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loganb

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Dec 29, 2011
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Pavlov's Theory at work...when I was working:

The Phone rings: More work.

The Phone rings: Something is wrong/broke down.

The Phone rings: Somebody needs something.

The Phone rings: Somebody is driving and board and wants to pass the time.

The Phone rings: Have to stop what I am doing.

The Phone rings: Answer stupid question.

The phone and I have a love hate relationship.

Similar story about the phone....the less the phone rings the more I get done off my list, the more it rings the more I hopefully help others on their lists...definitely a balancing act that hopefully works out over the long term.

Nice work on the planer. You really have a nice collection of power tools going.

Thanks! Standing searches for stuff I'm open to acquiring are both awesome and dangerous....

Next up are the mentioned dust collector and tablesaw. I've got a pretty solid idea of what I'm wanting on a dust collector, just have to wait for it to come available as I don't need it bad enough right now to pay new pricing. Nothing crazy...2 HP "single bag" unit with a canister filter. If it comes on a cart that's great, eventually it gets wall mounted up high with a cyclone on it and a couple runs of pipe put in

Tablesaw I'm struggling with. I had a Unisaw in Chicago and it was great....sold it to avoid moving it and as I wasn't sure how this was going to go and felt my next saw would be a Sawstop. Used them before, they're a solid saw and with the with the kids and hoping to introduce them down the road the extra insurance of the brake to me feels worth it for them and me and don't think I'm giving up any capability with it vs a traditional cabinet saw.

Now that I've been using the shop and filling it up, struggling with the footprint of how a full cabinet saw would fit(30 or 36" fence), and looking harder at possibly the contractor model (1.75 HP unit) and reworking my main assy table to integrate the saw into that. I've never used their jobsite or the newest model but haven't seen great reviews on the newest one and not sure I'm going to be happy with that longer term. Also have considered a short stroke Euro style sliding saw like a Hammer, but I'm not committed enough to buy new, and they come up used so rarely don't think that's realistic right now.

Flip side of the Sawstop is it's not cheap(then again I have a CNC router I haven't finished yet....so yeah I know) and the oldest kid is 4...so it's awhile till she's going to be ready for that. I'm considering a hybrid saw concept of something like a used Ridgid R4512 which I think is similar to what @bj383ss has. There is one locally to me with an upgraded Delta fence for $500.....so 25% the price of a Sawstop contractor model, but if I buy it and it does all I need I'll struggle pulling the trigger on the upgrade to Sawstop (or whoever else has a similarly priced saw with comparable safety feature) down the road. I'd probably still integrate it into a mobile bench/assy station....eventually....but for now just stuck in analysis paralysis. Maybe if my refund from the federal government is nicer than planned I'll made a decision....until then when I really need a tablesaw there is a Sawstop across the street I can use

In more picture...less word updates....got the gearbox drained with the help of a couple zip ties. Manual says 20 ounces....I think I got about 5 out....drain plug definitely leaks. Had teflon tape when I took it out, so gets reinstalled with some tape and a bit of dope.

drain.jpg


Checked position on the lower rollers...pretty consistent at about .006 above bed plate. Never set up a 4 post like this before but videos say range from .002 to .040" high(set higher when working with more rough sawn), for now most of my stuff will likely be S4S already so going to leave it where these are and go from there.


dl in.jpg

Refill the gearbox and verify no more leaks, then time to swap knives and check position of the feed rollers, pressure roller and chip breaker. The gearbox oil was very clean and knives show very little wear...so I think usage was extremely light and just sat in a high humidity area for longer than it should have without any attention
 

zc15

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Dec 22, 2020
Messages
433
Location
SE Michigan
Saw Stop patents are starting to roll off right? Buy what you can use now, and then when the time comes, reevaluate. Maybe Saw Stop will have to become more competitive on pricing, or maybe the Bosch (or other competitor) saw doesn't get cease & desisted like it did in the past/
 
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loganb

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Saw Stop patents are starting to roll off right? Buy what you can use now, and then when the time comes, reevaluate. Maybe Saw Stop will have to become more competitive on pricing, or maybe the Bosch (or other competitor) saw doesn't get cease & desisted like it did in the past/

Thanks for taking a couple minutes to comment! This is the direction I'm leaning right now as well. The patents are falling off so there is greater potential for some other options to come out and not have the issue Bosch did with Reaxx but it may take some time. I'm also not going to be surprised if Sawstop releases a "blade safe" option...for several reasons but probably most notably is potential for another patent/extension. Professional/Industrial alternatives already exist like this shown below out of Altendorf, so as time goes on hopefully costs keep coming down and this type of tech becomes more obtainable.


