SawStop UK

Just a kind of heads up to those in this line who might have in the past been thinking of getting one of their products, but they’ve always been US based

They’re going to be selling in the UK shortly, which is great news for any maker(hobby or otherwise) and wants to cut down on the possible dangers of an accident.

This is just a note for those, and without getting into the push stick argument

Basic contractor type saw – £899

Jobsite pro saw – £1499 -both prices inc vat

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I’ve always been curious as to what needs replacing when it “goes off”? I’m assuming from the violence of it that its not just pressing the reset button

edit : in answering my own question (a brake cartridge costing approx £100 and probably the cutting disc itself) i found out that you can already buy sawstop built into a festool saw.. https://www.axminstertools.com/festool-tks-80-ebs-circular-saw-with-sawstop-107040

For me, the issue with the festool one is the lack of mitre slots, so jigs would need to be rethought, and as with everything festool, add on parts are bloody expensive. Even the little side table extension is nearly £300

Plus the festool one is more precision shopfitting type set up, and the sawstop is more contractor

Yeah they’ve been available for a few years now. I believe Festool & SawStop have the same parent company.

without getting into the push stick argument

Spoilsport…

Got drunk and ate too much smoked pork tenderloin with Steve Gass at a BBQ at my mate’s house who happens to be his neighbour.  He’s a really interesting guy and to hear him recount how he tested the first prototype first hand so to speak was both amazing and vomit inducing (I think I’d be after a research cadaver).

surprised it’s taken this long to get them out over here. Though i suppose our bladed woodworking kit is a damned site less insanely dangerous to start with.

I’d like this technology paired with an Altendorf or Felder with a nice long sled….. Or a pushy stick.

Though i suppose our bladed woodworking kit is a damned site less insanely dangerous to start with.

The ability to not fit dado stacks being the main one.

I am not against sawstops but as a last resort, if the saw stop activates someone has been a real muppet, probably from watching one to many youtubes.

if the saw stop activates someone has been a real muppet

In reality the activation can come from a number of other instances rather than just sticking your hand in the blade – thats why the cost of the replacement cartridge is an interesting question as theres are all sorts of of circumstances where you could get a accidental activation – I’m surprised its as cheap as it is frankly. Having had a live demo the energy involved is pretty astounding, (even though you are watching in anticipation its still a shock)  while the cartridge destroys itself in the process I’m surprised the chassis of the saw doesnt get wrecked too.

All sorts of factors could trigger it other than fingers and frankfurters. Wet wood, nails or anything else conductive such as dibond or laminates that have a metal foil  would cause the cartridge to fire if you don’t preemptively disable the cartridge. I was cutting some chipboard recently and found a chuck of bronze imbedded in it which would have set off a sawstop cartridge,

So as an owner of a saw you might have to spring for few replacement cartridges and blades (I wouldn’t trust a blade that had been subjected to that kind of shock) over the lifetime of the tool even if you keep your hands well out of harms way.

I’ve had two instances of bandsaw blades on a decent sized machine snap on me in the last few weeks.

That’s scary too.

Luckily, bandsaw blades normally stop pretty instantly by themselves and tend to stay contained within the guides.

All sorts of factors could trigger it other than fingers and frankfurters.

Sorry i meant as in it activates when its supposed to.