I’ve been saving for a new table saw for years. When the economy was booming a few years ago and craft fairs were going well, I managed to put back quite a lot of money toward my saw. This year has been more of a challenge and while I have been able to save some money, it’s not been as much as I’d like. Things just cost too much now, and real income has gone down. I’ve made the same money at my regular job, BUT, the money doesn’t buy as much. Things cost a lot more than before and it’s only looking like it’ll get worse before there is a chance for better. Given all that, I found it a breath of fresh air when I found that I finally had saved enough money to buy that new Saw Stop table saw. I wanted a cabinet version, and was about to settle for another contractor saw with the open bottom. Dust collection on such as saw is almost non-existent. My old craftsman saw was only marginally good at it with modifications all over, I’d closed up every hole I could with cardboard and dust collection fixtures. I would say that I collected about 80% of the sawdust, which is pretty good, all things considered. In the picture below you can see a cardboard panel on the front of the saw held on with a spring clamp, that was to keep dust from escaping out the front of the saw. This picture also shows the Incra upgraded fence system that I put on around 25 years ago. I’ve had this saw a long time!!
Now that I have my new saw, I’ve changed the pictures on my web page to reflect the new saw and fence set up. I still have this Incra fence system, and the router tables as shown above, but a new cabinet saw from Saw Stop. There’s so much to like about the new saw
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The new saw came with a 36″ fence system with a nice Biesemeyer fence, and cast iron table wings on both sides, and a panel filler to the right to fill in where the extra long fence would go…but I’m not using any of that. It’s amazing how you can’t buy just the basic saw with no up’s and extra’s. So the unused parts will be sold to someone…or stored in case I sell the saw and not the Incra parts. I don’t like storing cast iron as it rusts no matter how well you try to keep it dry, oiled and in good condition in an unused state.
So what do I like about this saw outside of the safety part, which is the number one feature? Well, I like that this saw has a riving knife near the blade, something to prevent wood from pinching the blade as you push it through. I’d been using wood wedges and having to put them in close to the blade before. (not safe at all)
I also like the way that the blade adjusts, the quick action of the trunnion both raising and tilting the blade. The locking handles are great! The movement is smooth and easy, my craftsman was getting worn out there and very hard to move, even with grease and proper service.
I like that the motor is in the cabinet and not hung out back of the saw in the way of other things. It has a flat belt system to run the blade, and is quiet and smooth operating.
The saw is right straight out of the box, everything is square and I don’t need to make adjustments to the trunnion or the table at all, but the owners guide (which is VERY good) does show how to make those adjustments if and when needed.
The dust collection is far superior to the contractor saw. Well, a contractor saw has NO dust collection, so any is better….right? It’s good enough that I don’t find sawdust on the floor all around and in my face! It’s very good. There’s also a upper blade guard that has collection too, and that gets the wandering sawdust down to nearly none at all.
I’m not using the miter gauge that came with the saw yet, I use my Incra miter gauge still, but I may find a reason to use the factory one somewhere. It’s likely the weakest part of the whole saw product, but that’s the same for every saw out there.
Changing the blade is very easy, quality wrenches come with this saw, and there’s no having to wedge the blade with a wood scrap to hold it and wonder if the blade is tight when installed. And with the blade comes the insert. While it’s not a zero clearance insert (you can get them) it’s so much better than anything I’ve had before that wasn’t a zero clearance. My old saw would allow 1/4″ thickness parts to fall into the base of the saw. Of course an open base….who cares, but that gets back to the dust collection problem. This saw has minimal clearance, and I’d guess that 99% of my cutoff material will lay on the table instead of falling into the saw. Oh, the factory blade isn’t that bad either, it’s pretty good overall and only time will tell if it’s going to impress me like Freud blades do. Quality saw blades aren’t cheap, so taking care to not trigger the safety feature of this saw is important. The cartridge that stops the blade is about $100, but far cheaper than fingers or a hand injury.
So if you’ve read to this point in the blog…thank you!! I hope this review of my saw stop saw has been of benefit.