# SawStop Industrial Cabinet Saw review



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Welcome to Ljs
I found it most interesting that you did not mention safety until the end of your review ,that's the final icing on the cake.I have a SS in the school were I teach a Adult woodworking class,I agree with each point that you make. Not just a good saw but a great saw. thank you for your review.


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

thanks for the rewiew 
and welcome to L J not the worst corner to hang around on 
but be aware its addictive  enjoy and have fun

Dennis


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## ShipWreck (Feb 16, 2008)

I could care less about what the "anti" folks have to say about the SS. To me….. it is not only a safer saw, It is a better built saw than most. Until I got into hand tools, the SawStop was going to be my only choice.

Nice choice!


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## Jeff28078 (Aug 27, 2009)

Ah, yes. Another glowing review on this and other woodworking related websites of the SS from a member who's only been a member a few hours. Do they need the publicity that badly?


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## stevenmadden (Dec 10, 2009)

*CyberDyneSystems*: Thanks for the review, it's good to hear that they are still cranking out an excellent product. I still love mine, the only thing I would add to my review is how well it has held up.

Steven


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

Wow, almost sounds like a commercial.
Welcome to LJ's.


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## rockindavan (Mar 8, 2011)

I do like the sawstop..but one complaint. When you turn on the saw, then turn it off, you have to wait a few seconds to turn it back on. Might not seem like a big deal, but is frustrating when you wait 2 seconds, flip the switch and nothing, turn switch off then again turn on and nothing, then after some patience turn it on after a few seconds of waiting time. Again, not a huge deal due to the safety controls that cause this, but it can be annoying


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

"Ah, yes. Another glowing review on this and other woodworking related websites of the SS from a member who's only been a member a few hours. Do they need the publicity that badly?"

Hi Jeff, 
I guess a lurker has to have a first post some time. Sorry if this one did not meet your approval.
I'm sure it is clear from the transparent attempt to provide some history that I am not in fact a real person, but a sophisticated adbot A.I. bent on human destruction!

SawStop = wholly owned subsidiary of CyberDyneSystems.
First we start with intelligent Table Saws, then we take your fingers when you least expect it,. then you can no longer type on woodworking forums,. from there, the machines will take the world!


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

W James and Dennis, thanks for your welcome!
The best part really is the the added sense of security. 
I teach an introductory course in "Stagecraft" .. the bulk of which is construction of scenery. It's a requisite for any theatre majors, so I get a mix of kids with experience, and interest, with newcomers that have never swung a hammer, who's only reason for being there is they have to because they are acting majors.

One of the greatest feelings of satisfaction I get in my job is after a young ingenue has taken her 1st steps towards safely mastering a piece of heavy machinery like the tablesaw. The confidence she gains there boosts her confidence in life, and on stage.

I've been doing this for years with standard tools like the Unisaw the SawStop replaced. Knowing I have a fail safe is proving a huge weight off my shoulders.


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

Shipwreck,
Thanks for the welcome. You seem to have forseen the potential haters!

When I was writing this, I had no idea that I would so quickly run into the same sort of immature "my tool is better than yours" as I bore witness to for over a decade on a photography forum I was involved with. It's so familiar.. Canon Vs. Nikon! etc.. 

Nice to see this is the minority though.


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## woodmaker (Jan 12, 2011)

These are nice saws. But I personally couldn't give one 5 stars because replacement parts are proprietary and expensive. Every time that cartridge fires that's a new cartridge and a new blade, which together is over $100.00 big ones. Not to mention you have to have a different cartridge for a dado set. Mo-money!

I've been using table saws all my life and have never had a scratch on my finger from one. I get more splinters from the wood I handle.

With that being said, I would buy one of these SS if the blade merely dropped away without damaging the blade and cartridge. So until then I will wait and use my trusty saw and use my learned safety experiences.

I like a lot of table saws in the same way I like Harley's (my preferred ride) but I like a lot of other bikes out there as well. It's more important that you ride, not what you ride, just like it's more important that you woodwork, but not what tool(s) you use to do it with.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

wait a minute… don't tell me you use a Nikon???? ..... oh boy….. 

nice review. safety feature is real nice. for that much $$ I would probably opt for a slider, but this one is also a good machine.

*rockindavan* - curious - why do you have to turn the saw on and off that this delay is an issue? turning machines on and off quickly is not usually a good habit for longevity of motor and electric components in general.


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## don1960 (Jan 16, 2011)

cyberdyne,

Love, love, love the 'machine taking over the world' response to the negative post. Way to take the high road. More people should.