Still no substitute for basic safety, good work habits and respect for the equipment....but we all make mistakes

It's unlikely any "stopgap" saw I would buy would lose more than 50% value in a couple of years as long as it's still working well....so buying for $500 and selling for $250(worst case) in 1-4 years after using it and upgrading(assuming I don't catch some other wild hare and dump all woodworking stuff entirely...lol) isn't a bad position and helps me figure out workflow in my own shop and better focus on what I like to make. I'm very fortunate that the concern isn't necessarily on the affordability side...more on me to stop overanalyzing and being a tightarse....
 

tj675

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Apr 9, 2019
Messages
905
Location
The Mitten
I have a contractors saw that I did everything with before my Unisaw and now PM72. The thing that bothers me with the contractors saw is the lack of table and fence in front of the blade. No issue with small stuff but trying rip anything longer than 4ft tested my patience.
 

harley jim

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Dec 6, 2013
Messages
11,410
Location
Cleveland Tn..........out in the sticks
Similar story about the phone....the less the phone rings the more I get done off my list, the more it rings the more I hopefully help others on their lists...definitely a balancing act that hopefully works out over the long term
My phone rings Its usually someone wanting me to take something off there plate and add it to mine. I try to take it as a compliment, if I answer the phone.
Being an old guy I can play the (my phone never rang) card!
 

nicholam77

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Dec 18, 2016
Messages
2,659
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Huh, I didn't realize you don't currently have a table saw.

IMO I would definitely skip the SawStop Jobsite, seems way too expensive for a tiny saw. I know that, among other things, I hate how small my little DeWalt is.

If you're for sure going to build an assembly table around it, maybe the outfeed of the table is less important?

I feel like you have three options.

1/ Just get the SawStop if you know you're going to get it eventually, and make space for it somehow

2/ Get a low cost contractor saw either new or used to get you by

3/ Get a new hybrid that's probably nicer than the contractor, middle of the road price (Laguna Fusion, Grizzly, etc)

Unless you're building fine furniture I bet you could get away with something basic in the meantime. Even mine has done ok for me. And you have the track saw and band saw to supplement.

But personally if I had the money and the space I'd go SawStop all day. My dad cut his thumb to the bone, and I had a close call were I nicked my thumb handling a crosscut sled. Almost every day there's a reddit post with a SawStop brake triggered. In the long run it's probably worth it.
 

slodat

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Joined
Feb 6, 2010
Messages
3,682
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Central-ish, WA
I have a SawStop Industrial. It is easily one of the nicest tools I have used. They are exceptionally well put together and a dream to use. I had a very nice Unisaw that it replaced. The difference was wild. Add in the brake, and I think it's a slam dunk. They are really that good.
 
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loganb

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Messages
5,535
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Omaha, NE
Huh, I didn't realize you don't currently have a table saw.

IMO I would definitely skip the SawStop Jobsite, seems way too expensive for a tiny saw. I know that, among other things, I hate how small my little DeWalt is.

If you're for sure going to build an assembly table around it, maybe the outfeed of the table is less important?

I feel like you have three options.

1/ Just get the SawStop if you know you're going to get it eventually, and make space for it somehow

2/ Get a low cost contractor saw either new or used to get you by

3/ Get a new hybrid that's probably nicer than the contractor, middle of the road price (Laguna Fusion, Grizzly, etc)

Unless you're building fine furniture I bet you could get away with something basic in the meantime. Even mine has done ok for me. And you have the track saw and band saw to supplement.

But personally if I had the money and the space I'd go SawStop all day. My dad cut his thumb to the bone, and I had a close call were I nicked my thumb handling a crosscut sled. Almost every day there's a reddit post with a SawStop brake triggered. In the long run it's probably worth it.

