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My table saw died today. This saw was one of the first power tools I bought on my own. It was probably close to 20 years old. I used it to make things for my wife, kids, family, friends and improve our old house as well our current humble abode. A moment of silence please…
You might get the impression I was somewhat attached to the tool, but I definitely wore a slight smirk as the white smoke billowed from the motor. Why you ask?
Because that son of a @#&*$ took part of my left index finger and I was too cheap to go buy a new saw afterwards…
We’ll call it a love/hate relationship.
I was ripping down 2-by material for the basement bathroom project when it died. I probably still need a few more but I’m not going to do it by hand and I don’t have enough space around the bandsaw.
So here I now sit, on the deck, beer in hand. I’m done building for the day and decided to enjoy the weather while doing some table saw shopping on the interwebs.
I am focused on the Saw Stop brand of table saws* due to my disagreement with the recently deceased. If you’re not a tool buff like myself, these have a safety mechanism that protects your hands and fingers. It does this by stopping and dropping the blade away from you when it detects moisture. It does damage the blade when it does this. I don’t mind if I get to keep the rest of my fingers and still make cool stuff.
I haven’t decided which one to get. Ideally I’d like to pay for a plastic fisher price toy saw and yet somehow receive the fully equipped $6,000 pro series saw delivered to my door assembled and dialed in.
Honey!!! I’m table saw shopping, where’s my coupon book???
I’ll pain over this for a few days, have several discussions with my wife, Dad and friends before I eventually give in and pry out the old plastic credit card…..just think of all the frequent flyer miles!
9/8/19 Update: I finally got over the price, saw is ordered!!!
9/15/19 Update: Delivery expected this week!! Who’s got 9 3/4 fingers and is excited to keep em? This guy!
10/11/19 Update: I’ve finally finished the assembly of the saw and turned it on! I haven’t had time to dial in the fence, blade and table yet. It sure does make a really nice whirring sound though!!
*I’m not receiving anything from Sawstop for mentioning their product or linking to their page.
11/16/19 Update: I’ve dialed it in, read through the manual to make sure I don’t accidentally trigger the safety mechanism, and I’m ready to make my first cuts. I’m simply ripping down some scrap plywood, leftover from the loft bed, for use in the basement bathroom. These will serve as a form for the concrete shower pan.
I’ve also designed a vanity which will use more of the scrap plywood and will run some melamine through to make forms for the vanity top with integrated sink.
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that is one good looking finger licking saw right there!
LoL
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