Had a great discussion on table saws in another thread in which the Saw Stop table saw was highly recommended, along with a few others.
I have a question concerning the control computer which monitors and I assume fires the brake cartridge when the blade comes in contact with human flesh. Does this have a life expectancy, and what happens to repairability if and when it does pass its use by date?
Maybe this is a question better asked to the Saw Stop people.
Thanks
Replies
There’s no expiration that I’ve ever heard of.
I was going to chime in on earlier thread with a +1 for Sawstop 3 HP. I’m in similar situation as you (not *quite* as elderly), and got the 3 HP instead of the 1.75. I don’t think I “need” it, but I knew that I would never regret getting it whereas there’s a chance I would regret getting the 1.75 instead of the 3 HP. It’s a brain thing.
I really love the saw, especially with the homemade jigs that improve its capabilities.
It comes with a brake cartridge. When I got it I ordered an extra one (along with the dado cartridge), but haven’t needed it yet.
I don’t think it was mentioned in earlier thread, but another big benefit of SS for me was the ease of setup. The instructions and packaging are top notch.
edit: I knew I remembered something about this. Here's something:
https://www.finewoodworking.com/forum/sawstop-brake-issue
I don't hear much about technology malfunctions on SS, but I don't have my ear to the ground either
Thanks for the link. I did not find it in my pre-post search. This is exactly what I am concerned about. When a $4000 machine becomes in-operative with little to no concession from a manufacturer. And the only after sale service involves email and phone calls. This is especially difficult when your lively hood is involved.
This gives me concern, but only to what my repair options are when the saw is 5, 10 and 15 years old. After that my elderliness will make the issue moot.
When the time comes to buy a saw, this will weigh in my decision. All of my previous cabinet saws, (Grizzly, Powermatic 66) did not have the riving knife. Perhaps I will choose a Grizzly, Delta, or a Harvey.
Thanks
I don't know about Harvey, but I seem to see many, many more complaints and buyer's remorse with Grizzly and Delta than Sawstop. I don't see many people saying they regret their Sawstop purchase. I'm sure they are out there, but I don't see many of them.
One place to ask around about reliability is high schools/tech schools that have wood shops (or woodworking schools). A lot of them (most?) seem to have Sawstops these days, and I assume they all beat on them with lots of stops/starts, etc.
A few years ago I attended a two-day turning class. On the other side of the open room, they were running a beginners class on making shaker table. The SS tripped on both days due to student mistakes. While it set the class back, the instructors were Ok with changing out the brake/blade and charging the student for the replacement.
I have owned a Saw Stop 3 hp PCS for about 13 years. I have had a problem with the electronics only once - about a year ago. Over time saw dust gets everywhere and it can interfere with the startup routine. The machine thinks there's a problem because some contact some where isn't being made. It doesn't cause the brake to fire. The saw just won't start. A call to the very helpful Saw Stop support team, a brush, shop vac and a little compressed air solved the problem pretty quickly. I've made a note to myself to clean the inside of the saw a bit more frequently than once every 12 years. I bought my saw about six months before the 1 3/4 hp version was introduced. If I had the choice to make over again, I'd probably still opt for the 3 hp version, even though I had to spend an additional few hundred bucks to have a 220V outlet added to my garage. You won't regret the Saw Stop purchase.
I too love my 3 hp SS, but I have had computer problems. Really electrical. There is a red key that needs to be inserted in the brake cartridge. It reaches into the saw itself. You rotate the key and that completes a link. My problem was with the dado cartridge--you have to press real hard in twisting the key. I tried compressed air and whatnot. A call to tech support and they said--and clearly had said before--to press down so hard it feels as if you are breaking the key. And that worked. Incidentally, I've had cartridge events, all when metal touched the blade--my miter gauge that I forgot to reset after doing an angled cut, and a ruler once. The miter gauge got a nick but wasn't damaged. I keep spare cartridges on hand.
My sawstop has fired twice. Once because of not-dry-enough glue conducting enough to be an issue and once because a fence was either leaned into too much or not locked down completely.
I bought the dado cartridge and an extra normal cartridge when I got the saw. When you activate the blade brake the cartridge collects data that SS wants for R&D. I filled out the "save" forms and each time was sent a new replacement brake cartridge. Long term costs for new brakes are nil (if the program is still the same).
My "injury" is in the first panel. Buy the SawStop!
Did you factor new underwear into the financial cost?
Oddly enough with the DC running and the hearing protection on I did not even notice the blade had retracted. It was a non-through cut... the blade dropped away and I just kept pushing the stock through.