Similar mindset on the choices...thanks for laying your thoughts out! I hadn't seen the Laguna's....those are interesting and look pretty nice but for that money of new I'd just move up to a Sawstop and be done so it's really down to #1 or 2. Part of the $ struggle is I really want another 3D printer as well....and I'm going to have a tough time in my head justifying a Bambu X1 or the Prusa XL and a Sawstop within a couple months of each other

So right now I'm sitting at:

-Used Hybrid/Contractor type in the 300 to $500 range as a "stopgap" saw while keeping searches for Sawstops up....I've seen 1 for sale at Estate sales here since I moved....it was the smallest PCS though so wasn't super interested....also pull the trigger quickly on a new printer(likely Bambu X1) and cancel the preorder for the PrusaXL. The Ridgid on Marketplace is still there.....maybe I go look at it tonight or tomorrow

-Bite the bullet...buy the Sawstop...wait for it and then smile every time I see it and run it and probably hold off on the new printer for a bit. It hasn't run that much in the last 2 months with everything else going on anyway

I have a SawStop Industrial. It is easily one of the nicest tools I have used. They are exceptionally well put together and a dream to use. I had a very nice Unisaw that it replaced. The difference was wild. Add in the brake, and I think it's a slam dunk. They are really that good.

This mirrors my experience with them. The shop I worked in during college had what I consider to be of the 3 most destructive forces in the world....Graduate Engineering students and right after I left they put an Industrial in there and it worked flawlessly for at least 5 years when my brother moved on from running that shop so no longer got updates on it. We have at least a dozen in the company I work for now across the various plants and haven't heard of any issues. The beauty of the brake function and the force generated when it trips means they have to overbuild the snot out of the trunnions and related components to handle the force....so the operation of them is super smooth

Ouch..

And used 10' sliders are really cheap... 😆

Your Powermatic a 12"? Want some knives to cut down for spares for it? I can get the measurements on them if you or someone else is interested

Gonna have to start making something with serious cash flow as a side hustle to make that work as it would require me to spend lavishly on the wife to make up for taking over her parking stall and forcing her ride to sleep outside. But yeah...for the price of a Sawstop there are lots of big panel saw choices! When I lived in Iowa and had the pole barn I was close to bidding on a lightly used SCMi unit...decided I didn't necessarily enjoy supporting some of the SCMi equipment we had at work, didn't want to bring that same frustration home.
 

Trapps

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Feb 10, 2017
Messages
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The Detroit Zoo
You already have printing capability/capacity. Add new complimentary technology before upgrading an existing one that still functions.

Buy the SawStop now. You know you're going to have one some day, you might as well get the use out of it between now and then. Plus, all the time you spend learning and setting up an intermediate solution is wasted once you do get the SawStop. And, any accessories you add may or may not translate to the SawStop once you do acquire it.
 

jar944

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
5,927
Location
Northern VA
Your Powermatic a 12"? Want some knives to cut down for spares for it? I can get the measurements on them if you or someone else is interested

Gonna have to start making something with serious cash flow as a side hustle to make that work as it would require me to spend lavishly on the wife to make up for taking over her parking stall and forcing her ride to sleep outside. But yeah...for the price of a Sawstop there are lots of big panel saw choices! When I lived in Iowa and had the pole barn I was close to bidding on a lightly used SCMi unit...decided I didn't necessarily enjoy supporting some of the SCMi equipment we had at work, didn't want to bring that same frustration home.

The planer is a 18" so no go there, thanks for the offer though.

My wife was never able to park in the garage so I've never had to explain that..lol.
 

legenddc

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Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Messages
1,071
You might want to hold off a little on the Sawstop. Seems like some woodworking tools are starting to go on sale again like they did pre-pandemic. Be nice to get some money off or the mobile base for free.

Since you already have a tracksaw I would go with the shorter fence option to save some space.

I have the Ridgid 4512 and while it's nice, it's nowhere near as nice as a Sawstop. A Sawstop is on my shortlist of tools to buy as I like having all my fingers.
 
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loganb

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Don't know how much you've looked into it but those may still be able to be reworked if you've got the adjustment in the mounts.

I may cut them down to 12" or so and have them as an emergency set. The presumed piece of metal they smacked did enough damage it broke the carbide almost to the joint, but the rest of the knives look decent so cutting down and sticking on the shelf will guarantee I never need them lol


You already have printing capability/capacity. Add new complimentary technology before upgrading an existing one that still functions.

