SawStop Question

[Mike Henderson]

Sometimes people remove the blade guard on a table saw (for whatever reasons). On a SawStop if you touch the blade, the brake will fire. But what about when the blade is spinning down after you've turned the saw off? Will the brake fire under that condition if you touch the blade?

In other words, is the protection of the brake only available while power is applied to the motor, or is it available any time the blade is spinning (even after you've turned off the motor)?

Mike

[Kyle Iwamoto]

The SS brake will fire until the blade stops. You will be protected after you turn the motor off.

[Dan Friedrichs]

+1. It will fire any time the blade is spinning.

[Mike Henderson]

Okay, thanks. I'm thinking of buying a SS and was considering the various situations where you might get hurt. Seems like they really thought the design through.

Mike

[Jim Dailey]

Hi Mike,

The SawStop will trigger the cartridge upon contact on run down provide you do not switch off the Master Power Switch along with the Kill Switch. The Master Power Switch sends power to the computer board which triggers the cartridge.

I have the Industrial 5hp model with an Incra Fence & Xactor slide table. Besides the larger table was very surprised about the step up in quality of the Unisaw I had for more than 20 years.

One surprise was the distance of the miter slot to the blade was different (wider I believe) than my Uni thus my Delta mortise had to be rebuilt to work, and every jig requiring the use of the miter slot.

jim

[Roger Jensen]

What about the riving knife? If you touch the riving knife while the blade is spinning (either when the saw is on or spinning down) will the brake fire?

I have a SS but don't want to try it!

Thanks,

Roger

[Mike Henderson]

What about the riving knife? If you touch the riving knife while the blade is spinning (either when the saw is on or spinning down) will the brake fire?

I have a SS but don't want to try it!

Thanks,

Roger

I've heard stories of the brake triggering when the riving knife was misadjusted and came in contact with the blade. That would indicate to me that only contact with the blade causes the brake to fire.

Plus, I think the riving knife is attached to the trunnion, which is attached to the frame, so it's grounded pretty good. Electrically, you couldn't sense much touching something that was well grounded.

Mike

[Paul Ryan]

Mike,

When the blade is spinning down. The lights on the switch box blink, the saw knows when the blade comes to a stop. The PCS saw has some new software to prevent accidently firings that happend in some ICS saws. Apparently if the blade was touched right after it stopped on some of the ICS saws the brake could fire. I understand the PCS saw knows how fast the blade is spinning or something to that effect.

[mreza Salav]

You've got your answer so far.

I have the ICS version. It's a great unit and you probably have heard all the good things about it. There were a few minor things that made it less than perfect to me:

- I was expecting a perfectly flat top and wings, but there was close to 0.02" gap across the wings/tables (all three). It appears this is within the tolerance allowance of Sawstop.

- The fence itself is very very solid and it is straight across its length (I measured it within 0.002" wrt miter slot) but the piece of laminated BB that attaches to the fence surface isn't that flat. It deeps in the middle and I had to shim it from behind. It screws from behind to the fence. I read someone else had similar problem. A few layers of masking tape from behind made it to about 0.005" flat across the length which is Ok to me.

- The extension table (which is a piece of laminated MDF) goes out of flat eventually (cups a bit). Although you can build one and replace it or using the bolts that attach it to the rails straighten it to some degree. I found it doesn't affect the quality of cut nor working conditions.

Aside from these minor things, I liked every aspect of the saw.
Adjusting the table to the top is very well thought (done using some set screws to the sides and a pivoting point to the front).

Having a larger table top is great too.

hope that helps.

[curtis rosche]

what happens if you spin the blade by hand? does it sense that and arm the system?

[Mike Henderson]

what happens if you spin the blade by hand? does it sense that and arm the system?

I'm fairly certain the answer to that is "No".

Mike

[Barry Vabeach]

Curtis, you can spin the blade by hand without a problem. So long as the saw is not on, the detection is still active but it won't trigger anything other than a red light. If you have a question about whether a material you are about to cut will is too conductive, you just touch it to the blade ( with the saw off) and if the red light blinks that means the cartridge would have fired if the blade was spinnging, so you have to use the bypass mode. If the red light doesn't come on, the material is fine.

[Josh Reet]

Curtis, you can spin the blade by hand without a problem. So long as the saw is not on, the detection is still active but it won't trigger anything other than a red light. If you have a question about whether a material you are about to cut will is too conductive, you just touch it to the blade ( with the saw off) and if the red light blinks that means the cartridge would have fired if the blade was spinnging, so you have to use the bypass mode. If the red light doesn't come on, the material is fine.

Hey, that's really clever. I didn't know it had that feature.

[Tom Henderson2]

By all accounts the Sawstop is a wonderful tool, and I hope to own one someday.

My only worry, though, is what happens if (when?) the electronics crump out in 10, 20 or however many years... will they be supported, or will that be an issue? Hard to tell.

Also, while Sawstop is a good company, even good companies go out of business or are sold/merge with others, and sometimes customers get left in the lurch. Will there be somebody to sell me a SS cartridge 30 years from now?

My current saw is my Dad's 1965 Craftsman... I'm sure many of you hope to pass your SS on to your kids... I just wonder if they will be supported. This issue applies to some extent to all machines, but seems to be more of an issue with electronics than cast iron and steel.

-TH

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Tom,

I don't own a SS nor do I intend on buying one....

But your concern could be applied to any saw or manufacturer.

There are no guarrantees in life or in business.

There are times when you just take a chance.

While $3-5K may seem like a lot for a tool or toy.....it's not the price of a new car or house.....