From your responses, I'm more confident the electronics won't be a deal breaker. I'm certain the 3 HP will be worth the extra money at resale than the 1.75 HP, yet for my use the smaller HP would be fine. The funny thing is Grizzly in Springfield, MO has the best prices in my area on Saw Stops. So that is where I will probably go to buy it.
I'm reminded of this story by the previous post about the beginners woodworking class. When I attended a 9 month finishing / furniture restoration program in the late 1990's, we were all taught shop safety. No student was allowed in the machinery part of the class room until they scored 100% on a written safety test.
The instructor had various stories to tell of how one student or another in the past really got in trouble by not following shop safety rules. We all said I don't want to be one of his stories. One funny story involved the use of the drill press. The student needed another hand to set the depth gauge, so he put his forehead on the feed handle. Things got away when the feed handle spun around and hit him every rotation until it returned to its home position.
I do not see how any cabinet shop business with employees using a table saw would not immediately replace their non-Saw Stop branded saws due to potential liability.
Saw Stop owners I appreciation the testimonies on how you like your saws. I will be buying the Saw Stop when I buy. It is going to take me a few months to turn my open faced garage into a shop.
Maybe because sawstop doesn't have any full scale full length panel saw which I assume most bigger cabinet shops with employes are using. Although Felder have such a saw with a similar system, most panel saws have an overhead blade guard that very seldom if ever needs to be removed for a cut.
I thought I'd add a note to this in case its helpful for anyone from a recent SS experience which was delightful. I have the PCS 1.75 version. About a year ago, I converted from 11ov to 22ov. Very easy to do. Around the same time, I started to experience intermittent, yet repeated "Contact During Standby" detections when firing up the saw. I would have to stop, turn off the saw, turn it back on to clear the error, and then try again. This would happen all the time. First, I thoroughly cleaned the entire inside of the cabinet. Problem kept happening. Then I changed brake cartridges - regular and dado. Problem kept happening. Changed saw blades. Problem kept happening. I got to thinking maybe somehow I messed up the rewiring because I also added a new, longer power cord and plug. But I checked all that out and it was fine. So, I emailed SawStop service and outlined the scenario. I thought maybe the contactor assembly or switch box had become faulty. The SS tech who answered my emails said let me overnight you a new brake cartridge with a new firmware version and see if that fixes the problem. Sure enough, after putting the new cartridge in, problem disappeared. So, problem seemed to be because of old firmware in older version brakes. After that, SawStop also - at no cost to me - sent me additional standard and dado brakes to replace the old backup ones I already had. They didn't ask any questions, though I had purchased them all through their site over time so they could have easily checked their records to see if I was trying to scam them for some free merch. But they did not. So, in my experience, if you've got a tech issue, they respond almost immediately to work it out. Couldn't be happier with the level of support they provided, and it didn't cost me a dime to fix.
Good to know. Thanks.
I teach woodworking classes to beginners and having the SS is the only way I would do it. I get that before the SS people learned on other saws, but with the tech available it is a no-brainer. It has been super reliable and tech support was great the one time I needed it (which was just me being an idiot and not knowing some basic functionality, not a bug).
I've had a SawStop since 2005 after having a minor kickback injury on my Delta contractor saw. At that time I was a true novice. My saw continues to work extremely well with no mechanical problems. Mine is the industrial 3 hp model. Triggered a couple times, once when I tried to make a zero clearance insert without taking off the riving knife, another when the blade card fell into the spinning blade. All and all a great saw, i've never regretted buying it
You shouldn't have to worry about the longevity of the electronics in the cartridge. As long as you're not exposing it to constantly high heat.
Here's a tip that will help some of you in the future regarding the Sawstop and its technology.
When you get a sawblade resharpened, clean it thoroughly. I'm talking about all surfaces. Sometimes there is micro-fine invisible metal dust left on the blade due to the sharpening process. While the sharpening service should clean it, they don't always get the residue completely washed away. The fine metal particles can become airborne when the blade starts and can create a conductive field around the blade which will cause the cartridge to engage when your hand gets closer to the conductive field but safe distance from the spinning blade. The newly sharpened blade was destroyed and I was startled as I didn't realize what had just happened. I contacted S/S and after sending in my cartridge they replaced it at no charge. This is just a tip from an obscure and expensive learning process. I'm sure many of you have installed resharpened blades with no incidence.
As an aside they recommended that I replace the belts due to the unit's age (5 yrs).