Shop Upgrade: SawStop Table Saw

In the last few years more and more folks have been stopping by to get one-on-one instruction and work on a project at my shop. While I make every effort to keep a safe environment, the thought of someone (or myself!) getting injured has always been a worry, and that great flesh-eater, the table saw, has always been my greatest concern. I’m breathing a lot easier now with the recent purchase and installation of a SawStop tablesaw. As most woodworkers are probably aware from Sawstop’s infamous hotdog video, the machine is capable of detecting contact with skin and instantly stops and retracts the blade when it does so:

And, like most people, I find this demonstration very impressive! Here’s the saw in its new home:

I dropped a Bench Dog router lift into the extension table and I am also impressed with this device:

It’s built like a tank, makes very precise height adjustments from above the table, and the router collet can be brought up above the table surface as well, making for very convenient bit changes.

I added on a good sized drop-down out-feed table to the saw. This design owes a lot to a post on youtube. I also made a standard table saw cross-cut sled — an indispensable table saw accessory

Here’s the out-feed table set for use.  This makes one-man, large panel handling imagineable

And here’s a little detail of the drop-down leg:

Besides offering unmatched safety the SawStop is just a nicely made table saw.  I regard it as  a healthy step up in quality from the Unisaw that it replaces in my shop. Of course, it offers no more protection than a conventional table saw from kick-backs, but your chances of walking away intact from an encounter with the blade of a SawStop are much improved.

Update: the video version of “Making and Mastering Wood Planes” is at the duplicator’s facility. I’ll receive a review copy latter in the week and if all is good I should have the first copies available for shipment the following week. Everything was going on schedule until we got to the review stage of the post-production process. It’s just very time-consuming to review and tweak over 4-1/2 hours of video!

Until next time!
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