Buy the SawStop now. You know you're going to have one some day, you might as well get the use out of it between now and then. Plus, all the time you spend learning and setting up an intermediate solution is wasted once you do get the SawStop. And, any accessories you add may or may not translate to the SawStop once you do acquire it.

The way I see it is you have a 3D printer....What you don't have is a tablesaw. Problem solved!

Bret

Been leaning more heavily this way as well.....thanks for sharing your thoughts and following along!

Since you already have a tracksaw I would go with the shorter fence option to save some space.

I have the Ridgid 4512 and while it's nice, it's nowhere near as nice as a Sawstop. A Sawstop is on my shortlist of tools to buy as I like having all my fingers.

Fully agree on the fence. I had a 52" on my Unisaw....I might've used that full capacity 1 time in 7 or so years....just wasn't necessary for what I do and with the tracksaw it's even less necessary

Curious on the 4512...is there 1 thing in particular it doesn't do well for you or just the required concessions any hybrid or heavy contractor style saw like that will have when compared to a true cabinet saw?

Little something to look at.
saw

If it wasn't for the location that would be very tempting! I even have a great aunt who would love to have visitors in Sarasota and would kill needing the saw and dust collector on a single road trip.

I opened up the search radius a bit and found this one a tad closer and a 7 hour drive:

sawstop.jpg


I think it's still a bit high compared to what I've seen other places....but it's close enough I could drive there and drink @Greenlawnracing beers before driving back the next day

While talking about Sawstops....anyone have personal experience with the smaller cross cut sliding table accy? I've never seen one in person or even at a store but the thought of putting the miter saw on a roll around cart with flip up feed tables and get rid of the dedicated infeed/outfeed stations and any higher volume cross cut would be done on this?

crosscut.jpg
 

legenddc

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Aug 19, 2012
Messages
1,071
Curious on the 4512...is there 1 thing in particular it doesn't do well for you or just the required concessions any hybrid or heavy contractor style saw like that will have when compared to a true cabinet saw?
It works just fine but I believe the blade isn't fully in line with the fence at the moment and the dust collection. I need to take care of the blade alignment once I finish the coffee table. I bought mine used and it has a 40" Vega fence on it so I can't comment on how the stock fence is. Only paid $400 for the saw, fence, Incra Miter Express/1000HD and a Forrest woodworker II blade so I'm certainly not complaining.

My whole shop probably costs less than a new Sawstop but a Sawstop costs less than medical bills for a table-saw accident.
 
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loganb

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And I'll take the contrarian position and encourage you to buy more 3D printers! Why you would want another machine that creates sawdust is beyond me when you could add another robot slave to your arsenal...

Coming from the guy with a recently assembled new robot slave I would expect nothing less!

As always the answer here to which to buy is a solid "Yes" lol....just need to figure out sequence. I will get more robot slaves to do my bidding!
 
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loganb

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But it doesn’t have a dust collector !!


Kidding aside ....best of luck finding what you need/ want.

Thanks! Other problem....and no offense to those in Oklahoma...but my wife has no desire to join on a road trip to Oklahoma which means I can actually make a 7 hour trip in 7 hours......if the wife comes the 2 kids come and a 7 hour trip is now 11. If I came within 50 miles of a Florida beach without the wife I would likely not survive to see the unloading of the saw or whatever Item took me to Florida
 
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loganb

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Found a new to me tool dealer the other night....found these on the floor....

20230127_141654.jpg

No....didn't come home with one...but I think I have made up my mind and will buy a Sawstop PCS 3hp in Feb. This store has a big show at a different location in Feb and the manager told me to come back then as they'll have more "latitude" for some freebies then. It's still Sawstop and rarely supported manufacturer discounts but a mobile base or dado brake cartridge and throat plate is better than nothing.

Hit the local Woodcraft today over lunch hour as they had the smaller crosscut attachment there for demo....it's nice. I'm going to have to look at that hard as it seems very nice and far handier and more accurate then screwing around with a sled everytime.

Did come out of Woodcraft with a pair of new dovetail clamps from Microjig. Been looking at this more and more and they have a sale where you buy a pair of clamps and get a free bit for the grooves(standard 14 degree dovetail with the corners knocked down to not be so sharp).

