Took the Plunge--Sawstop

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

So after much gnashing of teeth and hand wringing, I decided to go ahead and order the Sawstop 1.75 HP Cabinet saw.

I looked at all of the usual suspects, read almost every thread on table saws I could find and spent months agonizing over the purchase.

Last week, I had a "near miss" with the big box, very entry level contractor saw I had been using and realized that the safety protection was worth it.

Delivery should be Tuesday.

[Ben Rivel]

You wont regret it. Enjoy!

[Nick Stokes]

There will be no regrets.

[Paul Wunder]

Congratulation; a worthy purchase. A SS is on my short list...so is additional income.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Assembly instructions are very well done. The people who write the instructions bring one of the people from the front, usually a female I believe, who knows nothing about woodworking or saws, and asks them to follow the instructions and setup the saw. I was told this by one of the people who has been asked to do this task.

I really like my saw, it is for sure the nicest saw I have ever used. I suppose that is not saying much since I have only ever used two saws. OK, so it is meaningless, but I really like mine!

I installed a router in the side to the right of the blade (the extension table, not the cast-iron wing).

[Joe Beaulieu]

Hey Todd,

Way to go! You will love the saw. I have the 3 HP PCS 52" and it is incredible. The thought they put in and the quality of their builds is exceptional. And as Andrew said, the instructions are fantastic. They are a great company. I have had my saw for > 12 years and I have never tripped the sensor. The only pain is that it is an extra thing to do when moving from a full blade to a Dado. You have to change the sensor. Other than that, its really a joy. They give you these great wrenches to change the blade. The wrenches are so substantial it seems to make getting that arbor nut on and off a breeze.

You will have a ball with the new saw. Take your time and pay attention to the directions. It will be one of the better days you will spend in your shop guaranteed! Have fun.

Joe

[Beau Cassidy]

You will love it. I highly recommend replacing the bolts holding the fence rails on with stainless steel ones as the factory bolts are sort of soft. You can get replacements at HD or Lowes. I don't remember the exact size offhand.

[Hoang N Nguyen]

Congrats on the new saw. I also have a 1.75hp SS with a 36" fence. Loved it from the moment I turned it on and still love it today. As others have mentioned, assembling it is a breeze and instructions are amazingly well written. Set-up and tuning the saw is also very easy, I was able to get my blade to under .001" of the miter slot within 15 minutes. Their customer support is also outstanding. My zero clearance insert was defective when I received the saw, gave them a call and they had it out the same day. I also needed a new power box so I could switch to 240v power and they shipped that for free along with my insert. Great people to deal with, great saw to use.

[Izzy Camire]

Congratulations you will love this saw. This was probably the best purchase I have made. And as has been said the assembly instructions are also the best I have seen.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

And be sure that you do NOT run wood through with a staple or nail.... or even overly wet lumber.... unless you disable the brake (which is easy to do). You don't want to trigger on wet wood.I rarely ever run wet wood, but I have a few times.

[Todd Mason-Darnell]

Thanks for the encouragement.

I was getting to the point where not having a decent table saw was hindering me (I know it is a poor excuse to blame your tools, but sometimes it is true).

To be honest, I am looking forward to having a saw with a reliable fence and that does not need to be checked for square prior to each cut.

I know I could found that in a Grizzly or PM or many other cabinet saws (for 2/3 the price) but the safety aspect and the reports of their superior customer service sold me (all my wife cares about is the safety part)

[Prashun Patel]

Good luck! You'll love using it every day; it's a nice machine.

My advice? Don't buy a spare brake cartridge or blade. Knowing you have to wait a few days to get new ones is a good incentive to be extra careful!!!

[Kevin Womer]

Good for you, if you are like me there will be no regrets.

[Ben Rivel]

My advice? Don't buy a spare brake cartridge or blade. Knowing you have to wait a few days to get new ones is a good incentive to be extra careful!!!

Ha as if the cost of replacing the brake and blade wasnt enough. For me knowing that a Forrest Dado King stack and a SawStop Dado Brake are on the line is incentive enough!

[Gregory Carles]

I too am a recent owner of a new sawstop PCS 3hp. I have a thread on here with several pics if you get the time to look at them. The saw is fantastic, cuts so smooth and very accurate. Make sure to take the time to get the cast iron wings flush with the main table, for me this was the most time consuming part of the set up. The first piece of wood I ran through mine I thought I wasn't even actually cutting anything, It was kind of weird at first. There was no drag on the motor at all. When I set my fence to the curser that is the exact width of cut I get. I too came from a contractor (craftsman) table saw and was amazed at this cabinet saw the first time I used it.
Congrats on the purchase and if your like me you will be completely satisfied as this is the last saw you will ever need.