Other Saw Stops?

[jason lambert]

I know saw stop was going to make a contractor saw. Anyone have any idea if this will happen? I want a sawstop but I don't think I really have room for one. Also I don't use a table saw very often, mainly because my contractor dewalt saw scares me so I rathor cut with my festool system. So if sawstop make a smaller one it might be the ticket, or I may get something else.

[M. A. Espinoza]

Take it with grain of salt but they hope to be shipping in March.

They're close enough they allowed me a glance at an owner's manual as I'm on the preorder list.

Its a contractor saw all the way, complete with motor hanging off the back and twin tubes connecting the trunnions.

But it has a riving knife and the brake, of course.

I'm keeping my order active for now, but disappointed they didn't eliminate the hanging motor and twin tubes. Both of those things make the saw susceptible to twisting when doing bevels. Seems like lot of work to design a tool from the ground up and still leave some inherent weaknesses.

[Andrew Close]

i just got a brochure for the SawStop 10" Contractor saw today from a friend who went to a WW'ing club meeting last night and apparently they were all talking about the upcoming contractor saw.

here are the details on the brochure:
SawStop award winning blade braking system
Improved dust collection system
True European style riving knife
Low profile blade guard
Cast iron table top with powder coated steel extension wings
1-3/4 hp motor

Optional Features Include:
Heavy duty mobile base
Professional T-Glide fence system
36" or 52" extension table
Out-feed table

Competitively priced from around $1499.00
Estimated availability for Authorized Dealer purchase in Spring/Summer 2008

[Simon Dupay]

To me that seems to be a lot of money for a not even half way decent saw(steel wings & a cheap fence?) when for the same money you can get a cabinet saw.

[M. A. Espinoza]

Competitively priced from around $1499.00
Estimated availability for Authorized Dealer purchase in Spring/Summer 2008

$1500!

No way. They did say at one point they would honor the preorder pricing for anyone that kept their order active but that can't be the price.

Although the cabinet saw does run about twice what you would pay for a non-brake saw.

I'll have to e-mail and confirm that price, I'll would still like to give it a go but no way for $1500. That could include shipping but its still pretty steep for the brake with a bare-bones contractor saw wrapped around it.

[jason lambert]

I aggree it is not that portable and not that small for a contractor saw also looks fradgule. I have to waite till it hits the stores and ck it out to see if it is worth it or if I have to make the big one fit somehow.

http://www.sawstop.com/products-contractor-saw.htm

Intresting they also look like they are working on a bandsaw

[M. A. Espinoza]

They are honoring their original price for preorders, just got the e-mail.

But they didn't mention what it would retail for if you weren't on the list.

1500 sounds very high, I can't see too many taking a contractor saw with a brake over a cabinet saw with a riving knife (new Jet Xacta).

Could be 1500 was with all the options, just have to wait and see.

[Art Mann]

1500 sounds very high, I can't see too many taking a contractor saw with a brake over a cabinet saw with a riving knife (new Jet Xacta).

I think you would be surprised what people are willing to pay. The Sawstop cabinet saw costs nearly twice as much as a comparable saw from Powermatic or Delta, and three times as much as a comparable Grizzly. They are apparently selling a lot of them. The contractor saw will probably appeal to mostly hobby types who are too frightened to use a conventional cabinet saw but can't afford a big Sawstop. There are a lot of those folks too.

[Sean Kinn]

wow, my bt3100 POS almost looks beefier than that thing. I can see the raised lettering on the extension wings becoming very irritating as well. Folks that are likely to buy contractor saws are often short on space, and value additional flat surfaces in their shop.

[Brodie Brickey]

The cost is high. I was one of the originals on the waiting list. I waited 2 years before I bit the bullet and bought a cabinet saw. A 2 months later, they were finally available. I passed.

I think that while you can still get hurt bad with a regular saw, if you have a saw with a riving knife, you're a lot closer to safe than not. The other manufacturers (PM & Jet so far) are now offering what is really the important safety feature of the SawStop. If the wood doesn't bind the blade, you're even less likely to somehow feed your hand into the saw.

Regards,


Brodie

[Allan Froehlich]

I'll have to e-mail and confirm that price, I'll would still like to give it a go but no way for $1500. That could include shipping but its still pretty steep for the brake with a bare-bones contractor saw wrapped around it.

Just remember the cost of going to the hospital for reattaching a finger. This is the cheap route.

[jason lambert]

ok I have to ask can someone PM the pre order price?

[Art Mann]

Just remember the cost of going to the hospital for reattaching a finger. This is the cheap route.

Statements like this always carry with them the unstated assumption that a person will inevitably hurt himself if he uses a tablesaw enough. For persons who believe that, I think it is imperative that they get a Sawstop or stop using a tablesaw. Beliefs like that always seem to have a way of coming true. However, for those of us who have been practicing safe tablesaw techniques for 20 or 30 years without incident, I would say the statistics are on our side. I don't buy flight insurance before getting on a commercial airline either.

[Mark Engel]

Just remember the cost of going to the hospital for reattaching a finger. This is the cheap route.

If my only 2 choices were to buy an overpriced contractors saw or cut off my own fingers, I think I would just take up golf. Hope I don't get hit in the head with someones errant tee shot.

I would have go with choice number 3, respect all of your tools and always be very careful.

[Brandon Shew]

I think you would be surprised what people are willing to pay. The Sawstop cabinet saw costs nearly twice as much as a comparable saw from Powermatic or Delta, and three times as much as a comparable Grizzly. They are apparently selling a lot of them. The contractor saw will probably appeal to mostly hobby types who are too frightened to use a conventional cabinet saw but can't afford a big Sawstop. There are a lot of those folks too.

They are selling a lot of them, but I'd bet that it's not so much for the safety. It's unfortunate, but we live in such a litigious society that school systems (shop class), employers, etc. are worried about what might happen if they don't have one. I can see a lawsuit coming when someone cuts themselves on a Unisaw or the like in one of those environments and sues because they didn't have a Sawstop. Most of our local school systems have gone with Sawstops in shop class. The guy at the local Woodcraft indicated that they use a Sawstop for their classes (in lieu of their previous PM) for this reason.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to start another Sawstop pros and cons thread. The safety is a nice thing and if price was no object for me, I'd definitely have one too. It's a nice and well built saw w/o the safety feature. Can you put a price tag on safety? Apparently the answer is yes and it isn't cheap. It's a little too expensive for me and I'd rather have a nice cabinet saw for the $1500.