I've discovered, after much frustration, that the adjustment changes every time the saw is folded up onto its side. When I unfold to use the saw, the blade is no longer 90* to the table. Has anyone else tried checking this? What could be the cause?
JSS Pro 90* Blade/Table Changes...
- Thread starter darita
- Start date
If this observation applies to many other SawStop JS Pro, Wood Magazine, which lists only two low points for the saw, should re-examine its recent jobsite saw review and its recommendation on the SawStop Pro. (Nov. 2022 issue):
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Edit: Wood is not quite accurate to use the term "loosen." The correct word is "remove."
[attachimg=1]
Edit: Wood is not quite accurate to use the term "loosen." The correct word is "remove."
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darita said:
Can you please post the method you are using to measure along with the error you are seeing after folding the saw and unfolding it? Does this happen immediately or does it need to be folded for a length of time?
I tried this but I didn’t notice any change. I may not be performing the same test as you. I will need to get the feeler gauges out to do this justice.
The mechanism to adjust and hold the blade angel is flimsy and in my opinion unbecoming of a $1500 saw. The same is true for the blade elevation mechanism which is operated with a cable and pulley system instead of the tried and true metal screw drive.
OK so I checked mine and by the gauge the mechanism has just about 1/2 degree of play. Push the blade to either side and it will stay there. This is not good even for a jobsite saw. My DeWalt 7491 didn't budge when you lock it in. At very least if there is some deflection it should return back to the original position.
Here's a video of me applying light pressure to the adjustment knob.
Here's a video of me applying light pressure to the adjustment knob.
TomK_2 said:
The saw uses a cable & pulley system so the blade can be raised to its full height in 1 turn of the wheel instead of 35 to 45 turns under the gear drive. But I agree that the ultimate test for an elevation mechanism is its reliability and accuracy, not speed.
This video link works.
Is there a way to adjust the mechanism for a tighter grip? If I owned one of the Pros with the movement issue, I'd contact SawStop to find out.
That might be the reason why the blade angle moves slightly due to gravity when the saw is tilted in its storage position. Fixing that little movement might fix the out-of-square problem.
If I have my chance in the coming weeks, to satisfy my curiosity, I'll see how the showroom saw behaves in these two aspects, which don't seem to have not been reported or uncovered in any reviews (including the reviews on its old model).
Is there a way to adjust the mechanism for a tighter grip? If I owned one of the Pros with the movement issue, I'd contact SawStop to find out.
That might be the reason why the blade angle moves slightly due to gravity when the saw is tilted in its storage position. Fixing that little movement might fix the out-of-square problem.
If I have my chance in the coming weeks, to satisfy my curiosity, I'll see how the showroom saw behaves in these two aspects, which don't seem to have not been reported or uncovered in any reviews (including the reviews on its old model).
ChuckS said:
I'll have to check. It's not really the grip on the mechanism, it's the entire linear rack that is moving. The way the saw does its micro adjustment on the angle is that the entire gear rack moves left or right otherwise you'd never be able to hit angles that fall between teeth. The rack is flimsy plastic with no lateral support. In order to troubleshoot I'd have to remove the saw from the stand so that I can get the bottom guard/grid off. There are just so many plastic parts I'm guessing it's just all flexing enough to add up to 1/2 degree. Perhaps there is a field modification that can be done.
TomK_2 said:
Tom, with the blade raised or lowered, I tilt the saw up in stored position, not being particularly careful, then tilt it back up to user position. I place my Starrett square in position, then readjust the blade to 90 using either the fine adjust knob or the adjusting screw inside the saw. Using the fine adjust knob, I need to move the knob anywhere from 2 clicks to 4 or 5 clicks or more, in one direction or another. I'll try using my digital angle finder as well, however I find sighting by eye gives me the most exact adjustment.
Michael Kellough
Member
darita said:
Digital inclinometers can be useful but when you have a hard gauge and backlight the digital tool is grossly crude by comparison.
Using backlight adjust the blade to a 90 degree square and then stick a magnetic digital device on the blade. Adjust the blade away from the square slowly until the next increment is displayed. You’ll see that .1 degrees is a lot, and most of the digital tools are only accurate to +-.1 degrees, so it could be .2 degrees different than a machinist square and still be “in spec”.
I was just told by SS Support, that if more people called this issue in, it would be addressed. So, please if your saw suffers this problem, then please call support to address it. My guess is that most users don't realize this is happening or don't care, however I believe this is the norm with the saw.
I brought it up here, because I considered trading my SS for a TKS 80 until I realized they likely use the same internals. I also believe Festool users to be very discerning as to their tool's accuracy and refinement.
I brought it up here, because I considered trading my SS for a TKS 80 until I realized they likely use the same internals. I also believe Festool users to be very discerning as to their tool's accuracy and refinement.
Do keep everyone abreast if any changes to the saw are implemented. I bought one of the first production run of the SawStop Professional Cabinet Saw as a "beta" tester. In exchange for the discounted price I provided feedback. I had no problems with it, but they did end up sending out an update/fix kit. IIRC it was either components to update the blade guard or a replacement blade guard. So it is possible a correction kit might be made. It is really disappointing as I was ready to buy one to replace a DeWalt I have strictly from the safety point of view.. I recently replaced my PCS with an ICS with the large sliding table and obviously it costs more than the job site saw, but you still expect it to be the best it can be at it's price point. Given that Festool owns SawStop one would think they were reviewing their new products before letting them ship.
If anyone has used the SS and Festool saws it would be interesting to see how much better the Festool and if it suffers from this problem. I have not see the Festool saw so I have no idea if there are any similarities.
If anyone has used the SS and Festool saws it would be interesting to see how much better the Festool and if it suffers from this problem. I have not see the Festool saw so I have no idea if there are any similarities.
I have found that if you hit one of the limit stops when raising or lowering the blade it will tend to torque the bevel the same as you saw in my video. This would explain why it gets knocked out when both moving the blade up/down as well as folding the saw.
Alright so I took about 20 minutes to mess around with the mechanism a bit. The problem appears to be compounding errors from all of the plastic flexing and the slop in the screw that attaches the linear gear rack to the adjustment knob. The right way to fix this is to fire the engineer that came up with the design.
As far as a field modification... I *think* there is enough room to sister some 1/2 plywood on the inside of the front plastic face. One could then drill a bolt through the face, plywood, and gear rack to add support and the ability to lock the gear rack in place with a knob. The hole in the rack could be made oblong such that the knob could be loosened to allow the micro adjustment mechanism to work if needed.
As far as a field modification... I *think* there is enough room to sister some 1/2 plywood on the inside of the front plastic face. One could then drill a bolt through the face, plywood, and gear rack to add support and the ability to lock the gear rack in place with a knob. The hole in the rack could be made oblong such that the knob could be loosened to allow the micro adjustment mechanism to work if needed.
darita said:
If I were to do this I would probably do two knobs - one on either side of the gear rack and as low as possible. This would give you 3 solid points of contact plus the adjustment connection. You would only ever need to adjust it if you needed to hit a bevel between gear teeth.
