I started a small job this morning, a cabinet for some kind of war game
board game. It will house 12, 24"x34" game boards, will fold out on top
to form a 24"x72" map table and will be mobile. 9 sheets of Baltic
birch type plywood in 1/2" and 3/4" thicknesses. Not pretty by any
stretch of the imagination but it should be functional. Apparently the
game/games can go on for years.


Anyway this is my first paying job using the SawStop. So far I am very
happy with the choice I made.

The hydraulic lift mobile base works great, it moves left/right,
forward/backward, and or sill spin. All four wheels will swivel and the
wheels only carry the weight when you want to move the saw.

The rip fence seems to be top notch. The fence faces are very much like
the Biesemeyer fence with the Baltic birch aides covered with plastic
laminate. The fence easily glides due to the fact that it has extra
glide pads that bump the angle iron support when it is being moved. The
cursor and rule are easy to read. The only problem I had setting an
exact measurement was when using a dado set and using a steel rule to
set the distance from the blade. Each time I locked the fence it would
move. This is ONLY a problem when setting the distance without using
the built in rule. This situation is more of a "getting use to how it
locks down" problem than anything else. Once I learned the fine
subtleties of that maneuver the problem disappeared.

The left miter slot was a touch narrow on the front end. The miter
gauge that came with the saw, my Incra miter gauge and my Dubby miter
sled all got in a bind at that point. The remedy was about 8~10 lite
passes with a file and all was well. As a side note, this may not have
actually been a saw issue. I use TopCote on my tools and Bostitch has
replaced TopCote with another named product that virtually does the same
thing except it goes on even heavier than its predecessor. I put on 3
relatively heavy coats immediately after cleaning the protective oil
coating from the surface. That was a mistake, that was way too much so
wiping off the haze was a bit tough. The directions said to apply 2 lite
coats. Hey! 3 heavy coats have to be better, right?
All I remember was that using a heavy coat of Boshield on my Jet when it
was brand new only resulted in me seeing rust the following morning. I
went back to the TopCote immediately after.
Anyway I probably got too much of the new protectant in the miter slot
and gummed it up so to speak.

Cutting the 3/4" slot in the solid, SawStop brand, throat plate was
interesting. Keep in mind that you use a different brake for the
smaller diameter blade so this was the first time I switched the brake
out. That was a relative piece of cake. Then I mounted my Forrest Dado
King dado set and put in the blank insert and then covered with a piece
of wood. You cannot see any thing and you are hoping all is well in
side the saw when you turn it on. You have a $80 brake and a $300 dado
set inside there. Hopefully as you are raising the blade through that
phenolic insert nothing upsets the brake. NO PROBLEM! Whew!

As demonstrated with the quarter demonstration I showed you, the saw
runs very smoothly. Picture pushing a board across a granite topped
island counter in your kitchen. You turn on the saw and begin cutting
the wood, you hear the saw but you don't feel anything.

With little effort the saw cut 81 linear feet of 3/4" x 1/4" deep dado's
this afternoon.

I may have mentioned that I thought a color other than black might have
been better for the saw. The gloss powder coat finish is so slick that
blowing off, brushing, or vacuuming with the DC gets rid of the dust
quick, so after a days work the saw did not look like I would have
imagined. It is still pretty clean looking. I wish the fit and finish
on any of my vehicles was this good.

When I turn the saw off the blade stops quickly, even with the dado set
there is no appreciable difference in stopping time, off the top of my
head I would say 2~3 seconds. That does not seem like a big deal except
when you are standing there watching and waiting for the blade to stop.

The Paddle start stop lever will take more getting used to. As intended
you can bump it with your leg to turn off the saw. That is also easily
accomplished when not intended. ;~) And that lead to thinking that I
may have had a faulty motor switch. During one of the unintended power
downs I quickly reached down to turn the saw back on and got NOTHING. I
removed the wood, pushed the paddle back in and pulled it to start, the
saw started. This happened about 3 times and I finally discovered that
you cannot restart the saw motor after shutting it off until the blade
comes to a complete stop. After discovering that I no longer had any
issues with starting the saw back up.

Anyway, so far so good.

On 5/4/2013 8:16 PM, Leon wrote:
I started a small job this morning, a cabinet for some kind of war game
board game. It will house 12, 24"x34" game boards, will fold out on top
to form a 24"x72" map table and will be mobile. 9 sheets of Baltic
birch type plywood in 1/2" and 3/4" thicknesses. Not pretty by any
stretch of the imagination but it should be functional. Apparently the
game/games can go on for years.


