SawStop fired

[FlyingRon]

I've had my SawStop for eight years now and the thing fired today. I was cutting a piece of PT plywood which seemed really dry (I had cut some soggy PT deckboards a while back and cut them in "hotdog" mode and got the warning blink on the saw but they were really wet). I didn't even think to check this one was so dry. I had just made it through the cut, both hands well away from the blade and was looking at the blade and it disappeared.

Oh well, no more sawing for this weekend. Got to order a new hunk of aluminum and a saw blade.

 

[FlyingRon]

Here's some pictures for those curious as to what the aftermath looks like:

Looks like the blade didn't move more than an eight of an inch once the block hit it.

 

[ScottM]

Think I read or saw (not a pun) that Sawstop wanted you to send them back unexplained fired. Think they would even pay for a replacement if it was due to a defect. Worth calling on Monday to find out.

 

[KenOfCary]

I've run too wet wood through my SawStop and it just stopped turning with the error blinking that the wood was too wet - use override mode. No firing. On the other hand just barely touching the side of the spinning blade with a metal miter gauge stopped work for that day.

It's frustrating when it happens, but its comforting to know things actually work.

 

[FlyingRon]

The hard part is getting the blade/break out of the saw. I scraped up my hand pretty good getting it out.

Yeah, override mode is what I called "hot dog" mode. It's the mode you use if you actually want to saw up the hot dog rather than triggering the brake.

 

[KenOfCary]

If you think that was hard to remove, try getting a 1/2" thick Dado set out of the saw after it triggers. That was a challenge. And an expensive one. $80 dado brake and $120 dado set. But I have lots of spare dado inserts and shims now. Too bad you can't buy the outside Dado cutters separately.

A learning experience, but super glad the technology worked. My fingers are important to me.

There is a guy up here where we moved that has his hand all bandaged up and just had the pins removed from his fingers after they were reattached after a table saw accident. He's beginning to be able to move them slightly now (except for the missing pinky.) This stuff does work.

 

[drw]

Over the years my SawStop has been triggered twice, both times it was my fault. On one occasion a loose nut that had been on sitting on the saw's table, but gone unnoticed, vibrated into the side of the blade---bang. On the second occurrence, I was using the Ibox jig (with dado blades). I thought I had made all of the appropriate adjustments, but as it turned out I had not moved one of the adjustments far enough--bang. No doubt, with each event I was very aggravated with myself; but, after shutting down for the day and rethinking everything over a cold beer, it was good to know that the technology worked...especially for careless oversights such as mine.

Ken, you are right about freeing dado blades, it was a challenge!

 

[Dee2]

If ss is not interested in the fired brake, I am. Purely academic.

 

[cstandi1]

Depending on the blade it may be worth pulling out and having repaired. I have had my WWII repaired twice with no issues.

 

[ehpoole]

Depending on the blade it may be worth pulling out and having repaired. I have had my WWII repaired twice with no issues.

Oftentimes pulling back out of the aluminum block is not as easy as it may sound. The aluminum will typically liquify on initial contact and then quickly resolidify around the blade, often casting the blade in place. That is part of the reason aluminum works so well to arrest the blades as all that heat is energy being rapidly extracted from the rotating blade. The irony being that in most cases there has been no actual damage to the blade itself or its carbide teeth (woodworking blades cut aluminum very easily) but trying to remove the blade afterwards will often ruin the blade (both tearing off teeth and likely warping the blade unless one creates a well engineered extraction jig to ensure all the forces remain perfectly aligned).

 

[FlyingRon]

Ethan is right. The blade is like Welded to the block. My first idea to get the brake/block out was to put a block of wood up against the unhinged end of the aluminum and try to hammer it away from the blade. No dice. I finally figured I had to slide them out together (I used the open ends of the two blade wrenches to simoultaneously push on both the brake and the blade). Still managed to bang up my hands pretty well.

Anyhow, a new blade and break are on the way. Unless SawStop really wants it, the stuck-together combo will probably go on the wall of my shop as a decoration.

 

[riggsp]

When that brake fires, it can really make your heart jump can't it...Your deck boards may have been plenty dry, but some pressure treatments have copper arsenate which is a a conductor that will trip the brake.
When cutting pt lumber, I always do a couple of test cuts in by-pass mode in hopes of avoiding tripping the brake...so far I've been lucky.

 

[KenOfCary]

The reality is that once the brake fires, you just need to realize that it did its job and saved fingers possibly. In the case it went off for other reasons, well that's what you signed on for. I have no problem spending a little to recover from a misfire given the consequences of a real fire happening.

As I mentioned, there is a member of our church up here that is going through a major recovery of having a non Sawstop accident, having much rehab to get his hand working again. Seeing his pain and recovery efforts makes me truly glad I chose the safer Saw. He is doing well BTW, but recovery will be a long term process.

 

[cstandi1]

I should have been more clear, I have had my saw stop fire on the same blade twice. Both instances I was able to remove the blade from the block without to much unreasonable trouble and forrest was able to repair the blade include missing teeth with no issues and for far cheaper than buying a new blade. My jig simply consisted of putting into my bench vise and moving the blade around till it popped loose.

 

[KenOfCary]

I just use the Dado Set embedded in the brake as an expensive wall hanging - sort of a reminder to check the clearance of the miter gauge prior to each cut.

And yes, that was definitely a loud bang when it triggered and was definitely an 'Aw Shucks' moment.

 

[MikeH]

Has anyone ever tried softening the aluminum with a torch to the point the blade could be extracted? Not sure if that would damage the blade, but might be worth a try. Thoughts?

Mike

 

[FlyingRon]

The noise wasn't that bad. I was first going "hey, where did the blade go?" I thought maybe it broke. Then I realized the brake had fired, and I'm looking at my hands for injury, but they weren't anywhere near the blade.

It wasn't a deck board, but a piece of PT plywood that seemed really dry. I guess I will try cutting another piece in hot dog mode to see if it was conductive.

SawStop sent me some documents. They say that if a piece of conductive stuff flies off the blade, it can false trigger the brake. The newer brakes have a piece of tape over the edge to alleviate that. Looking at my blade (it's a Freud 80 tooth thin kerf), I see I am missing the carbide off a tooth about 90 degrees AFTER the place the brake hit the blade. I'm wondering if I hit something in the plywood (staple or something) and it through the tooth into the brake.

Anyway, I still can't get the blade off the brake. Like Ken, it will probably go on my wall as a reminder to be more careful. The new brake and blade are arriving today via Amazon Prime.