Very nice review of a saw I wish I had, if for nothing else but the quality construction. I have a Ridgid 4512, and probably will never go beyond it unless I hit the lottery, but coming from a machine shop background I appreciate quality. Drooled over the Sawstop in the local store and even offered my fingertip for their hotdog demonstration. (they didn't take me up on it, though.) 

Don't let the haters get to you.

Don


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

"Every time that cartridge fires that's a new cartridge and a new blade, which together is over $100.00 big ones"

I hear you Mike,
On the other hand,. (hand with fingers still attached)
Every time that cartridge fires I have saved a students fingers. A small price to pay for $100.00

We've never had a false trigger of the safety. The SawStop makes it REALLY easy to test material before hand.. but even then, we've yet to find a piece of wood that it see's as a finger.

To be fair, we've had the saw for only 5 months,. but we've used it a LOT. Our Unisaw's motor died in the middle of the biggest build we've done in this shop in over a decade. (kudos, that Delta has been trouble free since 1993) 
So the SawStop was immediately put into hard service with a variety of materials.

IF we start to have a problem with false activations,. well that would suck!


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

PurpLev,
Canon shooter all the way!

Don from PA, for what it's worth, my personal saw is a 1938 Unisaw I paid $300.00 for.
I will never be in a position to own one of these myself.

Here at the state University, it was practically the other way around. 
I would have had to fight hard to convince my superiors to get any other saw,. but the safety feature sold the powers that be in an instant. I had a signed P.O before the end of the day.


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

I hear you shuold just shoot wet lumber thruogh to test the trigger …. 
but if you have to do wet lumber you can get around the security system 
it is build for it

Dennis


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## rockindavan (Mar 8, 2011)

Purplev-
Usually need turn the saw off to double check a setting (anal nature), then you have to wait for the blade to come to a stop before you can turn it on again. Its actually harder on motor to start up from a dead stop then when its running due to the large inrush currents involved on startup.


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## lj61673 (Oct 31, 2011)

Surprise, another useless review without a single objective comment. Sawstop is the most perfectest saw ever!!!
Yawn…..


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## knothead (Aug 4, 2007)

CyberDyneSystems - I see your post generated the usual snarks! You can't even whisper SawStop here without catching H-E-Double toothpick.

SawStop is by the way, a Marvelous Saw!! Far and away the best fit and finish and a little safety enhanced to boot, I love mine as well.

This board used to be an absolute treasure trove of helpful, useful members that went out of their way to share knowledge and skills and for the most part those people are still here and as good as ever, they don't stick their head up too often anymore and that is too bad! maybe because there has been an "infestation" of less than helpful, less than useful types. My post count is low on purpose but it has gotten to the point that I only visit to check out the new project pictures - there STILL is some amazing talent represented here, read the blogs that interest me and the reviews. For the most part I stay away from the Forum as it has severely degraded from what it used to be.

Thanks for your review and happy building!


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Knothead

I agree with your input on the SS it was made with quality in mind.

I have had issues in the past with folks that are your name sakes  but decided that If I don't contribute then I let the critical types rule the site with their negative input then LJs is truly a lost cause and the spirit of friendship and sharing will be lost too. LJs was kinder gentler place when we both joined but many of those good folks are still here and some newer good folks too.


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## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

I have no comments about the SS, as I don't own one, but I appreciate you taking the time (and chance, as you've noticed) on writing up the review  I do think it is a bit expensive, and despite not knowing the manufacturing process behind it, it's possible that it does not have to be so expensive, but to me, if I had the money to spend, I probably would. I'm a software consultant, so I would miss any finger if it went missing…


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## UglySteve (Sep 29, 2010)

Great Review!

I too own this saw (left tilt, not right) and I absolutely love it. The 5hp motor is un-freaking-believable. The sheer meaty-ness of the components is unparalleled. The Fence is IMO better than the standard Beismeyer and the dust collection is second to none.

Thanks again for braving the Lumberjocks waters with its circling sawstop sharks waiting to feed on any unwary positive sawstop review.


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

I totally did type "right " tilt, I meant "proper " tilt, ie left! 
That first Powermatic I used years ago left me questioning the original Unisaw ever since. Left tilt is my preference, and of course, that's what this saw has. Good catch on my typo..


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

CDS 
I know there is a different with US. vs. Europ saws when it comes to the tilt 
but isn´t it so that it doesn´t matter as long as the fence is oppesit to the tilt
so it doesn´t have a chance to block between the blade and fence

sorry if the question sounds werd …. but I´m handsaw user

Dennis


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

I don't think Left Vs. right is a Europe Vs. US thing.
I've found about an equal number of each design here in the U.S over the years.

