Sawstop Sliding Crosscut Table (Flip Up Stop Fix)

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

As most have heard, the stops for the Sawstop sliding crosscut table have much to be desired. They come from the factory out of square and wobbly. They are complicated and over-engineered. But spending a little time looking them over today I've come up with solutions for both the wobbliness and the out of square issue. The manual is lacking and don't go into detail how to tune them up. It's really pretty easy.

Out of square This first step is a mod. It's not so much that they are out of square, it's that the surface area of the flip down paddles is too large. To solve this I drilled and tapped a hole on the tip of the paddle to accept an allen head cap screw:
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Whether the paddle is square to the fence is irrelevant. The cap screw is the only thing in contact with the work piece:
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I'll try to explain the way to calibrate the tape measure on the fence for those of you who do not have any experience with this slider:

Take a scrap piece of wood and lay it down against the fence to make a random cut. Flip the paddle down and slide it snug against the work piece and tighten it:
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Now make the cut and stop the blade. Do not move the paddle's position and measure your work piece, in my case the piece measures a strong 25 5/8":
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The tape is not glued down but actually is friction held and slides in a groove on the fence. Again, do not move the paddle position. Slide the fence tape over until the needle reads the same as the piece you just cut, in my case, a strong 25 5/8". You're done, that's all there is to it!
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To check the accuracy, I'll make another cut, this time I slide the paddle over until it reads 25 1/4" and make another test cut:
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CONTINUED

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

CONTINUED:
I check the new cut on the test piece and I see that it is the same as what's on the fence needle, 25 1/4"
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And now for the wobbliness!

I actually figured this one out as I was piecing the stop back together after I added the cap screw. But I will show it in the correct order. And you can do this tweak before, or in lieu of the cap screw mod:

Remove the large lock down knob on the stop:
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If you try to tighten the allen screw that holds the paddle in place you will see that it is already on quite tight. Loosen this screw slightly:
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Now flip it around and notice that there is a strange allen set screw on the other side. This is a stop to prevent you from over tightening the above screw. The ends of these two screws are connected like if the tip of your two index fingers are touching each other. Back it off slightly only 1/8-1/10 of a turn. This will allow you then turn the assembly around and slightly tighten the above screw:
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Play around with these 2 screws until all the play is gone in the paddle. If you tighten the large screw too much the paddle will not budge. Too little and there's too much play. When you get it just right, snug them both up.

I hope this makes sense to those who already own one and won't discourage those who are considering buying one. It really is an awesome slider. I've never had one where like on your rip fence, you can just set the stops to the measurement you need and make a cut. No eyeballing your pencil mark against a stopped blade.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

I was just up at Rockler in Salem and both of their stops on their display model were way too loose. I think it's a common problem.

[Curtis Myers]

I was just up at Rockler in Salem and both of their stops on their display model were way too loose. I think it's a common problem.

Check out below YouTube video at about the 5:00 minute mark in the video. The Sawstop rep talks how the stops are designed to popup if you slam a 1" or smaller piece of stock into the stop. This design gimmic is why I believe the stop are loose and over engineered. If you tighten the stop as you describe in your second post on this thread they will not popup. Sawstop engineered the reliability out of the stop for a gimmic feature I will never use. (KISS) Keep It Simple Silly

http://youtu.be/Fw0282Ymv6o

I like your idea about the adding a cap screw to the stop.
I made a small sled (sort of) to align the fence for perfect 90 degree. So far I like the sliding table. The fence is very nice. I just wish I did not have to OVER pay for it like I did (a grand is a lot of money for what you get).

if enought of us sucker who purchased this over priced slider call or email Sawstop and complain they might go back to the drawing board and design a reliable stop.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Thanks for posting a link to that Youtube, Curtis. I hadn't seen that one. I never understood what people were saying when they talked about the "pop up" stops either. It pops up, not when you butt the end of the work piece into it, but when you draw it back against the fence. The paddle could be redsigned, maybe.

But what they really need is better instructions. Not like the one sheet of paper they include but something more like the Sawstop manual. Maybe @Rick Christopherson will step up and write a supplemental manual. Because the adjustability in the stop is not apparent.

The debate whether it's overpriced can go all day long. Yes, there are cheaper alternatives like the Grizzly. Just like you can buy a Makita sander for a lot less than a Festool. I don't agree that the slider is overpriced. I had an Excalibur for 20 years. The SS is twice the slider the excalibur is and that one costs $1200. On the SS, the fixed rail that attaches to the saw measures a full 5/16" thick. It's massive! It weighs 85 lbs yet slides like a hot knife through butter. The footprint of the SS is much smaller than Excalibur and others. I like what the guy in the video said, that although it can cut full sheets of plywood, it's not meant to cut them all day long. I know I'll never use it that way. I break down my plywood with a tracksaw. I'll use it for making repeated precision cuts like for shelving and face frame stock...or drawer components. For that purpose it will excel and be a pleasure to use.