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sawstop pcs175 2 year review

16K views 26 replies 22 participants last post by  vegeta  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
SawStop - 10-Inch Cabinet Saw (Rating: 5)

got this saw almost 2 years ago. I run a 1 man shop and do a LOT of production work this saw runs 6 hours some days some times less. 6 days a week I would by this thing again at the drop of a hat no its not perfect but it is a work horse I cant comment about the fence as I never even unpacked it just swapped my incra from my old craftsman zip code saw since I have had the saw I have had 3 issues
1. when I put it together the table was not flat called sawstop had a new table top in 4 days
2. about year into ownership saw was giving a false code and not starting once and awhile called sawstop
2 days later new control box
3. recently not starting once and awhile called this morning no waiting on hold and in 10 min. was told I would have a new start capacitor customer service is #1 with these guys
for a saw that is running 36+ hours week cutting nothing but hard woods I think that's not bad. I am not easy on this thing for those that don't know the pcs175 can be upgraded to 220 for about 50 bucks I did mine right at the start. the saw is very smooth operating and quiet. the dust collection is ok not the best but good I think my old saw was a little better but it had a small cabinet. I cant say anything about the brake system as I have not set it off but it sure feels good knowing its there.
so to end this yes I would recommend this saw. customer service is great. I compare this to all the other dealing I have had with jett, ricon, delta, sears, delta,woodpecker and incra not saying any of these are bad in fact I have had no real issues with any of them just saying sawstop is in the top with many others if I missed anything ask
thank you for taking time to read this
 

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#2 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks for the post-honeymoon review. I think some people are too quick to review products that they've only used 1-2 times. You've clearly spent a lot of quality time with this machine. And I agree, the number of maintenance issues are not odd considering the amount of use the machine sees. 36 hours per week for 2 years….....a car would have gone through a set of brakes and a few tires by now too.
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
The school I teach at purchased this same saw (with 220v power) 4 years ago. We bought the SawStop fence with the 52" table and left tilt.

My only regret is that we didn't purchase it sooner.

I have had two student "trip" the cartridge and neither were "flesh to blade" contact. Both were set off while using an aluminum tapering jig and not following the simple safety rule of shutting the machine off and waiting for the blade to come to a complete stop before returning the jig to the operator side of the machine.

The fence, while not an Incra, is at the very least, Biesmeyer quality. I can make this comparison because I still have a Delta Unisaw with a Biermeyer fence.

I can't agree more about the quality of the customer service. It has been great. I, too, had been getting bad codes after about two years of service. They sent out "reprogrammed" cartridges and a new control box in the span of a few days.

It has been a solid purchase.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
Great to hear you haven't had any false trips in two years. That is my biggest concern.

Kind of dicey to hear that you've had two electrical problems… that's the first I've read about that type of problem with SS.

I agree… to many reviews out there by folks who haven't really used the tools much.

Thanks for posting this … please give us an update again in a few more.
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
Just a thought: SS has to be certain their technology is 100% fail safe. Even 20 years or more down the road, should the system fail to function and someone loses a finger, SS would be open to legal action. I wonder if Gass is willing to accept long term responsibility. That being the case, he will have to provide free service in regard to the electronics.
 
#14 · (Edited by Moderator)
douglas yes the incra fit fine I did go with the 93 inch rails on this so I could put the router table on the right side and then add a fence to the right side of the positioner I posted a pic of this here
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I have changed it up a bit since then
Harvey I have had no issues with cutting hard wood now I do use thin kerf blades most of the time. it has bogged a little cutting 12/4 hard maple but that's to be expected.
as fare as the elect. issues I believe it has always been a start capacitor issue. got the new capacitor yesterday
haven't put it in yet still working no a large 100 box order
PS: I am still beating on my ricon bandsaw I did a review on back in 2012 and it still runs like new
 
#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
I've had mines for about a year, 3 hp professional saw. Works great, the only issue I had was ripping some cedar that was alittle moist, it tripped the brake ,just like they said under 5 MILA sec. . The custermer service is top rate. I really think this runs smoother than my old unisaw, which has a 5 hp motor.the fence is ,in my opinion just like a beismeyer.im very satisfied with mine.
 
#21 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have owned my SawStop cabinet saw since May 2013 and I constantly give it a good workout. It has worked flawlessly and is always precise and accurate.

I always check the alignment and calibrations and it has stayed 100% aligned and accurate.

I also put my Incra fence on it with no problem. It was previously on my Grizzly cabinet saw. What a combination….SawStop and Incra…

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#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
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I purchased my Industrial Saw Stop in June of 2013 to replace my old Delta Contractor saw. I use it on a regular basis and I love it. I am using the fence that came with it and have been very happy with the accuracy. I attached an Excalibur Sliding table on the left side and it works great. To this point I have not had any issues with the saw. I did trip the brake mechanism but it was my own fault. I was used to a right tilt action on my old Delta and the Saw Stop is a left tilt. Shortly after I got the saw I was making a cut with the blade at a 45 degree angle and the aluminum cross cut fence on the sliding table touched the blade. The blade disappeared so fast it took me a few seconds to figure out what happened. I was disappointed that I tripped the brake but glad to know the system works as advertised. I recommend anyone purchasing a Saw Stop get a spare brake just in case. As stated in other posts Saw Stop has great customer service but you still don't want your saw down for a couple days waiting on a new brake. Also if you are going to use a Dado blade set up you should purchase the separate Dado brake. This uses a wider aluminum block to cover all of the blades.
 

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#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
We are heading into year four on our ICS model here in the Scene Shop.

Ours has thus far been trouble free. We had one "false" trigger, which wasn't the saws fault, it was mine. At least I got to confirm that the break works!
As it is a very busy shop with no room for down time, I always have an extra brake cartridge on hand (along with the Dado brake cartridge as well)

It's been a solid workhorse for sure. We use it daily for many hours a day. It's got more hours on it in the last 4 years than all other stationary tools combined. We use it primarily for long rip cuts in pine, 16' lengths dozens of rips at a time. But we also use it for a lot of intricate finesse work like tenoning, circle cutting, cove moldings, raised panels, etc.

I like the 52" Beisemeyer style fence. It is indeed comparable to the Beisemeyer I have on my Unisaw at home.
 
#25 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi Eddy,

I just bought a Sawstop PCS and sure enough the table top is out .0220 rt front corner to rear left corner. Also can't get the rt extension to lay flat to the table as the extensions crowned.

Looks like I will need a replacement saw or table and wings.

My question for you is how difficult was it to replace the table? Any thoughts would be great. Thanks,

Mike
 
#26 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi Eddy,

I just bought a Sawstop PCS and sure enough the table top is out .0220 rt front corner to rear left corner. Also can't get the rt extension to lay flat to the table as the extension is crowned.

Looks like I will need a replacement saw or table and wings.

My question for you is how difficult was it to replace the table? Any thoughts would be great. Thanks,

Mike