SawStop Table Saw: 1.75HP vs 3HP

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blbradford

New User
Bruce
Considering a new table saw I am wondering if you might have an opinion of how much the extra 1.25HP is really worth it? I can run the 220V easy enough but is the extra HP really going to make a difference. Although a perfectionist, I am a hobbyist, not a professional.

I am using a 1.5HP BT3100 right now which seems to cut through all of my needs but I am feeling the need to consider my upgrade options. My totally cool wood-master neighbor has a PowerMatic 66 I can use when I get into some tough stuff.

Has anybody had experience shopping for a SawStop TS? I am wondering how I can get the best deal$. Seems like SawStop runs a tight dealer network and may have some pricing rules the dealers must adhere to.


Thanks,

Bruce
 

tkpinsc

New User
Tod Parks
1.75hp will do everything 3hp, just sometimes slower. Often its the other features of a cabinet saw that make the upgrade worthwhile for a non production shop.

The best way to get a deal on a sawstop is to find a used one.
 

decibel

New User
Patrick
Best deal you can hope to find on a sawstop is a used one. As far as new prices they do have a very tightly controlled network so you really won't find much (if any) wiggle room on the new ones. They are running a promotion for either an upgraded dust collector guard on the 1.75 HP saw or the overarm dust collection on the 3HP and up saws.

A word of advice if you are looking for a used IF you find one have your money ready and jump quick. I haven't had much luck finding one used and when I do they are usually already gone. I see maybe 1 or 2 a year, but who knows with the current economy :dontknow:
 

Mt. Gomer

New User
Travis
I don't own a SawStop but I do have a solid DeWalt hybrid saw. It has a 1.75 HP motor and I've never wished I had more. For the hobbyist (even a serious/advanced one) you should be fine, especially with the PM 66 nearby.

I'd also add that if you're not very comfortable and experienced with table saw operation you might not want to start out with a 3HP motor for safety reasons. Kickback related injuries can be a lot worse on the more powerful saws.... If my son beans me with a ball it hurts, sometimes really bad. If Nolan Ryan beans me that's a totally different story... We're talking internal injuries and hospital visits.....

Travis
 

blbradford

New User
Bruce
Travis- this is great advice! Thank you. Bruce:icon_thum

I don't own a SawStop but I do have a solid DeWalt hybrid saw. It has a 1.75 HP motor and I've never wished I had more. For the hobbyist (even a serious/advanced one) you should be fine, especially with the PM 66 nearby.

I'd also add that if you're not very comfortable and experienced with table saw operation you might not want to start out with a 3HP motor for safety reasons. ..

Travis
 

blbradford

New User
Bruce
Thank you... I have been looking for a really good used TS but have not seen one that has tickled my fancy yet.... and I am tired of waiting. Thanks for your comment- also about price.:wsmile:

Best deal you can hope to find on a sawstop is a used one. . I see maybe 1 or 2 a year, but who knows with the current economy :dontknow:
 

kooshball

David
Corporate Member
I am in a slightly different school of thought where I believe that more is better in the case of most things (table saws included). I have a 3HP Grizzly 1023Z and I am glad that I have all that HP, but it depends what you are going to be doing. Occasionally I hog out a ton of waste at once with a 3/4" stacked dado raised quite high into the work and it feeds just as smooth as a 1/4" dado. I also end up doing all of my home improvement projects so I have at times had the blade at maximum height ripping SYP trip boards for retrofit work; and have just begun to get the saw to start to moan; with any less HP I would be in trouble.

That said, there are many ways around all of the work I described and most involve simply slowing down and taking lighter passes; so it is not as if you won't be capable of doing certain tasks with a lower HP saw.

Price is another thing; I got a killer deal on my saw and it just so happened to be 3HP; would I have paid $$$ more for a 5HP version...likely not. I am not sure on the price difference with the two sawstop's that you are looking at but chances are that for casual woodworking the difference in cost is better spent on routers, hand planes, bench upgrades etc.

IMHO more HP is better but for a non-production environment only if you can get it at a bargain price.
 

eyekode

New User
Salem
I am not so sure less hp is safer for kickback issues. Keep a sharp blade, use the splitter at all times and don't rip squarish stock.
Salem
 

blbradford

New User
Bruce
Thanks David- the price difference is about $430 and about $50 to run the 220V to belly up for the extra ponies. Sawstop is offering a "over arm dust collection" system for the 3HP TS.

