A few weeks ago, I was cross cutting a piece of walnut and set off the SawStop brake.
I could not understand what I had done to set it off so I sent it to SawStop to find out.
I was surprised at how much they could tell from the tripped brake. They told me that the blade had come in contact with a piece of metal, the riving knife, miter gage, or some other piece of metal. It happens so fast that it sort of throws you off.
I am still not sure what would have been that close to the blade to set it off but at least I know that it works.
I have seen a lot of posts concerning damage to the blade. I was using a Woodworker II. So I sent the blade back to Forrest to see if they could fix it. It cost me a little less than $15 more than a sharpening to put three new tooths on so I was happy with that.
I also need to check the distance from the blade to the riving knife. I never thought to check that when I set the saw up.
Domer
Replies
I'm really surprised that Forrest deemed the blade usable after replacing the three teeth. I was under the impression that the extreme stresses on the blade from the brake was enough to put the blade in imbalance (read wobble)
and www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
"I was under the impression that the extreme stresses on the blade from the brake was enough to put the blade in imbalance (read wobble)" I think originally, that was the expectation, but I've seen several posts in the past year or so where people had sent the blade back to the manufacturer (usually Forrest), teeth were repaired, and the blade goes on to cut another day. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Uh . . .
Nothing.
Forrest
Domer,
Did you take a look at the walnut itself for metal? I have often found pieces of lead in walnut lumber. Bullets, shot pellets, fired at squirrels. More rarely, nails from tree stands, or if a yard tree, horseshoes, clothesline wire, fencing staples. If the tree is an old one, the metal can be completely grown over, leaving little trace of its presence til it is hit. If you see a black streak in the wood, there is usually metal nearby.
Ray
I did not look for a piece of metal in the walnut. Probably should have.Forrest can straighten out a blade if it gets warped but you can ask them to call you with a price before they fix it. My blade didn't look warped so I did not ask them to call.The blade works great. Just like new.Domer
Domer,
I’m sorry to hear about the trigger, but you now have first hand experience of how fast they work. I’m glad to hear about the blade fix from someone that has actually had it done, and is happy with the results. That really reduces the cost of a SawStop trigger.
I know SawStop pulled a “metal contact” from the computer chip in the brake. Many have already talked about metal in the walnut you were cutting, and you were thinking about your riving knife.
I want to help rule out the distance between the blade and the brake. Although I haven’t had a trigger, I have had it stop in the middle of a cut. I checked and the lights were flashing. Decode the lights to “adjust position of brake cartridge” (it had gotten a little wider). I didn’t expect it to change once I set it, or the saw would tell me when it did. If I had taken the time to look at the light combinations (and remember them), I would have known the saw monitors this spacing.
If you were starting to close the gap between the blade and brake, you should have gotten an “adjust position of brake cartridge”.
You said the one thing you didn’t check was the riving knife spacing when you set up your saw. I’d done a lot of reading and talking to people before I finally pulled the trigger to buy my SawStop. The stories of people changing blades without checking spacing to the brake, only to trigger the brake made me check all spacing before I hit the on switch. I talked to one guy that had a trigger by an EE’s tape hitting the blade as he was checking a measurement when the saw was spinning down. Over the years, I’ve pulled the tape out to check measurements more times than I can count. But every time I reach for it now, I hear a break trip.
Thanks for the information of the blade fix.
Doug
From my conversation with SawStop, they were pretty sure it was not something in the wood.They think it was either the riving knife came loose or was too close to the blade, my miter gage came in contact with the blade, or I had some other piece of metal that came in contact. Cliff
Hi Domer I have seen where the riving knife was a little loose and when the saw was running it slowly dropped on to the blade and tripped the brake. Make sure the knife is tight. Love the saw though.Troy
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Denny
I have owned the saw for almost a year and this is the first time I have tripped the brake. I can't speak for anyone else.I love the saw and my wife is finally glad I bought it.Dom
OK. It was beginning to sound like a regular occurence. Thanks.
Denny
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Denny
Denny,
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From all the research I did before I finally bought one, the saw trips because something got into the blade. I’ve read different forums where people talk at great length about a phantom trip they’ve heard about. But I’ve yet to talk to or read something form one person that actually had one.
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I’ve had mine (contractor saw) since June and love it. I’m running it on a 120 Volt circuit because I didn’t have the space in my panel for another 240 Volt circuit. I’ll rewire to 240 Volt with the next house. I’ve cut 8/4 oak without any problem. The riving knife is the best part. The brake is a plus.
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You will not be disappointed with a SawStop.
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Doug
Thank you.
