Saw Stop table saw

[CFreeborn]

I am and have been a professional woodworker for 40 plus years. I have all my fingers.
I pre-ordered the saw stop before they'd arrived in this country and never looked back. It is, hands down, the best table saw I've ever owned, and I've owned a bunch. No, it is not a 12 or 14" industrial unit and will not stand up to industrial use, but as a cabinet saw, primarily cutting plywood and 4/4 materials it'll handle everything you can throw at it. With a thin kerf ripping blade you can bury it in hardwood and with the correct (slower) feed rate, it will handle that too.
As for the arguments that "you can't legislate safety" or "use a push stick" or "pay attention", while all valid points, we are human, and humans make mistakes, get tired, get distracted, etc etc. This is as close to "fixing stupid" as you can in a wood shop.
Feel free to look at my work: www.charlesfreeborn.com

 

[Firebrick43]

I looked at them real close when they came out. Other than the built in caster system I didn't think they were constructed as well as the unisaws up into the late 90's. They Unifence is superior.

I am also surprised that some don't cut with a guard. I have an Bissmeyers overarm guard that stays on at all times along with the spitter unless the cross cut sled or IBox on it.

Also surprised many are still cutting ply on a table saw. Track saws make it so much easier and safer.

 

[mmcmdl]

Couple of saws were moved the other day . I have 2 radial arms and need to unload one . One was my Dad's .

 

[CFreeborn]

I looked at them real close when they came out. Other than the built in caster system I didn't think they were constructed as well as the unisaws up into the late 90's. They Unifence is superior.

I am also surprised that some don't cut with a guard. I have an Bissmeyers overarm guard that stays on at all times along with the spitter unless the cross cut sled or IBox on it.

Also surprised many are still cutting ply on a table saw. Track saws make it so much easier and safer.

A track saw is great for roughing out full panels ( I use one for that), but for repeated square cuts, dados, rabbets, etc you can't beat a table saw with a sliding table attachment. Track saws are also great for job sites where a table saw isn't practical, but in a shop setting it's the workhorse.
I agree with the Unifence. That's what I use on my SawStop. Biesmeyers are good for strictly panel cutting, but for all the other things I do (tenons, dovetails, etc) the Unifence is the best. Shame the company and fence are gone (to China) now.

 

[Gnpenning]

Radial arm saws (RAS) require a negative hook blade RAS blade. Using anything else is asking for trouble. Most grab the same blade they use on their table saw and slap it on oblivious to fact it's not the same. When cross cutting or ripping as with anything else you never put your hand in the path of the blade.

I find it interesting that people think a sliding miter saw is safe and a RAS isn't.

For me my angle grinder is the most dangerous power tool I have, it's the one tool that you can do everything right and it can still get you. I have a reminder on 1 arm.

As I age I find myself being more vigilant in my setups than ever, hopefully I don't have any memory lapses. I can add all the safety features I can find, I still need to do my part for things to work out.

 

[CFreeborn]

Radial arm saws (RAS) require a negative hook blade RAS blade. Using anything else is asking for trouble. Most grab the same blade they use on their table saw and slap it on oblivious to fact it's not the same. When cross cutting or rip as with anything else you never put your hand in the path of the blade.

I find it interesting that people think a sliding miter saw is safe and a RAS isn't.

For me my angle grinder is the most dangerous power tool I have, it's the one tool that you can do everything right and it can still get you. I have a reminder on 1 arm.

As I age I find myself being more vigilant in my setups than ever, hopefully I don't have any memory lapses. I can add all the safety features I can find, I still need to do my part for things should work out.

I completely agree. I've never liked or owned a RAS or a sliding Miter saw. Too many horror stories of fingers, hands and even arms being lost. No thank you. Yep, the angle grinder is a little hornet waiting to sting...

 

[Firstram]

The Unifence is superior.

I never understood how people don't love the unifence. Everyone always tried to show me how weak they are by grabbing the end of the fence and forcing it sideways. I have hurt a bunch feelings by explaining, if they're pushing sideways that hard after the cut they're probably not qualified to use a table saw!

 

[mmcmdl]

I had to look up unifence . I always just called it a fence , but I have one !

 

[Gnpenning]

I never understood how people don't love the unifence. Everyone always tried to show me how weak they are by grabbing the end of the fence and forcing it sideways. I have hurt a bunch feelings by explaining, if they're pushing sideways that hard after the cut they're probably not qualified to use a table saw!

I have a older beisemeyer (sp?) On 1 saw and a unifence on another, both are very good. I wouldn't change one for the other.

Someone try doing that to one of my fences we would be having a very uncomfortable conversation. You would have to be a certified azz to do that. There would be more than hurt feelings. Intentionally trying to destroy someone else's property is inexcusable and should be treated as such. On the plus side I would have one less person coming around doing stupid stuff..

 

[MikeInOr]

Since I have started using my sliding table saw I can't imagine going back to any cabinet table saw, Saw Stop or other. For me being able to feed the work through the blade on the sliding table is much safer, more accurate and less work than the Powermatic 65 cabinet saw I have been using for 25 years.



My brother in law bought a saw stop a few years ago and initially loved it. So far he has had 2 unexplained trips of the blade brake while sawing through kiln dried stock with his hands no where close to the blade. His love affair with the Saw Stop has hit really hard times after replacing 2 expensive cartridges and ruining 2 expensive blades. I have used his Saw Stop and I would say it is very comparable in build to my Powermatic 65 10" 3hp cabinet saw. It is not a substitute for my Powermatic 71 12" 5hp saw and isn't in the same league as the Italian 14" 7hp sliding table saw.

The old dual round rail fence on my old Powermatic 65 was really nice because it locked at the front and rear of the fence so there was zero deflection of the fence. Too bad the dual rail Powermatic fence didn't lock to perpendicular like a T fence does 100% of the time. Even the industrial Biesemeyer T fence that came on my Powermatic 71 12" cabinet saw has small bit of deflection which is not an issue 99% of the time. When trying to rip a 4x8 sheet with the Biesemeyer fence the tiny bit of deflection can be a problem. As stated above a track saw is better for such cuts so I never rip an entire 4x8 sheet on the table saw any more.



Personally I learned woodworking from my father and the only stationary saw we had was a Delta 10" radial arm saw. He taught me how to use it safely and properly. We ripped many boards and panels on the Delta RAS as well as thousands of crosscuts without an incident EVER. After my parents put their 4 kids through college my father finally bought a cast iron top Craftsman table saw and never even considered ripping on the RAS again but still used it for pretty much all cross cuts.

My 1947 16" 7.5hp Redstar radial arm saw is the most used saw in my shop. It always cuts near perfect angles and goes back to a perfect 90 without having to check it or realign it. (I did check the 90 every time I came back from a miter cut for the first 5 or so years I owned it but have only checked in a few time in the proceeding 25 years of ownership) Now that I am getting my sliding table saw online I will have to see how much crosscutting gets transitioned to it instead of the RAS but I doubt I will ever not have a RAS in my shop... 45 years of cutting with a RAS is a hard habit to break!

My 12" Walker Turner RAS was never my favorite but it it is an excellent incredibly solid accurate saw:


Once I get the newer 16" Delta Long Arm RAS up and going I am going to have a VERY hard time sawing good bye to my 1947 16" Redstar RAS that has been my main saw for the past 30 years:



The Delta 16" long arm RAW will have some VERY big shoes to fill: