SawStop: Eating Crow

[Murray M]

I’ve said here MANY times that SawStop wasn’t for me. I work with many tools that could hurt me so it never made sense to me before to pay premium in order to make one of my tools safer. I can’t remember which forum member said it years ago but the quote is “when you swim with 10 sharks in a pool it doesn’t really help to muzzle only one”.

After not having a ts for many years (I’ve used a panel saw, track saw, big bs and big miter) in order to maximize floor space (I make big things), I finally have a project that is forcing me into finally getting another ts.

I did the research dance you all know well and realized I was wrong all this time about SawStop. It’s smart and worth it. I’m very safe but of course not perfect. All it takes is one moment of being rushed, tired or distracted. I realized the chance of that happening, together with the unattractive possibility of loosing a part of my hand, was worth the high cost of this tool.

I just picked up a new PCS/3hp/36 with the sexy industrial mobile base. It’s way more money than I wanted to spend. I’ve been looking for used ones and folks want near-new prices up here in New England so I sold a pile of tools I haven’t used in a while and ponied up.

Isn’t it an odd thing to change your mind about stuff?

————

But I still hate the SawStop logo. So corny. Looks like a candy bar font and graphic. So I fixed it in a way that will make you all groan. I pulled off the terrible saw sticker with “SawSt” on it. The “op” are separate stickers. And although I suspect I’m in the extreme minority (I love fresh design and asymmetry is my drug of choice) I gotta say just having the red “OP” off centered with a lot of black metal negative space is a HUGE IMPROVEMENT and transforms the aesthetics from being toy-like to looking downright Euro-hip.

Im buckling my seatbelt for the tidal wave of disdain I’m about to receive. Someone pass the popcorn.

[fredhargis]

No disdain from me, welcome to the club!  found as I was aging I wondered if I was more at rick for an accident...and sold my Uni and bought a Sawstop.

[Ray Newman]

From 1987-2016, I ran a 3 HP Uni-saw with the Uni-guard with the disappearing splitter, Uni-fence with 52” table.  We were old friends, great machine, solid, robust, and hard working.  Never let me down.

In 2015, I prepared to do a cross cut and I aligned the cut mark with the kerf in the mite gauge sub-fence.  The work was about 12” wide and my hand was close to the cut mark and blade. My hand was on the stock and I heard a loud distracting noise in front of the shop as I reached over to fire up the saw and push the stock into the blade. Then for some inexplicable reason, the Little Voice screamed "No!" I stopped and looked at my hand’s position – I could have amputated/severely cut two fingers.

Being a bilateral above the knee amputee, I just sat back in my wheelchair and thought about what I almost did. At the time, I was almost  age 70 and realizing reflexes/reaction time were not as sharp as they once were, I needed to think all of this through. Could it happen again, was this a one–of-a-kind lapse? In 2016, I bought a SawStop ICS 3HP.

[Tapper]

I’ve said here MANY times that SawStop wasn’t for me. I work with many tools that could hurt me so it never made sense to me before to pay premium in order to make one of my tools safer. I can’t remember which forum member said it years ago but the quote is “when you swim with 10 sharks in a pool it doesn’t really help to muzzle only one”.

After not having a ts for many years (I’ve used a panel saw, track saw, big bs and big miter) in order to maximize floor space (I make big things), I finally have a project that is forcing me into finally getting another ts.

I did the research dance you all know well and realized I was wrong all this time about SawStop. It’s smart and worth it. I’m very safe but of course not perfect. All it takes is one moment of being rushed, tired or distracted. I realized the chance of that happening, together with the  unattractive possibility of loosing a part of my hand, was worth the high cost of this tool.

I just picked up a new PCS/3hp/36 with the sexy industrial mobile base. It’s way more money than I wanted to spend. I’ve been looking for used ones and folks want near-new prices up here in New England so I sold a pile of tools I haven’t used in a while and ponied up.

Isn’t it an odd thing to change your mind about stuff?

————

But I still hate the SawStop logo. So corny. Looks like a candy bar font and graphic. So I fixed it in a way that will make you all groan. I pulled off the terrible saw sticker with “SawSt” on it. The “op” are separate stickers. And although I suspect I’m in the extreme minority (I love fresh design and asymmetry is my drug of choice) I gotta say just having the red “OP” off centered with a lot of black metal negative space is a HUGE IMPROVEMENT and transforms the aesthetics from being toy-like to looking downright Euro-hip.