Denny
Doug, could you do us older guys a favor and use a larger type font.
Yes, if we are to read it, that would help so much. Thanks Doug
Steve,
Not a problem. I'll be happy to help whenever I can.
I guess I need to start taking the time to write something when I read post that gets my interest. Usually I make a mental note, and then put down something when I have time (usually when I'm using Word). I've just hit Post, and have not used the Preview feature.
Sorry for the big fonts. I'm not yelling, just not paying attention when I do a cut & paste. But when I look at the post now, I don't need my glasses:-)
Doug
Having read this thread, and on my way to purchase a SawStop as of tonite ....
I'm getting nervous. Do these things pop off (trip) on a regular basis? If so, it will not match up with my personality: ha ha. But I'm really serious. Is it one of those things that could be construed as a PITA???
Denny
Why am I replying when I know hardly anything about the beast (Sawstop) except what others have printed on this forum. I understand that certain materials, like wet materials or metals) that when cut on the saw will trigger the brake but there is some way to measure the tendency to trigger before sawing the piece in question. And if you are sawing questionable pieces, you can shut off that brake mechanism. Am I correct, professionals?
Yes, you can put the mechanism in a by-pass mode. It will disable the brake mechanism until you turn the saw off. You need to re-set for by-pass every time you turn the saw back on. You can test materials simply by touching them to the blade while the saw is off but with the system "live".
I have been using the saw since 2006 in a commercial shop. The thing has fired on us several times. Always for a reason we could point to. Some examples:- Loose riving knife/guard
- Soaking wet lumber
- Mirror plex.
- Laminate with a metal content
- Drywall screw Bottom line if you hit metal, chances are , it will fire. Never has the unit hit for no reason. We could always point to the cause with a better than fair certainty. Pretty much every time it was something the operator could have prevented. Luckily we haven't had the ultimate test with it and I hope we never do. -Paul
Some questions - (1) What is Mirror plex? (2) How do you know if it tests positive? Sound? Gauge? Is there an area where it is just maybe? And thank you for the answers.
Edited 12/3/2009 8:42 pm ET by Tinkerer3
Edited 12/3/2009 9:09 pm ET by Tinkerer3
Mirror plex is an acrylic sheet with a reflective coating like a mirror (think plexiglas mirror). The switch/control box has a set of small lights on it that flash at different intervals to indicate the status of the system. There is a legend there to tell you what each means. Place material against the non-spinning blade and you will get a response(or not) from those lights. There aren't really any maybes. If I am getting no response from the lights but am still leery of a material I will just put it in by-pass mode to be sure.-Paul
I'm curious; would a small piece of metal, such as a lead bullet, buried in the wood set off the brake? I've always assumed that it took something that completed an electrical path to ground (metal, moisture, etc.) that tripped it, and a small piece of metal isolated (insulated) in wood wouldn't do that. Am I correct?Woody
It is my understanding that a small piece of metal in the wood would trip the brake. Which is a good thing I would think. You wouldn't want that piece of metal being hurled at you at 100 mph. Domer
A local plastics company here in Tulsa was having issues with the brake going off. Seems there are some plastics with certain properties that will set it off. They have a reg unisaw now for them.
The other is moisture content of the materials, but you may know that.
Could it be caused by static from cutting the plastic.
Taigert
Possibyly but they still cut a lot of other varieties on the saws, they have 4.
Not a path to ground, just enough conductance/capacitance that it bleeds off a few millivolts that the sensor can detect. If it had be a path to ground, you'd have to work barefoot on a concrete floor or clamp an alligator clip to one of your appendages with a wire connected to a grounded outlet. BruceT
"If it had be a path to ground, you'd have to work barefoot on a concrete floor or clamp an alligator clip to one of your appendages with a wire connected to a grounded outlet."
Now that is an interesting scenario.Philip Marcou
Thanks for the info. A path to ground could be just from the blade to the table, not necessarly through the operator. Just curious.Woody
You're right, there could be a path to ground between blade and table, but many times your hand might not be in contact with the table when it contacts the blade, so they would have to be using a capacitance trigger as well.
BruceT
Thanks, that answered my question as to just what they used for a trigger. I was curious.Woody
Thank you, I am now educated.
I've had my SawStop now for three years and only triggered it once when I was making a zero clearance throat plate and didn't think to remove the riving knife...when I contacted Forrest they told me they wouldn't fix the blade because of the wobble issue
I would recommend getting an extra brake if you're going to buy a Sawstop unless you live really close to a Woodcraft. You can't order a break thru the catalogue and have to get one from the local dealer.
Neil
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