View Poll Results: SawStop Ownership

Voters
47. You may not vote on this poll
  • I will never buy a SawStop

    13 27.66%
  • I may or may not buy a SawStop TBD balance of price/features next time I'm looking for a saw

    13 27.66%
  • I will definitely be buying a SawStop

    2 4.26%
  • I own a SawStop

    18 38.30%
  • I regret not buying a SawStop sooner due to a TS accident

    2 4.26%
Multiple Choice Poll.
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Thread: SawStop ownership

  1. #1

    SawStop ownership

    Because this is such a polarizing topic, brought up in another poll thread and I’m new here, I’m curious what the overall consensus is regarding SawStops.

    Personally, #4. I only buy SawStop table saws for my crews. We have a few ICS units in the shop and contractor and jobsite units in the field.
    Last edited by Eric Van Cronk; 10-22-2017 at 12:12 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Posts
    868
    Perhaps business and Home shop use should be separated.

    I doubt I will ever buy a SawStop for my personal use, but if I were running a business with employees, I would buy nothing but a SawStop or some equivalent technology for use by employees.

    Bill
    Too much to do...Not enough time...life is too short!

  3. #3
    I employ people. I don't own one, mostly likely will not ever own one. Why? Two reasons. The Sawstop is a nothing special saw. Cheap lightweight box, cheap lightweight parts. The second reason is is the only tool in the shop that does what it does. It breeds complacency and that is the last thing you want in a potentially dangerous environment. Anyone who says they don't treat it differently is a liar and if you want to prove it, use it in bypass mode and tell me it doesn't feel different.

    Schools with kids, great snatch em' up, but there are better options available to me.

  4. #4
    I respect your feedback.

    I’ve seen a number of Instagram posts where the people who had years of experience on table saws wound up running their hand through the blade. Search #tablesawaccident on Insta. It’s chilling. Many are in the ER when posting.

    Im pretty sure most if not all the people missing digits thought it wouldn’t happen to them.

    I consider myself a risk adverse person. Honestly, if the saws were twice as much, I’d still buy them.

    I had employees who who didn’t want to give up the old Delta Unisaws for the 5HP Industrial SawStops, they bellyached and moaned. There was zero downside for them. Brakes and blades would be on my dime. I learned that people are creatures of habit and don’t like change. Side note: I average about 1 brake activation per month in the field due to the guys cutting wet pressure treated lumber - I have a no bypass mode policy. In the shop it’s never misfired cutting plywood or face frame material.

    Now if only a SCMS had the brake tech.

  5. #5
    I love the posts where guys who have obviously never really looked at brand make comments about how poorly they are made. Almost as bad as the complacency argument. Because we all know table saw accidents never happened before SawStops were invented.

  6. Quote Originally Posted by Eric Van Cronk View Post
    Because this is such a polarizing topic, brought up in another poll thread and I’m new here, I’m curious what the overall consensus is regarding SawStops.

    Personally, #4. I only buy SawStop table saws for my crews. We have a few ICS units in the shop and contractor and jobsite units in the field.
    Thanks mate, saved me the trouble; I raised this in the Festool thread but hadn't gotten around to posting the poll.

    For me, at this stage I'm in the "I would never buy a Sawstop" camp. I think because I feel that the price-premium is much larger than Sawstop indicate (I think you are paying $1000 + premium at least, on top of an equivalent saw for the stop feature) and I don't think it is worth it, and probably more-so because I don't like being told what to do or what's best for me. Ever since there has been talk of mandating this feature in all saws it has pushed me to strongly take the opposing view; people should be able to choose what they value and what they do not and not be forced to pay for a feature they don't want. For example, I believe the extra money would be better spent on dust collection if health / safety is the real concern.

    Cheers,

    Dom

  7. #7
    Welcome to the Creek Eric! This topic comes up regularly and there are several threads already in the archives. As you said, it's very polarizing.

    For me, (hobbyist) safety is good. If/when I buy a new saw, I'll consider this or someone else's version. The annoying part (for me) is the way the guy who originally owned the company (Gass?) played it. It looked like he pressed to make it mandatory mainly so that he could make a buck - not out of any great concern for TS users. And I too object to being "forced" to do something.

    FWIW.
    Fred

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by johnny means View Post
    I love the posts where guys who have obviously never really looked at brand make comments about how poorly they are made. Almost as bad as the complacency argument. Because we all know table saw accidents never happened before SawStops were invented.
    I love the posts where guys who obviously have limited experience and exposure make up stories. It's a mediocre saw, there's zero debating to be accomplished on that. If you think it's grand, it's because you don't know any better. Sorry.

    I'll debate the complacency and psychology involved there if you like though.
    Last edited by Martin Wasner; 10-22-2017 at 7:09 AM.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Northern Illinois
    Posts
    943
    A moderator should lock this thread before it gets ugly. Nothing can be added that hasn't been said years ago. It will only end up with anger and personal comments which serve no purpose.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    New England, in a town on the way to nowhere
    Posts
    537
    I'm in the "buy one for the employees" camp. Currently, liability is too precarious to allow employees- and I have none at the present- to use my industrial and cabinet saws. And if I were tasked to buy a saw with the technology, I'd be sure to re-paint it so no one immediately knew that it had it. The complacency issue looms large and beyond that, there's always a few goofballs that will cut into their baloney sandwich to see what happens when no one is looking.
    As to the build on them? Sorry, but the saws are Chinese, with the associated hit or miss machining, "peanut butter" fasteners, tolerances in the .10-.12 range. They are as good as Asian equipment gets, but it's a low cieling IMO.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    North -Eastern Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    271
    5HP ICS user since 2010. Daily’s seems in a commercial 3 man shop, processing>10,000 bum hardwood yearly.
    Dont care if it’s made in China. Don’t care about the politics.

    IMO (and working in shops for 30+ years) its as good a saw as we need it to be to do what we need it to do. Myself and my employees do not abuse it, and I am sure it will last us many more years.

    I personally don’t treat it any differently, guards are always in use, and I don’t consider taking chances on it.

    I wouldn’t have employees that would even consider abusing this saw or any others. That isn’t going to happen in my shop.

    Would I buy one again? Certainly.
    Andrew J. Coholic

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    NW Indiana
    Posts
    3,078
    This thread is going the same direction as all SawStop threads with the normal hate it and never buy it versus those that love it.

    However, I would be very happy to see the results of any study that shows that SawStop owners become complacent. I know that workers who have been using the same tools for years become complacent with how they run a machine. I am not looking for a debate or personal views but rather on some hard data.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Randy Heinemann View Post
    A moderator should lock this thread before it gets ugly. Nothing can be added that hasn't been said years ago. It will only end up with anger and personal comments which serve no purpose.
    +1 (Then enough to make 10 characters)

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

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    22,492
    Blog Entries
    1
    Unfortunately, this is an area that cannot be discussed logically. Given the saws I reviewed when making the decision, with little exception, I would probably have bought the Saw Stop regardless of the safety feature.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    NE Iowa
    Posts
    1,217
    I don't have a study from the industrial world, but hospitals do these studies, and the evidence is clear - people develop an implicit trust in their tools through familiarity, and need to be nudged to maintain safety awareness. Some ORs have a mandatory pause of 30 seconds before each surgery to validate that they've got the right patient, right team, and right procedure about to start, and to remind everyone of protocols, and highlight team or routine changes. It works - they get better outcomes, fewer post-op infections and complications.

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