Sawstop and Unifence

firefighter ontheside · November 05, 2018, 05:31:15 PM

Anybody have any insight on this? I'm gonna buy a Sawstop, but I'm tempted to keep my Unifence and install on the sawstop. I would buy the sawstop with the cheaper fence and put it on my grizzly when I sell it. My Unifence has a 43" fence. The sawstop fences are only like 34" long. I really like the long fence for ripping plywood and other long pieces. Also, with the Unifence I can slide it forward or rearward depending on what I'm doing. Does this sound smart or dumb?

btulloh · November 05, 2018, 07:26:38 PM

The ability to slide the unifence backward and forward is pretty useful especially since you're familiar with it. I'm surprised it's not more popular .I use a biesemeyer personally because that's what came on the powermatic. I like them both. If you're happy with it, keep it .

That sawstop saw is pretty impressive even if you discount the safety aspect .Looking forward to a full report when you get it.

firefighter ontheside · November 05, 2018, 07:39:32 PM

I've been waiting til there was enough in my business bank account to buy the saw. Well, the money is there now. Might as well spend it. Currently my Unifence can cut about 31", but when I install in new saw, I can slide the rail to the right about 4" and increase my capacity to about 35". That should be plenty. Maybe when I build a bigger shop I'll want more capacity, but that's way down the road. I'll let ya know how I like it.

alan gage · November 08, 2018, 09:43:23 AM

I got my Sawstop with the 50" fence and really like it. Besides having the width for cutting plywood it's nice having that wide platform right there to stack smaller pieces when cutting.

Never used the unifence so can't comment on how much more functional it would be.

Alan

firefighter ontheside · November 21, 2018, 12:24:17 AM

Picking up the sawstop tomorrow. Won't get to assemble til Monday.

btulloh · November 21, 2018, 07:53:25 AM

8)

Looking forward to your full report.

firefighter ontheside · November 22, 2018, 10:33:24 PM

The saw, in all its boxes, is sitting in my garage at home. I'm sitting in my camper nowhere near my garage.

samandothers · November 23, 2018, 09:45:10 AM

Bummer dude! New toy and can't play!

firefighter ontheside · November 23, 2018, 10:10:35 PM

Yeah, but I'll have Monday thru Thursday to play with it. I don't work until Friday. I bought a new plug today to put on the saw cord. It comes with
Straight blade plug, but I'm gonna change it to twist lock.

firefighter ontheside · December 06, 2018, 08:44:27 PM

I got my saw put together and have had the chance to use it a little. I'm very happy with my purchase. Hope get to work on some bigger projects next week. White oak bed and wood countertop.

Magicman · December 07, 2018, 09:13:05 AM

A question; If you tried to saw a green (undried) board, would the "SawStop" think that it was flesh and ......?

btulloh · December 07, 2018, 09:28:47 AM

Interesting question MM. That could get expensive and waste a lot of time.

ffots: Is that your outfeed table behind the saw? I thought I was the only one that piles up stuff on the outfeed table.

alan gage · December 07, 2018, 10:33:50 AM

Quote from: Magicman on December 07, 2018, 09:13:05 AM
A question; If you tried to saw a green (undried) board, would the "SawStop" think that it was flesh and ......?

It's supposed to be ok with treated lumber, which seems to have more moisture than fresh off the saw, but I haven't personally tried it with mine.
There is a way to bypass the safety feature. When it's in bypass mode the warning light will still flash if it detects "skin" contact. So you could put it in bypass mode and if the light never flashes while running material through it should be ok.
I've cut plenty of conductive material on my Sawstop by using the bypass mode. But the hard thing is remembering to put it into bypass mode every time you need it. A couple times I've been in a hurry and forgot. Then you get a good demonstration of how the system works when it thinks it hits skin. Amazingly fast and it's hard to even find a mark from the blade on the offending material.
Alan

Magicman · December 07, 2018, 10:40:30 AM

OK, so what is involved when/after it does it's thing?

