Thread: Question to SawStop Owners

Unfortunately, my Men’s Shed has had our Saw Stop saw, do the magic stop and drop; twice.

Fortunately, the Saw Stop in the real world does exactly what it is designed to do. The stop and drop happens so fast, and the noise stops so quickly, you don’t see it happening. The instant lack of noise tells you things have stopped.

In both cases no injuries of any substance happened. Essentially, the extreme outer layer of skin was ever so slightly peeled back by the width of a tungsten tipped blade.
The person operating it, didn’t realise the saw had stopped and dropped; it is that fast.

My shed was looking for a new table saw at the time the Saw Stop was released. We saw it demonstrated at the Melbourne Wood Working Show, then requested another demonstration with the sausage being moved at about the fastest speed you could/would push thin sheet material through.

Unbelievable demonstration.

Mick.

Yeah if everything is working as expected there really shouldn't be any way to harm yourself other than a slight scratch. It senses so quickly and ejects away from the user so pretty much impossible to hurt yourself.

I don't think the Sawstop is intended to replace conventional guarding so that should be in place to prevent inadvertent contact in the manner you have described. My impression is that the saw stop is to prevent you pushing a hand or finger into the saw not realising how close it is. The sawstop detects moisture and that includes green timber. If you have not switched off the Sawstop facility, it can be an expensive and time wasting exercise.

My own rules are that as soon as my hands come onto the saw table I use a push stick. this is primarily when ripping timber.

Regards
Paul

Thanks for the replies. Am not in the market for a new saw atm, but will definitely will put some serious consideration when I do. Hopefully when the patents run out more players will come into the market.

I asked the same question when I bought the Professional 3HP version in 2015.

The injury will be worse based on the speed at which your hand is pulled into the blade, but it is my understanding that after 80,000 saws sold worldwide, SawStop has never had a reported digit removal incident with one of their saws. I was unable to find any evidence of it on the internet either.

So, to answer the question, it is my understanding that the brake will save your hand regardless of how fast it hits it. You almost CAN'T cut your fingers off with it.

It's also an absolutely phenomenal saw. In my experience it's in a class of its own.

Cheers,
Luke

Its been around for a while now, i remember seeing the demos in 2008 at the Sydney wood show.

i was amazed at how fast it reacts, id certainly purchase the sawstop option if the tech was available to other companies.

I watched a demo by Carbatec at the Sydney WWWS last month of a sausage being fed into the blade with a speed faster than I would normally feed any sized bit of wood into a tablesaw.

A very dramatic demo, things happened so fast it takes a second or three to realise that the blade has disappeared and the bang is all part of the show. In actual use, I would imagine that it would be quite a while after the initial incident had occurred that you realised what had just happened and then checked your finger for any damage.

A Sawstop job site saw now resides in a friends workshop as a result of the demonstration at the wood show.

Alan...

We have the Professional SawStop model in our Men's Shed and we've had two firings/drops. The first was someone using a mitre gauge and holding the workpiece with his hand. The second was someone reaching in to clear an offcut. Both things they had been expressly told not to do. Both users were normally careful. Neither was injured thanks to the Sawstop. One tiny finger abrasion but no blood drawn.

i have a Festool cs50 in my own workshop for boxmaking and love it. But I'd replace it with a Sawstop in a heartbeat if I had the space. Anyone can make a mistake.

Brian

At my mens shed, they had to put big red and green lights up because of "accidental" firings. Apparently the firing mechanism is deactivated a second or two after the blade stops turning and some members were a bit eager to clear off cuts etc. when the blade was turning ever so slightly or had only just stopped.

I have the Sawstop job site saw. Having taken a bit off the top of a thumb many years ago I am extremely careful. I hope to never need the safety features but better safe than sorry.

Cheers Bucky

A sawstop would be wonderful, but it's expensive.

im using Grrripers, which are fantastic.

G'day Tonzeyd


I've recently just bought a 3hp Prof Sawstop. Gotta say the build quality is top notch. Yes I paid a premium for the safety feature, but it does not mean I can be careless while using it.
I do not think anyone intends to purposely put their limbs into moving blades. Accidents are just that.....and if an accident ever happens (touch wood) it could potentially save a trip to the hospital.

I've had my top of the line Sawstop for quite a few years. The only tablesaw that I've seen with the same build quality is a Powermatic.

I know I shouldn't do it, but I do operate the saw after a few beers. That's how confident I am with the braking mechanism.

And again, this saw a pleasure to use. It is my go-to saw for ripping and 45 degree cuts using my Incra jig. And I have quite a few saws here and I cannot fault the Sawstop. Maybe on dust extraction, not great. But otherwise, this thing is a beast.

Originally Posted by Jeff Leslie

I know I shouldn't do it, but I do operate the saw after a few beers. That's how confident I am with the braking mechanism.

I just...I can't...why would you...