Thread: SawStop Cabinet Saw

Never set mine off in 5+ years. I don't run "wet" wood through it but anything sub 17% MC hasn't set it off. I've gone through the odd small staple and similar that sometimes come in the end of a pack of timber and that didn't set it off.

Hi Paintman,

I installed the Sawstop Professional Table Saw (not the industrial) some years ago - five maybe.

Since then we have put through a lot of timber - mostly dry but maybe 5% definitely not dry. We’ve never had a cartridge fire on us as a result of this. Like hurcorh we’ve also blitzed staples.

If I have a piece where I’m really concerned about moisture I put the safety mechanism on bypass for that cut.

Since our environment is a Men’s Shed the saw gets used by people of varying ages and abilities, although not unless they have received instruction.

Regards,

Brian

Thanks guys for your feedback that does give me a lot more confidence.
Cheers,
Paintman

The Men's shed I attend has run a SS for about 5 years. We have had several incidents where the safety system has intervened.

We have about 70 members on the books of which there are about 50 active with a very large range of experience and ability. Only about 30 of those members would be regular regulars and even fewer would be reliably competent on all of the machines we have. Training is a problem and the shed has burnt out a number of senior members trying to train and improve the skills of others.

We are a Men's shed. A lot of what goes through the saw is destined for chopping boards. We're not a commercial shop and not a training organization.

I am only aware of one incident where the SS was clearly triggered by a user touching the blade. Several incidents were attributed to metal contacting the blade during operation due to inattention and poor operational procedures. Then there are a few incidents where there was no clear reason that we could understand, I suspect they were mostly due to poor operational procedure. We have a rule that requires a member to stand on the outfeed side and they usually 'assist' by pulling through the work piece which I suspect is significant.

There are a couple of other things to consider with the SS. We had some issues with power supply and although the saw is on it's own circuit trips were a problem which mostly resolved after moving it to another circuit. No testing can find anything wrong with the wiring. The blade guard has been problematic, I think it needs to be considered a consumable. They're not cheap either. I've never seen anybody use the sliding table accessory effectively. It might be more useful if it was installed to replace the left wing instead of just adding it on.

Thanks Fuzzie that is very helpful and very similar to our own group. Re the power supply I wonder if that may be linked to the type of breaker installed on the main fuse board. I recall reading on the Forums about 3 different types of circuit fuses and using the correct one can avoid start up issues especially with some saw motors.
Cheers,
Paintman