20230127_153848.jpg


Little more on the Microjig clamp "system" so to speak below. The standard 'F' clamps like this that tracksaws have seem to work fine as well, and a standard 14 degree dovetail bit works as well...but as I was already wanting a couple more clamps a free bit wasn't a bad enticement

 
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loganb

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Is that particular tool dealer in Omaha? I may be up there in a month or so. [Home town :)]

That was Stan Houston at 50th & L. Very nice selection and waiting on approval/inspection paperwork to move into a bigger space next door. Woodcraft off 144th and Center is a pretty typical Woodcraft
 
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loganb

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Thanks. I have a Woodcraft within walking distance of the house. ;) Dangerous place for a Mastercard.
Lol not overly impressed with this Woodcraft.

The Stan Houston was nice...big selection of Makita, DeWalt, Milwaukee, Festool...ok woodworking selection(growing substantially with the move) good selection of specialty tools for trades and far more helpful staff
 
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loganb

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I knew it. Resistance was futile. :)

Yeah.....

After more thinking and layout work on what the garage could look like and how I'd make things work....I decided I'd probably go ahead with a Sawstop Professional (PCS) with the 3hp upgrade(base is 1.75) with a 36" fence and the next couple weeks until the mentioned "extra freebies" on the 17th could let me make some progress towards future layout

Until fate intervened....and last night, on FB this showed up locally
  • Sawstop PCS with 3hp motor
  • 36" fence
  • Upgraded mobile base(base for the industrial model with the kit to use on the professional)
  • Cast iron router extension wing, Jessem lift and Bosch router

It looks larger than it is in the picture below...but this was a listing image
saw.jpg


I have a router table with a lift already...so I wasn't thinking of the built in lift (and definitely not the cast iron one) but having it in the wing and ready to go would help with the immediate space need as I could quickly sell the current Kreg table/Jessem lift/router combo and gain back a 24 x 50" footprint.

So some anxious waiting until a reply message...made a time to meet first thing this morning and it was as advertised, barely used, all the pieces there....just didn't get used like he had intended and interests were shifting and wanted the space.....so we made a deal. After I sell the existing router table I'll be in this for basically the same as I would've been a one with the cheaper mobile base and 2 fewer cast iron inserts....so not a steal by any means but it seemed like a fair deal and had a great time talking with the seller and learning more about his interests and what he's moving into (stop motion animation and multiplane cameras)

About 1.5 hours to get it taken apart, left the cast iron top on the cabinet but unbolted all the rest and with it on the dolly it didn't go up the ramps too badly with the 2 of us.

I had also inquired about the Jet dust collector in the background but someone else had 1st dibs on it. 5 minutes after leaving he texted and said that the other guy backed out and it was mine if I wanted it....so back I went and in 1 morning I knocked off both of the remaining "major additions" I had planned. Depleted my "slush fund" pretty badly...but excited to add this hopefully lifetime tool to the garage.

So now it's time to finish unloading then setup and then let the cold cast iron warm up in it's new home....brrrr! Get things assembled, aligned, cleaned up, then a fresh coat of Boeshield on it all. Hopefully sell the current router table/lift/router to the neighbor whose had his eye on it for awhile...otherwise that goes on marketplace this coming week.

Dust collector is a 2 HP Jet, it'll eventually get wall mounted with a cyclone, but for now it'll probably just get a longer power cord, a wireless starter for it and left on the cart so I can get a few other things done while I figure out the duct runs and what to do there.
 

Boostingaz

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May 21, 2018
Messages
3,684
Location
Indiana
That is an awesome saw though. Nice snag! Sweet that it close too. That never happens to me. I got my band saw delivered from over an hour away. Total long shot I just asked the guy if he could deliver it, he said $20 bucks for gas, I almost felt bad for saying yes please haha. Saved me a two hour round trip.
 

nicholam77

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Joined
Dec 18, 2016
Messages
2,659
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Wow! You’re like me with cookies in the house (no willpower whatsoever)! :ROFLMAO:

Jokes aside, you’re one lucky SOB, that’s a great looking piece of kit. Looking forward to your thoughts on it after use.

You might think you’re out of the woods but I’m going to hold you accountable — I believe there was a cross cut slider mentioned? ;)

Congrats! 🍻
 
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