The $430 upgrade offers no other feature or benefit other than the extra HP.

IMHO more HP is better but for a non-production environment only if you can get it at a bargain price.
 

kooshball

David
Corporate Member
That is a mid-range Festool plunge router right there...

Thanks David- the price difference is about $430 and about $50 to run the 220V to belly up for the extra ponies. Sawstop is offering a "over arm dust collection" system for the 3HP TS.

The $430 upgrade offers no other feature or benefit other than the extra HP.
 

manfre

New User
Manfre
Thanks David- the price difference is about $430 and about $50 to run the 220V to belly up for the extra ponies. Sawstop is offering a "over arm dust collection" system for the 3HP TS.

The $430 upgrade offers no other feature or benefit other than the extra HP.
Money saved if buying a 1.75 hp and 3 hp. These numbers assume you buy before March 31 when the free dust collection rebate offers expire. 1.75 hp gets the dust blade guard, 3 hp comes with the dust guard and the rebate is for the overarm dust collector.

110v
$430
$230 if you want the overarm dust collector

220v
$380
$180 if you want the overarm dust collector

I'm leaning toward the 3 hp because I don't want to worry about the saw ever bogging down. The 1.75 hp is probably good enough for me most of the time, but $180 spread across the lifetime of the saw is negligible to me.
 

merrill77

Master Scrap Maker
Chris
I've had a 1.5 hp Delta contractor saw for 15 years. I just bought a Sawstop and opted for the 1.75 hp PCS, because my old saw had enough power for anything I ever did. The price difference, by my math, was nearly $500 (not counting freebies, because I didn't want any of them). I can find better things to do with $500. BTW, except for the motor and one electronic part, the 1.75 and 3hp PCS are identical. So you could put in a bigger motor down the road, should you change your mind.
 

ehpoole

Administrator
Ethan
As the owner of a 1.75HP Steel City hybrid, my opinion is as follows.

1-3/4HP is plenty of power for just about any routine tablesaw job (crosscutting and ripping) -- especially if you are using the newer thin-kerf blades (such as those from Freud), but quite adequate even when using traditional 1/8" blades. Thus far, the coarsest tooth count I have ever used with my saw is a 40 tooth combination blade. I have yet to need to mount a 24 tooth rip blade and I work with a lot of 8/4 Poplar as well as some really hard 4/4 woods like Purpleheart (which is not only hard, but you have to keep it moving quickly to keep the resin from heating).

Where, IMHO, the extra 1.25HP can shine most is in the cutting of wide dados with an 8" stacked dado set through hard woods. Also as mentioned, you might occassionally have to slow down a little from time to time if sawing thick hardwood (e.g. 10/4 Purpleheart) -- particularly if using a blade not optimal for the task.

If money was not an issue, I would not turn down a 3HP tablesaw as 3HP is pretty much the most a hobbyist is ever likely to need on a 10" tablesaw. If money is an issue, then you will likely be quite happy with the 1.75HP saw and will only miss the extra HP on those very rare occassions -- but it is not the sort of thing that you are likely to keep kicking yourself for years down the road!

Whichever way you go, enjoy your new [STRIKE]toy[/STRIKE] tool!
 

manfre

New User
Manfre
Out of curiosity, I sent SawStop an email asking about whether or not it's possible to upgrade the 1.75 HP to 3.0 HP after initial purchase.

Hi Michael,

Thank you for contacting SawStop. In response to your request, no, it is not possible to switch out the motor at a later date. You are right, there is about a $400 difference, but the PCS175 does not come with the dust collection blade guard that the 3HP model does (this is a $139 value). Thanks!

Don't wait for an accident, buy SawStop today

Amber LaCombe
Sales Support Specialist
SawStop, LLC.

Edit: This doesn't necessarily mean it's not possible to put in a 3 HP motor later, it just means that it will most likely void the warranty and remove SawStop from any liability should anything happen.
 

blbradford

New User
Bruce
Out of curiosity, I sent SawStop an email asking about whether or not it's possible to upgrade the 1.75 HP to 3.0 HP after initial purchase.
.

