Oliver 232d VS saw stop

[Gunder]

I’m in the market for a new table saw. Been looking at getting a sawstop but a friend of a friend offered to sell me an Oliver 232d. Seems in decent enough shape but it would require me also purchasing a phase converter.  Seems like a well built piece of old iron, but how precise are these old beasts? Thoughts?

 

[kevinculle]

The Oliver is an industrial machine that probably already has 50 or more years of service and it will run as long as you maintain it.  It was designed to hold up in a production environment.  The blades will be more expensive in the 12"-14" size range than 10" blades.  If you are careless it will lop your hand or arm off while the SawStop will just nick you, waste your blade and a cartridge.  The Oliver will be much heavier to transport and move into your shop.  I would go with the Oliver so long as you don't have a basement shop with no outside access...I wouldn't want to wrestle it down a flight of stairs.

 

[ChuckM]

The two saws you are considering came from two different eras:

If safety features, dust collection, cutting capacity (depth as well as width), price, and mobility are indifferent to you, either saw would do the job of ripping and cross cutting.

 

[Alanbach]

For me this is a no brainer. This Oliver was tough industrial high grade equipment in the 50’s and 60’s. There are certainly plenty of people who love these old machines But they are old machines. I believe that the Oliver is a right tilt saw and I do not believe that is is equipped with the option of riving knife and / or splitter.

On the other hand the Sawstop PCS not only has the skin sensing technology, it has a great fence available (T-glide), it is a left tilt saw, it has a riving knife and a guard / splitter with dust removal, it has an available mobile base (Industrial) that is absolutely a great, almost effortless way to move your saw around. I could really go on and on. The safety devices on this saw along with all of the state of the art operating features make this saw an easy decision compared to a state of the art tool from the mid 1900’s.

Just one man’s opinion.

 

[kdzito]

Depends on your budget.  Both saws will do the same thing.  One safety device I recommend for use with any table saw is Micro Jig's grr-ripper push block.  If you get Forrest blades there is not much of a price difference between sizes.  I believe the Oliver takes a 12" blade.  Yes the Saw Stop is what $3K while the Oliver should be at least half of that.  A rotary phase converter is fairly easy to do if you are handy.  You could also use a VFD too.  If you have more questions about the 3 phase stuff PM me.

Preciseness depends on the operator and is really a means and methods to table saw use.  I've seen crappy saws make cuts to the correct size too.   

I vote for the Oliver.

 

[Birdhunter]

One other factor to consider is support. I have the SawStop Industrial saw and get a big grin every time I use it. Fantastic machine.

I had questions when I first got the saw and the customer support is great. Real people answer the phone and solve problems fast. The manual is excellent.

I run a Forrest blade and get great smooth cuts consistently. The saw has zero vibration while running. I triggered the safety feature once by nicking the edge of a tenon jig. Expensive! New blade and new cartridge.

These requires a specific dado set diameter and you will need a dado specific cartridge. I had the dealer deliver and set up the saw. After watching the two guys assemble and adjust the saw, I know I could have done the job but much slower.

I guess you could find a way to hurt yourself with the saw, but the technology reduces the odds.

 

[kevinculle]

If you go with the Oliver all the support you will ever need can be found right here:
http://www.owwm.org/