Anyway this is my first paying job using the SawStop. So far I am very
happy with the choice I made.

The hydraulic lift mobile base works great, it moves left/right,
forward/backward, and or sill spin. All four wheels will swivel and the
wheels only carry the weight when you want to move the saw.

The rip fence seems to be top notch. The fence faces are very much like
the Biesemeyer fence with the Baltic birch aides covered with plastic
laminate. The fence easily glides due to the fact that it has extra
glide pads that bump the angle iron support when it is being moved. The
cursor and rule are easy to read. The only problem I had setting an
exact measurement was when using a dado set and using a steel rule to
set the distance from the blade. Each time I locked the fence it would
move. This is ONLY a problem when setting the distance without using
the built in rule. This situation is more of a "getting use to how it
locks down" problem than anything else. Once I learned the fine
subtleties of that maneuver the problem disappeared.

The left miter slot was a touch narrow on the front end. The miter
gauge that came with the saw, my Incra miter gauge and my Dubby miter
sled all got in a bind at that point. The remedy was about 8~10 lite
passes with a file and all was well. As a side note, this may not have
actually been a saw issue. I use TopCote on my tools and Bostitch has
replaced TopCote with another named product that virtually does the same
thing except it goes on even heavier than its predecessor. I put on 3
relatively heavy coats immediately after cleaning the protective oil
coating from the surface. That was a mistake, that was way too much so
wiping off the haze was a bit tough. The directions said to apply 2 lite
coats. Hey! 3 heavy coats have to be better, right?
All I remember was that using a heavy coat of Boshield on my Jet when it
was brand new only resulted in me seeing rust the following morning. I
went back to the TopCote immediately after.
Anyway I probably got too much of the new protectant in the miter slot
and gummed it up so to speak.

Cutting the 3/4" slot in the solid, SawStop brand, throat plate was
interesting. Keep in mind that you use a different brake for the
smaller diameter blade so this was the first time I switched the brake
out. That was a relative piece of cake. Then I mounted my Forrest Dado
King dado set and put in the blank insert and then covered with a piece
of wood. You cannot see any thing and you are hoping all is well in
side the saw when you turn it on. You have a $80 brake and a $300 dado
set inside there. Hopefully as you are raising the blade through that
phenolic insert nothing upsets the brake. NO PROBLEM! Whew!

As demonstrated with the quarter demonstration I showed you, the saw
runs very smoothly. Picture pushing a board across a granite topped
island counter in your kitchen. You turn on the saw and begin cutting
the wood, you hear the saw but you don't feel anything.

With little effort the saw cut 81 linear feet of 3/4" x 1/4" deep dado's
this afternoon.

I may have mentioned that I thought a color other than black might have
been better for the saw. The gloss powder coat finish is so slick that
blowing off, brushing, or vacuuming with the DC gets rid of the dust
quick, so after a days work the saw did not look like I would have
imagined. It is still pretty clean looking. I wish the fit and finish
on any of my vehicles was this good.

When I turn the saw off the blade stops quickly, even with the dado set
there is no appreciable difference in stopping time, off the top of my
head I would say 2~3 seconds. That does not seem like a big deal except
when you are standing there watching and waiting for the blade to stop.

The Paddle start stop lever will take more getting used to. As intended
you can bump it with your leg to turn off the saw. That is also easily
accomplished when not intended. ;~) And that lead to thinking that I
may have had a faulty motor switch. During one of the unintended power
downs I quickly reached down to turn the saw back on and got NOTHING. I
removed the wood, pushed the paddle back in and pulled it to start, the
saw started. This happened about 3 times and I finally discovered that
you cannot restart the saw motor after shutting it off until the blade
comes to a complete stop. After discovering that I no longer had any
issues with starting the saw back up.

Anyway, so far so good.




Glad to hear that you like it. I wonder when moving the fence if you can
let the lever slightly down but still fine tune the fence. Is that what
you found you needed to do?

That quick stopping sounds really nice.



--
Jeff

woodchucker wrote:
On 5/4/2013 8:16 PM, Leon wrote:
I started a small job this morning, a cabinet for some kind of war game
board game. It will house 12, 24"x34" game boards, will fold out on top
to form a 24"x72" map table and will be mobile. 9 sheets of Baltic
birch type plywood in 1/2" and 3/4" thicknesses. Not pretty by any
stretch of the imagination but it should be functional. Apparently the
game/games can go on for years.


Anyway this is my first paying job using the SawStop. So far I am very
happy with the choice I made.

