new sawstop

allen levine

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alot of difficulty for assembling it since I basically had to cut alot of new holes in the rails, cut mitre slots in the rails, and cut down the extension table so my router extension wing would fit. Not something Ive done in my life.
Some of the cuts came out a bit rough, not nearly as nice as the factorys, cuts, but they are livable, and the saw is up and running. Will start figuring out how to install the new milauwkee router tomorrow.
I left 7 inches of work table after the router table so I could hook the legs on it easy enough and it wont interfere with my router work.
 

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IM not sure if Id be cheering.
I can live with the 2 extra holes I put in the rail by mistake, but the mitre slots would be past the rail on the left mount, since the router table wing is 16 inches and the table left wing it would replace is only 12 inches, so there would be no need to cut the rail.
But the motor casing underneath the left side crushed that deal.
Originally, before I purchased the saw, I bought the router table extension, after questioning the techs about it, but I was thinking along the lines of a contractor saw.
When I purchased the professional model, it never crossed my mind that the motor extended out the left side of the saw.
I spoke with Alan B., and he sent me a pic of a setup with the table mounted right, and I decided this is the path Im going to take.
I knew at that point Id had to cut holes in the rail, and cut down the extension table, 2 things I was a bit hesitant to do.
Its new territory for me, and I wasnt sure I wanted to be experimenting on a 2500 dollar saw. After putting it into perspective, I figured worst case scenario, I could buy a new extension table and put the saw back the original way and as long as I didnt ruin the rails, well, thats that.
But I decided might as well jump in and test the water.
My son had to make some calls last night, so after dinner, before we put the rails on, I had to run over to the borg because I didnt own a large enough countersink to make proper sized opening for the rail screw heads.
The entire ride to the store I said to myself, dump the idea, put it together the right way, forget the router table, and eh.
Even though I made an error and drilled out 2 wrong holes, I was happy the holes I did drill lined up and we were able to set the router table right side and even. Then I noticed my problem. The mitre slots on the router table were blocked by the sawstops rail. The rail had 2 cutouts for mitre slots but only for the saws mitre slots. This is a thick piece of steel, and Ive never cut a piece of steel in my life, other than cut off nail heads with a hack saw.
I dont own any metal working machinery. do I or dont I, or do I just find some guy who can do it and pay him.
AGain, I thought of if I ruin it, Ill buy a new one.
So out came the hack saw blade and the sawzall, and I drilled 2 starting holes next to each other, to fit the blade, and cut down on the rail, then tried to go across, but ofcourse the cut was very difficult to hold a sawzall even. The cut was jagged, did the job, but not pretty.
I was in already, no reason to turn back, so I cut the table.
I need to cut a piece of wood and paint it black and attach to end of the 8 inch extension table but thats a simple task.
Cut the other rail, new holes and mitre slot, went faster, but mitre slot came out jagged again.
I Figure when I have to sell the saw Ill have to bring it into a metal shop and have them smooth or cut down another 1/8 and make perfect lined up cuts and touch up the paint, so even if someone takes off the router table, it will look professional. I opted not to do this now, and I can live with my mitre slots.
I filed them down and they dont interefere with the functioning of anything, they just dont look pretty.
The leveling piece that they supply with the wood extension table would not work with the router table, so after leveling it off with the rails and legs, I also secured it underneath the table with wood screws through the edge of the router table extension(it had 4 predrilled holes) into the wood edge of the extension table. Wasnt necessary, but I figured more support and alignment cant hurt.
So it didnt come out pretty, I have a picture from my phone somewhere, but it is what it is. I can at any time bring it in and have a professional cut a neat mitre slot, Im happy with my layout. I took the splitter out to play with the saw last night to get a feel for things. Easy, just lift a lever and it comes right out.
The entire hardware package was colorcoded and total assembly wasnt bad, but then again, I had my son doing it.
I now have to cut the router table insert to hold the new router. Ill tackle that monday or tuesday.

*just to mention-I could have mounted it left, just had to take the cover off the motor, killing the dust collecting ability, or just taking the router out whenever I wanted to close the motor cover, but I decided I wanted to have everything hooked up and ready to use all the time, not having to attach routers every time I needed to use it.
you can see the mitre slots cut on the router table side are a bit rough.
 

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I think it's fine alan. The router on the left would have driven you crazy. If you want to clean it up some time, you need an angle grinder. You can get a small 4.5 amp 4.5" angle grinder with a grinding stone for $30 or so. They're not real strong in that small of size but you don't have much to grind. Think of it about like a sander for metal. I bet a little touch up paint though and you won't even need to use the grinder.

Oh congrats on the saw btw. It's on my wishlist but still a few years away.
 
I think it's fine alan. The router on the left would have driven you crazy. If you want to clean it up some time, you need an angle grinder. You can get a small 4.5 amp 4.5" angle grinder with a grinding stone for $30 or so. They're not real strong in that small of size but you don't have much to grind. Think of it about like a sander for metal. I bet a little touch up paint though and you won't even need to use the grinder.

Oh congrats on the saw btw. It's on my wishlist but still a few years away.

we thought about going over to the contractor friend I know and borrowing some kind of grinder. But it was 11 pm last night. We thought about using the dremel with one of the grinding wheels, but figured a hand file will get the sharp edges off. Shoulda picked up a cheapo angle grinder at harbor frieght for just these times.
 
yeah, I think this will do the job for the next 20.My wife is thrilled, she wants me to trade in my mitre saw and bandsaw and get a sawstop version. She doesnt understand why the manufacturer hasnt produced one yet.

Actually Sawstop has been working on a band saw fo a while now, here is a vidio of it in operation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3PLwNccpXU
 
Allen, if the cut in the picture is the one you're not happy with, come see the ones I did in my Biese. You will either leave satisfied with your cuts, or with your sides hurting from laughing so hard at mine. :rofl::rofl::rofl: And I did use an angle grinder on mine!!!:rolleyes:
Looks good! What distance to the right of the blade did you end up with? My Grizzly went from just under 50" to just under 65" when I moved the rails to the right. Jim.
 
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