Andries · December 07, 2018, 12:15:30 PM

A buddy has a Sawstop - he triggered his by forgetting to put it into bypass mode before making a cut in an aluminum bar.
The blade gets caught in a metal sacrifice piece that's located next to the cartridge.
A bit like having airbags triggered during a vehicle collision.
After the safety function triggers, it's time for a new blade and 'cartridge'.
All the Sawstop dealers carry replacement cartridges, and it's fast and easy to replace.
. . . being forgetful can cost $$, but less painful than a trip to the ER!

Enjoy the new saw Ffighter. 8)

alan gage · December 07, 2018, 02:22:26 PM

Quote from: Magicman on December 07, 2018, 10:40:30 AM
OK, so what is involved when/after it does it's thing?

Swearing.
Then you install your spare cartridge and a new blade and get back to work. Then order another cartridge so you'll have a backup for the next time you do something stupid.
Both my blades have survived. It's not too hard to dig them out of the aluminum block. I couldn't see any damage so I sent them in for sharpening, apparently none the worse for wear (old saying).
One time I was cutting foil faced foam and forgot to put it in bypass mode.
The other time I was cutting carbon fiber and it never even crossed my mind it would be a problem....until it was a problem.
It's really amazing how quickly it's able to stop a spinning blade. Looking at the tripped cartridge you can see that none of the teeth that entered the aluminum block ever exited it. I have a cabinet maker friend who owes his finger to his Sawstop, which is the reason I bought one.
Alan

btulloh · December 07, 2018, 05:51:10 PM

Didn't get the unifence? That looks very biesemeyerish.

firefighter ontheside · December 07, 2018, 10:34:06 PM

Lynn, I'm not sure if green lumber would trigger the brake, but very wet pressure treated wood probably would. Sawstop won't tell you a magic moisture content as a limit. I would assume that something around 20% would be fine.

Btulloh, heck yeah that's my outfeed/workbench with a mountain of stuff on it. That happens between every large project. Then I clean it for the next project. You're not the only. Lol.

I went ahead and sold my Unifence. Life goes on. Eventually I'll miss it, but right now I'm just excited for the new saw. That's the Sawstop fence on there. It is essentially a Biesmeyer clone.

btulloh · December 08, 2018, 08:27:06 AM

Either fence will serve you well. Enjoy your new saw. Thanks for keeping us up to date.

WLC · December 08, 2018, 01:59:06 PM

Been looking at these for a long time. One good thing about them is they are available locally and I wouldn't have to have a one of shipped up and pay so much extra for the shipping. I'm looking forward to seeing how you like it after you use it a while. Also curious about the wet lumber setting it off.

Magicman · December 08, 2018, 02:47:28 PM

Accidentally setting it off would be liken unto getting a speeding ticket.

Not something that you would soon forget.

btulloh · December 08, 2018, 03:45:45 PM

Security was a lot easier back then. Three digits was enough.

We didn't need to watch out for computer viruses, fishing emails, pilfering mail boxes, oil minister scams. The biggest challenge was keeping someone from listening in on the party line.

--- OOPS -- Wrong number. Meant to put in the bank job post ---

Larry · December 08, 2018, 04:42:28 PM

I helped assemble a large number of woodworking machines in a new school shop a couple of years ago. One of the machines I assembled was a Sawstop. I can report the manual is clear, correct, and 10 times bigger than any of the other companies. The parts fit and I was totally impressed with the quality. It's also very well designed. Again much better than other manufactures.

I have time using the Sawstop and it is every bit the equal of my well tuned Unisaw. The Sawstop fence is perfectly adequate for most operations. I use a Unifence and sometimes flip the fence down to use the low side. I would miss that feature but could work around it with the Sawstop fence.

firefighter ontheside · December 08, 2018, 05:40:05 PM

Well, I won't be able to report on cutting wet lumber, because I won't be doing it. I will be happy to report back on the saw in general.

Btulloh, I was reading your post trying to figure out how it applied to Sawstop. Lol.

Larry, my Unifence did not have the original fence extrusion that could flipped like you describe, but. I'm familiar with the benefit of that. I had the Uni-t fence from peachtree woodworking. I liked it.