Sawstop assembly

[KC]

Just finished assembly on a 1.75hp cabinet saw with 52" rails... and I gotta say, it's the first time EVER for me where everything went together like it should.  Excellent directions in honest to God English.   Excellent hardware packaging.  Fit and finish is top notch.
 

I know Sawstop pushes buttons for a lot of folks, and frankly, it kinda did for me at the beginning.  Very nearly went Powermatic (1.75hp), but Woodcraft didn't have one in the store, and technology aside, overwhelmingly positive reviews of the Sawstop swayed me... and LOML calls the $300 price difference cheap insurance.


Also picked up a new $90 Freud blade thinking the Sawstop blade would be crap, but it looks like it may actually be good.

[fredhargis]

Congrats. I agree the manuals are among the better ones available, and they did a nice job explaining things.

[R Clark]

Your experience was the same as mine eight years ago. The only exception was blade quality. Mine was cr*p, even after sending it out for sharpening.

Two years after getting the saw, we moved, and I moved that saw twice: once into short term storage and then again into the shop where it now resides. After being partially disassembled, loaded onto a truck twice and then unloaded, and reassembled, I thought I would at least have go through a whole alignment drill. Nope. Dead on alignment, no messing with trunnions or the fence. Just reassembled and back into action.

[Hank Knight]

I agree. SawStop is excellent in every respect. Great engineering. Great execution. Great instructions. Easy assembly. Best blade parallel adjustment I've ever seen. Even the blade that came with the saw is top notch. I've had my ICS for seven years and it has never given me a minute's trouble. Great product.

[Handplanesandmore]

The stock blade that comes with the saw is good for average use. The premium one is good for above average use, but is nowhere near the Forrest's. If you need better results, skip the SAWSTOP's.

Festool is releasing its version of "SawStop" in the EU market. More people will get protected.

Simon

[KC]

Your experience was the same as mine eight years ago.  The only exception was blade quality.  Mine was cr*p, even after sending it out for sharpening.

Two years after getting the saw, we moved, and I moved that saw twice: once into short term storage and then again into the shop where it now resides.  After being partially disassembled, loaded onto a truck twice and then unloaded, and reassembled, I thought I would at least have go through a whole alignment drill.  Nope.  Dead on alignment, no messing with trunnions or the fence.  Just reassembled and back into action.

This is good to hear.  I've moved my Xacta saw three times now counting a stint in storage, and had it apart for maintenance at least twice besides that I can remember.  Didn't want to buy anything new until we moved in a couple years, but also just didn't want to take the JET apart again (to replace the arbor shaft).  Word of advice here... make sure to tighten that arbor nut, especially with a dado stack.  Loose 3/4" stack takes about 3 seconds to destroy the threads.  
  And maybe the dado set... I didn't look at that yet!

Only gripe about the new saw is that it's left tilt.  I grew up on righties, and in the camp that's comfortable with all the supposed bevel ripping issues.  I'll get used to left tilt for that, but it's gonna take probably three mistakes before I remember that the fence measurement cursor won't be right for dados or switching between thin/thick kerf blades.  Simple adjustment, yeah.  But it's been a whole lotta years without worrying about it.

[R Clark]

...

Only gripe about the new saw is that it's left tilt.  ...

Yeah, it took a little getting used to.  My previous saw was an old Delta contractor saw with right tilt.

My only SawStop trigger event was with the blade tilted over to 45 for a bevel cut.  I had a large (size-wise, not profit) commission shadow box in the shop at the old place.  I was a little behind schedule, and we had made the decision to sell out over there and move to our current place.  That box was my last project in the old garage.  I was going fast, working later than I normally do, but I had to get that box done.  I had lots of things to do to prepare the house for sale while holding down my regular paying job, too.

Anywho...I had that blade laid over and ran that work piece through for a 45 miter cut, and BAM!  The saw triggered when the blade contacted the aluminum extrusion on my Incra miter.  I had failed to take into account the geometry change when I laid the blade over to the left and I was cutting to the left of the blade like I do 99% of the time.

There went any hope of at least breaking even on that box.

[GeeDub]

Same experience with the 3HP PCS. Even the packaging is well thought out and serves as an assembly assist platform.

[Ray Newman]

As handplanesand more posted, here is the link to the Fe$tool saw with SawStop technology:
https://www.festool.com/products/new-pro...#Functions

In 2016, I took delivery of a 3HP ICS to replace a circa 1987 3 HP Uni-saw. Both are comparable in terms of fit and finish, power, etc.

Back when I sold the Uni-saw, woodworkers asked why I sold it as "It's a quality and classic and they don't make 'em like that anymore." At the time I just chuckled because when I bought it woodworkers told me it was not as good as older Uni-saws and "Delta's quality really slipped over the years."

[fredhargis]

Only gripe about the new saw is that it's left tilt.  I grew up on righties, and in the camp that's comfortable with all the supposed bevel ripping issues. 

Yeah, it took a little getting used to.  My previous saw was an old Delta contractor saw with right tilt.

Interesting points, and ones I agree with. I prefer RT despite a huge chorus bemoaning how unsafe it is and it's a dead design. I have adapted to LT somewhat, but I sure wish it was RT!