Im buckling my seatbelt for the tidal wave of disdain I’m about to receive. Someone pass the popcorn.

Don't get the logo thing, but to each his own I suppose. Bought my SS PCS on the Field Test Program in '08; replaced a Unisaw. Could not be happier.

Doug

[R Clark]

No disdain here, either.

I wish my 3HP PCS had the Industrial Mobile Base.

As for the safety aspect...there might be a small group of people who are 100% safe 100% of the time.  But I'm not one of them, and I doubt very seriously that anybody can truthfully say they are.

Enjoy your saw!

[Hardwood]

A couple of years ago I was very frustrated with my Powermatic 64 saw and asked for advice on this website, about which table saw to buy. 

Actually I knew I wanted to get the Sawstop Professional Cabinet saw. 

But to build my case with the Mrs., I thought is would be a good idea to get a bunch of glowing testimonials from the folks on this website.

It worked. My wife read all of the responses to my post, and agreed that I should buy a Sawstop.

[barryvabeach]

When I bought my PCS,  I was told that even if it didn't have the safety brake, it was still a great saw, and I agree. In addition, a friend was using his TS about two weeks ago, he was doing multiple cuts, got to the last one, and got distracted.  He is still not sure exactly what happened, but cut mostly through 3 fingers,  they have been reattached, though he is scheduled for another surgery to try to restore movement to one of the fingers, and still in a fair amount of pain.  He is in the market for a SS.

[Tapper]

When I bought my PCS,  I was told that even if it didn't have the safety brake, it was still a great saw, and I agree. In addition, a friend was using his TS about two weeks ago, he was doing multiple cuts, got to the last one, and got distracted.  He is still not sure exactly what happened, but cut mostly through 3 fingers,  they have been reattached, though he is scheduled for another surgery to try to restore movement to one of the fingers, and still in a fair amount of pain.  He is in the market for a SS.

This is precisely why I bought a Sawstop tablesaw. I also have a friend who lost digits while operating a Unisaw (no reattachment surgery possible). One moment of distraction or inattention is all it takes. There have been "legion" arguments on this board with people who just don't get it, and frankly never will.

Doug

[R Clark]

When I bought my PCS,  I was told that even if it didn't have the safety brake, it was still a great saw, and I agree. In addition, a friend was using his TS about two weeks ago, he was doing multiple cuts, got to the last one, and got distracted.  He is still not sure exactly what happened, but cut mostly through 3 fingers,  they have been reattached, though he is scheduled for another surgery to try to restore movement to one of the fingers, and still in a fair amount of pain.  He is in the market for a SS.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Back when I was still on active duty with the Air Force, I had a wing commander who always preached safety.  It was pretty much expected, and so it was a message that rolled off most who heard it.  Most of of his career had been in Special Operations, and he and his colleagues were often in risky situations.  One thing he always said stuck with me:

"It's the routine things that you've done a "million times" that present the greatest safety risk.  Comfort and complacency lead to lapses in care and judgement." 

I think it's that way in our shops.

[Bach1750]

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Back when I was still on active duty with the Air Force, I had a wing commander who always preached safety.  It was pretty much expected, and so it was a message that rolled off most who heard it.  Most of of his career had been in Special Operations, and he and his colleagues were often in risky situations.  One thing he always said stuck with me:

"It's the routine things that you've done a "million times" that present the greatest safety risk.  Comfort and complacency lead to lapses in care and judgement." 

I think it's that way in our shops.

I have an electrician friend who had an incident when he was just starting out.  At the hospital he asked the doctor if he saw a lot of inexperience in the ER.  The doc said yes, but he saw a lot of old timers too who became a little lax with routine things.  That made a lot of sense and stuck with me.

Worst tool accident I ever had was with a box cutter, but comparatively, it wasn't that bad.  I now know two people who've had TS accidents with bad outcomes, so maybe a better pool analogy is that if you're swimming with one shark and nine muskies, you'll be a lot safer if you can muzzle the shark.

Murray, congrats on the new saw, I've been very happy with my SS contractors saw since 2008.