A brief walkthrough on how to set your 45 degree angle stop on your PCS. If you have just gotten your saw, do this before you put on your rails and extension table. It's much easier to access before adding those.
I've heard a couple people mention this, and I really don't see the logic. If you are glueing two pieces of wood, you need wood to wood contact so that the glue can bind with both, and to one another. Wood glue is really bad at strength in gaps. It works best when the wood meets perfectly. Wood glue doesn't sit in between two pieces of wood, it bonds them. I'll just put it this way... if you were trying to edge glue two boards, would you intentionally leave empty space for glue? No, definitely not. It would be an inferior bond. In the end, if it works for you, have at it, but I think it's a bad idea, based simply on how wood glue works.
A few thoughts... - Unplug the saw, open the doors/panels on the left, right, and back, and make sure no small pieces of wood are pinched anywhere. Get a flashlights and really search. There are a ton of places where small bits can get pinched. Even sawdust and grease can build up into a wad and block the gear that lowers the saw. Through the back panel, above the dust collection port on the back, you can access all of the raising/lowering gears. Check those. - Make sure nothing is pinched on the wheel axle, or whatever you want to call it. You can see it right behind the raising wheel, through the slot where it moves. It could be that the wheel itself it blocked, and can't turn all of the way. - Try moving the saw to different angles and see if it goes up and down at different angles. - If you have had the saw for a while, and have never re-greased it... clean off all of the old grease and dust and grease it with marine wheel bearing grease. SawStop has a thorough YT video on this. - Is the blade hitting the insert? There are screws on the back and right side of the insert to adjust and tighten the position. If you change that at all, it can hit. To undo this, tilt your saw to 90 and pull the insert out and adjust it. If it won't lower, and you have the blade at an angle, your insert has never been cut through far enough. Move to 90, lower blade all the way - if possible, clamp a piece of wood on each side of the insert to hold it down... turn the saw on and raise it through the insert. Wear safety glasses, because little chips can fly. - If none of this helps, call SawStop. They are super helpful. Best customer service I have ever experience. Write down everything you have tried, so you can answer any questions they may have. I hope that helps.
For the first time, take the insert out, set your blade to 45 without it on, lower your blade all of the way down... put the insert in, clamp a piece of wood over it, turn on the saw, and raise it through the insert while the blade is on... it will cut through, and after that you will be good for future uses. You just have to cut through it that one time, assuming you are going to 45. If you cut at 30... you will have to cut it again at 45. The wood over the top keeps the insert held down, and is generally good for safety.
Thanks for the quick reply. I just cringed at the idea of cutting anything on such an expensive saw, but I am pretty sure the inserts are replaceable when needed. Needed to make a jig for sharpening my planer blades.
@@chickennugget4819 Yeah, it certainly feels wrong. For people who cut 45's a lot, they will often buy a zero clearance insert just for that cut only. I hope it all works out, that sounds like an interesting jig!
Super simple. A board with slots cut in it to match the angle of the blades. Slide the blades in the slot and run them over sandpaper on a smooth flat surface.