Manfre- sounds like you are seriously shopping as well and leaning towards the 3hp. What dealer do you think you will buy it from?

Bruce
 

manfre

New User
Manfre
As it stands, I plan on buying from Woodcraft before March 31 (I like free stuff). I was leaning heavily toward the 3 HP PCS with 52" rails, industrial mobile base, with an extra brake and dado brake, but now I've become a bit more indecisive. I would like my first cabinet TS purchase to also be my last.

Klingspor is the only other dealer that I checked out in the area and they had the same prices. The old guy at Woodcraft who teaches the cabinet making class (I'm bad at remembering names) seemed more knowledgeable about the various sawstop accessories and options compared to the person I spoke briefly with at Klingspor. Woodcraft will also forklift it in to a truck. I'm not sure if/how Klingspor helps with loading, but I'm sure they do something.

Overall, the price can vary by up to $600 depending on the options I choose. To me, this amount is negligible over the life of the saw if the extra features are useful. Here are some of my current dillemas, which others may find useful.

110v vs 220v

My shop isn't wired yet, so 110v vs 220v is more about lower amp usage for the workshop. The 3 HP is 13 amp, the 1.75 @ 110v is 14 amp. Rewiring the 1.75 HP to save 7 amps isn't really worth the cost of the conversion kit. I've assumed that a TS would need up to 15 amps while planning my shop.

36" vs 52" rails

The 52" rails would be really useful for ripping down plywood or cross cutting anything to long or bulky for my sliding mitre saw. It would also give me a nice flat staging area right next to the saw. A mobile base is a must. The longer rails have leaned me toward the industrial mobile base (+ $130 w/ kit) to allow for easier manuevering. The PCS mobile base has 2 fixed wheels, which may make it a little challenging to move the saw along the blade's axis. It also makes it impossible to move it flush against a wall if I need extra floor space for assembling/painting something large. I could probably wedge a mover's dolly under the fixed wheel side for those occassions and save myself about $120. I'm not sure how often I'll need to make those movies.

The 52" rails also give plenty of space for me to cut in a router insert. If I got the 36" rails, I would end up buying/building a router table and a guide system (the festool ones look nice), so the 52" rails are most likely the cheaper option.

Dust

The 3 HP comes with the dust guard and the freebie is the overarm for it. My DC will be wheeled around the shop and connected to the tool being used. This combo would keep the overarm hose out of the way and allow me to move the table. If I go with the 1.75 HP, then I probably wouldn't use the dust guard. Hmm, I just thought about if the overarm would be in the way of using the router.
 

blbradford

New User
Bruce
Wow- thank you so much:wsmile: for your thought process. I am very happy to read it as I did not even think about the 2 options for the different types of mobile bases and the differences it would have in my shop. Would you also consider the outfeed table? The SawStop web site has tons of video's, but did you order the free DVD?

Like you, I am leaning towards 3hp w/52" rails but need to weigh the mobile base a bit more before coming to a decision. I have 220V handy with an extra breaker slot in my box so I can feed juice to it with it's own breaker- which would be separate from my 220v DC. Thanks again for your thoughts!:notworthy:
 

merrill77

Master Scrap Maker
Chris
Would you also consider the outfeed table?
...
Like you, I am leaning towards 3hp w/52" rails but need to weigh the mobile base a bit more before coming to a decision.

Note that the outfeed table doesn't play nicely with the mobile base. I have the outfeed table sitting in a box in the garage - it's going to be returned. It has legs to the floor and the part that secures it to the cabinet is not, AFAICT, strong enough to hold up the table on it's own...at least not more than a few times. However, I never actually tried it - as I didn't want to break it and then not be able to return it. It certainly looks like it was not designed to be moved and that was enough for me. I ended building my own outfeed table that doesn't rely on the floor for support (and can fold down out of the way).
 

manfre

New User
Manfre
They say the outfeed table is not supported with the mobile bases, so I didn't even consider it. It also doesn't fold down. I plan on building a few smallish 2'x4' workbenches on casters and roll them around to act as infeed and outfeed when needed. Chris built his own folding outfeed table that seems very functional. I don't plan on going that route because I don't think I could bring myself to drill holes in the cabinet.
 
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