If there’s a tool out in the woodworking arena that garners more attention these days than SawStop, someone please bring it to my attention. I see scads of responses on most forums about these saws and when I’m out talking with fellow woodworkers, I inevitably get asked about SawStop saws.

Recently, SawStop introduced a contractor saw. As I assembled this new machine in the Popular Woodworking shop, I thought a few photos and some first impressions I had during the process would be of interest.

Here goes. The first thing I noticed was the packaging. Finally, manufacturers are introducing products that have an “Assembly for Dummies” spin. SawStop, and a few other tool manufacturers, are assembling hardware packs. These packs, the ones in vibrant colors in the top photo at the right of the page, have each item labeled as well as packaged separately so it’s not possible to cast pieces all over the shop floor if one should knock a package off a bench. You open the packets as they’re needed. That’s great! And SawStop packaged a couple extras pieces in a few areas just in case you do lose one here or there. That’s also a nice touch.

Each piece major part is wrapped in plastic and labeled as to where it fits. The instructions (both in the owner’s manual and provided on a full-color wall chart) are as easy to follow as are the hardware packs. Legs fit to the front, rear and side panels with matching small bumps and the holes are perfectly aligned. All brackets attach with carriage bolts, washers – both flat and lock – and nuts. Once the holes are aligned, tighten all the bolts.

A brief aside: To get the saw assembled, you’ll need a variety of metric wrenches. If you’re looking for a nice set of wrenches for your shop to assemble a table saw, or simply to use day in and day out, I suggest the new Craftsman Cross-Force Reversible wrenches. I used these ratcheting-style wrenches on this assembly and due to the design (the wrenches twist as you move from the open end to the box end), I never scraped my knuckles. And it’s a simple flick of a tab to change from tighten to loosen mode – in case you need to readjust anything.

Our contractor saw has many bells and whistles, one of which is a very nice mobile base. It went together without any trouble and the operation is much smoother than simply placing the stand on an aftermarket mobile base. The SawStop mobile base is an integral part of the stand. There are mounting holes in which the parts of the base fit and attach.

With the mobile base attached to the stand, it was time to add the saw. There are only four bolts that hold the saw in position. Simple, right? Yeah, not so much. I ended up flipping the saw onto its top so I could reach my fat stubby hands inside to start, then tighten the bolts.

Next up are the wings. We have cast iron wings. The difference between the cast and stamped wings is weight, durability and ease of installation. The beefiness of the cast wings adds to the overall weight of the saw, which aids in vibration absorption. There is quite a difference in total weight. The cast wings weigh in at 34-1/2 pounds, while the stamped wings weigh 8-1/4 pounds each.

To add a stamped wing to the saw is not too much trouble. Position a wing as you install a couple bolts to secure the piece in place. But a cast wing is most often a two-person task. I could have easily asked someone for help, but being male, I figured I could come up with a way to accomplish the job single-handedly. Check out the photo that shows the setup I used to make this happen.

Once the heavy wings were in position, SawStop advises to finger-tighten the bolts and move on to the next step. I guess I’m old-school. I wanted to make sure the table and wings were level and correctly set so I pulled a straightedge from the wall and checked the unit from corner to corner as well as across the center at the throat. There was only one small adjustment to make. On our saw, the rear, right-hand corner needed to be tweaked. I simply loosened the bolts and added a small paper shim before cranking down the bolts again. Problem solved. I later found that SawStop uses the extension rails as a guide to level the wings. That should work too.

The front and rear rails for our 36” Professional T-Glide fence were the next order of business. To make installation that much easier, SawStop provides a wall-size poster of the necessary steps. There are countersunk socket-head bolts to attach both the front and rear rails, all of which are packaged in a separate hardware pack. To install the rear rail to the table, bolts go into threaded holes, but the wings (cast or stamped) need washers and nuts, just as for the front rail.

The extension table fits between the two rails and bolts through notches in metal angles affixed on each side of the table. With the table in place all that’s left is to install the front tube. Here, SawStop differs from other saws that I’ve set up. The company suggests you attach the tube, leaving the bolts loose and position the fence on the saw to the extreme left end of the unit. Then push the tube toward the front edge of the wing until a gap of 1/16” is achieved. Tighten the bolt at that end, then move to the extreme opposite end and set the same gap. Accordingly, the tube is correctly positioned and ready to secure to the rail. This worked like a charm.

One thing remained before I powered up the saw. I had to check the setting on the distance between the blade and the cartridge. If the gap is too large, the saw might take longer to stop the blade if fired, causing a nick in a finger. As little the nick might be, it could be more than it would if the setting is correct. Conversely, if the blade is too close to the cartridge, there may be a misfire due to a tooth making contact with the cartridge.

Included is a plastic gauge and a hex-headed wrench to make adjustments. In the last photo, you can get a closer look at an installed cartridge, which is shown near the red lever. The yellow bolt to the left of the blade is to adjust the gap. I did need to tweak our gap just a bit, so I recommend that you check this even though the manufacturer sets it. Changing or using a different 10” saw blade could also require a different setting.

I ran through the check of the blade and fence for alignment. The blade was out a single thousandth of an inch. That’s highly acceptable. The fence required a bit of correction, which is normal in most circumstances.

All that’s left now is to turn the key on and wait for the saw to cycle before lifting the switch to make a cut. Everything checked out and the saw is up and running.

I’ll let you know how the SawStop Contractor saw performs after we have some work time logged.

Glen is senior editor for Popular Woodworking