The hydraulic lift mobile base works great, it moves left/right,
forward/backward, and or sill spin. All four wheels will swivel and the
wheels only carry the weight when you want to move the saw.

The rip fence seems to be top notch. The fence faces are very much like
the Biesemeyer fence with the Baltic birch aides covered with plastic
laminate. The fence easily glides due to the fact that it has extra
glide pads that bump the angle iron support when it is being moved. The
cursor and rule are easy to read. The only problem I had setting an
exact measurement was when using a dado set and using a steel rule to
set the distance from the blade. Each time I locked the fence it would
move. This is ONLY a problem when setting the distance without using
the built in rule. This situation is more of a "getting use to how it
locks down" problem than anything else. Once I learned the fine
subtleties of that maneuver the problem disappeared.

The left miter slot was a touch narrow on the front end. The miter
gauge that came with the saw, my Incra miter gauge and my Dubby miter
sled all got in a bind at that point. The remedy was about 8~10 lite
passes with a file and all was well. As a side note, this may not have
actually been a saw issue. I use TopCote on my tools and Bostitch has
replaced TopCote with another named product that virtually does the same
thing except it goes on even heavier than its predecessor. I put on 3
relatively heavy coats immediately after cleaning the protective oil
coating from the surface. That was a mistake, that was way too much so
wiping off the haze was a bit tough. The directions said to apply 2 lite
coats. Hey! 3 heavy coats have to be better, right?
All I remember was that using a heavy coat of Boshield on my Jet when it
was brand new only resulted in me seeing rust the following morning. I
went back to the TopCote immediately after.
Anyway I probably got too much of the new protectant in the miter slot
and gummed it up so to speak.

Cutting the 3/4" slot in the solid, SawStop brand, throat plate was
interesting. Keep in mind that you use a different brake for the
smaller diameter blade so this was the first time I switched the brake
out. That was a relative piece of cake. Then I mounted my Forrest Dado
King dado set and put in the blank insert and then covered with a piece
of wood. You cannot see any thing and you are hoping all is well in
side the saw when you turn it on. You have a $80 brake and a $300 dado
set inside there. Hopefully as you are raising the blade through that
phenolic insert nothing upsets the brake. NO PROBLEM! Whew!

As demonstrated with the quarter demonstration I showed you, the saw
runs very smoothly. Picture pushing a board across a granite topped
island counter in your kitchen. You turn on the saw and begin cutting
the wood, you hear the saw but you don't feel anything.

With little effort the saw cut 81 linear feet of 3/4" x 1/4" deep dado's
this afternoon.

I may have mentioned that I thought a color other than black might have
been better for the saw. The gloss powder coat finish is so slick that
blowing off, brushing, or vacuuming with the DC gets rid of the dust
quick, so after a days work the saw did not look like I would have
imagined. It is still pretty clean looking. I wish the fit and finish
on any of my vehicles was this good.

When I turn the saw off the blade stops quickly, even with the dado set
there is no appreciable difference in stopping time, off the top of my
head I would say 2~3 seconds. That does not seem like a big deal except
when you are standing there watching and waiting for the blade to stop.

The Paddle start stop lever will take more getting used to. As intended
you can bump it with your leg to turn off the saw. That is also easily
accomplished when not intended. ;~) And that lead to thinking that I
may have had a faulty motor switch. During one of the unintended power
downs I quickly reached down to turn the saw back on and got NOTHING. I
removed the wood, pushed the paddle back in and pulled it to start, the
saw started. This happened about 3 times and I finally discovered that
you cannot restart the saw motor after shutting it off until the blade
comes to a complete stop. After discovering that I no longer had any
issues with starting the saw back up.

Anyway, so far so good.




Glad to hear that you like it. I wonder when moving the fence if you can
let the lever slightly down but still fine tune the fence. Is that what
you found you needed to do?

My old Jet Exacta fence had there distinct positions. There was the up
position where there was no restriction. The down position that snugged
everything up, and the locked position.

The SawStop has the up, but the down snug position is down with more
effort than where gravity tales it. Key to quick adjustments before lock
down is knowing the feel between where gravity tales the lever and total
lock down.

Bump adjusting the fence is best done at the front end vs. somewhere closer
to the middle.

Again this is all about setting up with a rule when cutting dados.
Positioning the fence for a regular cut using the built in rip fence rule
is with out issue what so ever.





That quick stopping sounds really nice.

Leon wrote:

Anyway, so far so good.

New toys are wonderful, aren't they?

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

"dadiOH" wrote:
Leon wrote:

Anyway, so far so good.

New toys are wonderful, aren't they?


Yes, but only after assembly. :-)