This seems to be changing however as in the U.S we have now (only recently) apparently migrated to a left leaning table saw world.
But, from 1930's - 199x? the biggest selling cabinet saw, the Unisaw, was always right tilt only.

Until recently, if you preferred left tilt, you had to buy another brand like Powermatic or Jet.

For some time Delta had offered the Unisaw in both right and left tilt.. Ironically however, the new "Unisaw" (a totally different design now) is left tilt only.

Which is best is really a matter of preference and experience… but there are a number of strong arguments for the left tilt.
Rather than post my own feelings, I'll link to a fairly good explanation;
http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/LeftTilt_Versus_RightTilt.html

It does however leave out a few right tilt pros.. most notable in the pro right tilt is that right tilt is safer for use with a miter gauge when using it in the left slot. Thsi feels natural to many, however with the large extension on the right side in todays table saws, perhaps moving the miter gauge to the right hand side makes sense, and mitigates that advantage?
More, I use a Tablesaw for rip operations 90% of the time, and crosscut only rarely. We have better tools for crosscuts than a tablesaw,.

The biggest drawback of the right tilt was that if you kept your fence where you normally use it,. ie: to the right, than you were tilting towards it. One could overcome this by moving the fence to the left hand side, but Oddly it was Delta's own Unifence that made this more time consuming than with any other fence. The Beisemeyer you could rip to either side at any time, the Unifence could only be moved to one side or the other. after a set up change.

Delta has again solved this problem doubly, by now offering only left tilt, *and discontinuing the Unifence!*


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

thanks for taking the time to explain it 

take care
Dennis


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## mbs (May 8, 2010)

I used a unisaw for more than 20 years before I bought my SS. I still have the unisaw and use it. I like the unisaw a lot but its dust collection, switch position and switch size, ease of raising the blade, and smoothness of cut rank below the SS. I also like the safety features.

I replaced the 3 ph motor with a single phase motor because i didnt have 3 phase power The price of the motor was extremely reasonable and easy to change. I don't recall the exact price but I think it was $340 shipped. I couldn't find local motor for that price and the mounting brackets didn't need to be modified since it was SS. Another nice feature was the electronics for the 3 ph worked for the single ph. That was well thought out by SS designers.

I don't get caught up in the debates on forums. I do my best to extract the useful information from the threads and quickly scan over other comments.

SS is expensive but for me it is a good value. I purchased mine second hand and probably won't lose money when I sell it. They hold their value well. I try to purchase most of me equipment second hand. I enjoy the hunt!


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

We just ripped 30 16 foot 1×12s down to 120 1×3s… the dust collection is unbelievable with the overarm collector and full guard. You can hardly tell the saw was used today.
( it is attached to 3HP "Reliant" Chinese knock off 4 bag dust collector made in 1993 for reference)


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## CyberDyneSystems (May 29, 2012)

False Trigger: (actually, round about positive trigger)

We had our first triggering of the brake system last year.

It was NOT a "false trigger" per se, in fact it worked exactly as it should. There just was not a direct contact with the blade.

Allow me to explain.

I was pushing a finished piece of scenery through the saw to "make it fit" Something we used to do with the Unisaw all the time. I was certain no nails (actually 18 gauge 1-1/2" narrow crown staples) would be in the blade path. I was wrong.
The staple was cut. Normally this would pose no problem for the saw, this would not get a false trigger. However, this staple was long enough that it was also contacting the cast iron table, with which my left hand was also in contact.

BANG!

The blade disappeared down under the table top in an instant, the saw was off. Sensing my hand through the staple, the safety system functioned flawlessly!

Replacing the cartridge was simple, and took about 5 minutes along with the blade to which it is now permanently fused.

Of course I could have avoided this by simply using the key/lockout feature. But I am glad I got the chance to feel this thing work it's magic.

AND It gives me the example piece to show my class now!


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

It looks like this would have fired without your hand touching the table. It is enough for the staple to be in contact with the table.

This is from the SawStop FAQ:

What happens if the blade comes in contact with a nail or staple in the wood?
Generally, the safety system will not activate when a nail or staple is cut. Although conductive, these objects are not large enough to cause the safety system to activate unless they are grounded to the table or operator when they contact the blade.


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## Peteybadboy (Jan 23, 2013)

Cyber,

Thanks for the review.


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