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Don williams sent me this link yesterday, and I must say I was floored by this product.
Watch the video of the hotdog and the table saw blade..

SAW STOP

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Wow Awesome product. It even makes the blade disapear into thin air. Bobc38401.395625

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Where was this in November when I needed it If anyone wonders if a system like this would be worth it. The cabinet saw cost $2,600 plus or minus, My medical bills for my accident ran over $4,000 out of my pocket not to mention what insurance picked up. And my little mishap was fairly minor. Less than one third of the last joint of one finger was lost.

Michael,

Excellent point. Very cool machine.

Jeff

Fine Woodworking did a favorable review of the saw a month or two ago. I didn't think the saw was available anywhere yet. Does anyone know if they are being shipped yet?

They are being shipped direct from the manufacturer. I think there is a back log.

I've been following the progress of this saw for some time and there is one issue with it that still seems unclear. That is the issue of false triggers. The Sawstop people say that it isn't a problem. Other reviewers say that it is. I haven't see any data to support either position. I have heard that you have to remember to shut it off if you cut anything metallic. That may include foil backed foam board used in construction. Since the mechanism must be replaced when it fires, it could be very annoying and expensive if it happens a lot. If it only fires when in contact with human flesh then that cost is well worth it. Heck, I wouldn't mind if it destroyed the whole table saw.

As I understand it the fuse for lack of a better term is set to trip at an electrical resistance slightly lower than wood. So if you cut anything with a resistance lower than wood you would need to disengage it. I believe you only replace the fuse and brake arm assembly after a trigger. I do not know what the cost of replacing the fuse and brake arm would be but as I unfortunately know too well. It can't be 1/10 of the cost of an accident. My hats are off to the engineers on this project. If it works 80% it is a god send. My surgeon told me that the #1 most common injury requiring reconstructive surgery in the U.S. is table saw accidents.

Whoa! That's a startling statistic. One I can personally relate to though...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

It seems like a good idea, but how is it as a saw?

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

My issue with the system is not how it works or what it does, I think it's great and would like to see it on all tools at some point. And when I buy my next table saw I'll be looking for one of these to be supported on whatever I buy.

My issue is that the inventor tried to force company's to adopt it through legislation, the government already controls too dang much of my life, we don't need more 'do gooders' forcing their ideas on the population. I certainly don't want bodies like Osha coming into my private workshop and telling me what I can and can't do (which they attempted to do with people who work at home but common sense won out finally).

Brock has a great point, how is it as a table saw?, does it compare to the others on the market?? If it's %100 safe and is a terrible saw then it's not going to be used much. I think it's a great invention, I would love to see a retro-fit for my Jet but at some point I'll move up to one that supports this, just don't make me do it. I want them to compete in the marketplace because it will force them to make a better saw and work out the bugs, the false triggers are a concern and if enough people complain despite what the manufactuer says they will have to fix it to compete...

Cheers

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

I found the Fine Woodworking issue with the review. It was their 2004/2005 Tools and Shops annual issue. The article gives the cabinet saw verison a great review for its safety features. It did not review the saw's performance at all. It did not review the contractor version of the saw. I was interested in looking at the contractor saw verison. It would fit the budget and the work space a lot better. One potential problem is the cost of false lock ups. It appears that the locking mechanism and the blade need to be replaced after each lock up. If there is a problem with false lockups that would get very expensive.

Yesterday I went with a friend who is a member of the Rockville, MD Woodworker's Club. It's part of the Rockville, MD Woodcraft store.

One month ago they received a SawStop cabinet saw with all the trimmings. I spoke with their shop coordinator, Nick about the saw yesterday before my friend and me went to the Woodworker's Show in Chantilly, VA. I posed the question to Nick saying I was in the market for a cabinet saw and was considering the Jet, Delta Unisaw, and Powermatic and asked how the SawStop compared with these.

He stated unequivocally that "The Saw Stop will kick the Powermatic's ass." And he meant it. So much so that the Powermatic 66 that they had in the shop was sold.

The saw has a completely different trunnion such that it rises straight up and tilts in such a way that your zero clearance insert works for most angles as well. The SawStop mechanism consists of an aluminum block on a hinge with a compressed spring and fusable link that fires if you touch the blade while its running. The spring forces the aluminum block into the blade stopping saw.   The cartridges cost $60.00 to replace and can be installed in under five minutes.

When turned on, it was one of the quietest cabinet saw's I've heard and its controls were smoother than the Powermatics. All in all, from a relatively cursory review of the saw it looked great. Nick said its the only saw they've ever had to come out of the box and require no filing or adjustments to any of the parts to make them fit.

Well, that was a good endorsement... How was the fence? Did it come standard with a nice fence, or is that an add on?

I am in the market for a table saw.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com