the quality of the saw, the SawStop manuals are very good as well. Easy to read, easy to understand, and thorough. If the manual can't answer your question, then they have very good tech support that will be happy to help out.
    Well, actually - I had sent an email to their support folks and the reply I got back was what prompted me to post the question here. Not sure if the person didn’t understand my question, or what the problem was, but it was as if I had asked “what is 2 plus 3” and got an answer of “green”.

    We are moving out of state and most likely will have a house built, so it’ll be a while before I’m an owner of one of these saws. But all the same, really looking forward to it, after having a very close call with disaster on my old Craftsman table saw last year.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by James H Bennett View Post
    Well, actually - I had sent an email to their support folks and the reply I got back was what prompted me to post the question here. Not sure if the person didn’t understand my question, or what the problem was, but it was as if I had asked “what is 2 plus 3” and got an answer of “green”.
    Ya, I get that. Sometimes you need to have a voice conversation so both sides understand the meaning. I've had 2 or 3 calls to support with questions & they've been very good. The people I spoke with were also woodworkers so they really understood things.

  13. #13
    Blade Brake is active until the blade "rotation" has stopped . Before turning the blade by hand I shut off the switch next to the "Start - Stop" paddle switch .

  14. #14
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    You plug in the saw, turn on the power switch and wait a little for it to self-check, then you can start the blade with the regular switch. If the blade is stopped, touching the blade is detected but it just flashes the lights at the front rather than triggering the brake, so you can test various things.

    But as mentioned by others, "stopped" means really stopped.

    Your customer service answer may have assumed you were talking about a different step.

  15. #15
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    You won't have a problem once the saw has determined that it has come to a stop with a steady green light. At this point you can touch the blade all you want and no brake trigger. If you touch the blade and check the lights you will notice the red light flashing which means if the saw were running at this time the brake would trigger. This can provide a test for "Is this wood too wet?" or "Is this material conductive?". I turn the toggle switch off when changing blades and every night so that the saw will go through it's self test each morning.
    Chuck

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