Sawstop - probably a stupid question

[Glen]

Ain't gonna test it with my weiner!

Glen

[J]

Everyone knows that tablesaws are to cut wood.

-j

[Gino]

I agree. Nude woodworking is not for the faint of heart, especially if you happen to be a wood turner.:)

[Ba r r y]

Yeah, so flaccid wieners don't count!

Barry

[John Flatley]

If SawStop is such a great product, why doesn't the demonstrator use his finger instead of a hot dog? Where is the faith and confidence in his product?

If the manufacturer want to claim he has a real safety device, lets see the live body part demos!

Jack

-- "Most Folks Are As Happy As They Make Up Their Minds To Be" -Abraham Lincoln

[Gino]

More evidence of The Wreck discrimination against 'soft' woods.:)

[Greg O]

Have you watched the videos? Sawstop stops and drops the blade so fast you could not hurt yourself with one if you wanted to! No way you could hook a pinkie in a tooth of the blade! Greg

[Dave Mundt]

Greetings and Salutations...

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 17:37:43 GMT, "BobS" wrote:

No...actually more like the Automatic Braking System included in many cars today. It is a device which is added to the basic, perfectly workable mechanism, which is designed to replace skill and ability on the part of the driver with robotics.

I would not if I had to replace the wheels and tires on the vehicle every time I hit them to the tune of several hundred dollars.

Yea...the end run that the company tried to make to FORCE us to use this mechanism did not sit well with the consumers that would be affected by it. However, I had issues with it beyond that, in that I am part of the group that believes that it would bring an illusion of safety, causing a decrease in attention and awareness when using the tablesaw, and, therefore would actually increase the likelihood that an accident would occur. The fact that the RESULTS of that accident would be more painful to the wallet than to the body is of little relevance to me, actually. Beyond that, there are the issues of cost and reliability that have yet to be answered in any serious fashion. I should note that this device DOES have an override that will disable it for "special cutting circumstances". Want to bet that some woodworkers would find a way to turn it off permanently and...there is a good chance that those are exactly the workers that would be taking chances, working stupid, and, therefore more likely to get hurt? A friend of mine has a drycleaning shop. The pants presser, which is a large machine that calmps the pants between two, steam-heated platens to press out the wrinkles, has a safety interlock requiring the user to have their hands on separate switches, out of the way, before the machine will close. The last time one of his workers got burned by this bad boy (and having your hand clamped in this thing, with the 250 degree temps and steam is NOT a happy thing), it turned out that (against company policy) the worker had used some cardboard to jam one of the safety switches, so they could just step on the close pedal, while arranging the pants with one hand. Assuming that this thing will work perfectly EVERY time, no matter how old the saw is, or how it has been used, there have been no real data presented on how often it will trigger at the WRONG time. I suspect that the probability of it hitting a false positive and destroying the blade will go up as the electronics age... The bottom line is that using a tablesaw is a dangerous thing to do. I want myself and everyone that DOES use it to maintain a cautious nervousness around it, and, not get lulled into a false sense of security. That sense of security is exactly what ends up with folks in trouble. Regards Dave Mundt

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 20:37:16 -0500, "John Flatley" calmly ranted:

"Most Folks Are As Happy As They Make Up Their Minds To Be" -Abraham Lincoln

Thanks, John. (Stolen/added to my sig collection!)

[Old Nick]

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 20:37:16 -0500, "John Flatley" vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

He has...it just nicked his finger.

[Old Nick]

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 23:44:22 GMT, "Leon" vaguely proposed a theory ......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

.....and we will all chip in amd pay for the new balde and repair of the sawstop.

BTW. If the SS does go off, do you have to return the saw to SS to get it repaired?

[Hank Gillette]

That's a good point, but do most people drive recklessly simply because their car has airbags?

The inventor of the SawStop actually tested it with his own finger. He said that despite his confidence in the product it was unbelieveably hard to force his finger into the spinning saw blade.

[Hank Gillette]

He did it once. I don't know if there is a video of that, but if there isn't, it's probably because he didn't want to release a video of him crapping in his pants.

[ted harris]

Yeah, and I use my powermatic 66 and my grizzly 1023Z every single day, bar none. And I would love to know that if I had an accident and stuck my hand into the blade that I would be even more protected than I am now. Knowing this will not make me lackadaisical at all. It is simply another safety measure. I mean really, it is a no brainer.

[ted harris]

Steve Gass has stuck his fingers into the blade twice, I believe.

[Charlie Self]

John Flatley asks:

Sure. It nicks you every time. So demonstrate as often as that video has been shown and end up with a finger or two that looks frayed.

Charlie Self "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." Sir Winston Churchill

[Charlie Self]

You want some real fun, pump the brakes on an ABS equipped vehicle.

Been there, done that, got the skid marks to prove it.

Charlie Self "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." Sir Winston Churchill

[Charlie Self]

Hank Gillette asks:

Not a good analogy. I don't know if it's the airbags, but there do seem to be more and more idiots on the road today, people who tailgate, speed, cut in and out. Possibly it's more noticeable because traffic is heavier than ever in just about every location, but it sometimes seems to me that adding extra safety gear to cars and SUVs gave a lot of people a sense of invulnerability that is a bit frightening.

Charlie Self "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." Sir Winston Churchill

[Mike Marlow]

There's no reason it has to add that kind of cost to a table saw. There's nothing in it that costs that much. Granted, it's a capitalist world and the owner of the idea is entitled to charge what the market will bear, but there's no reason for it to double or triple the cost of a low end saw.

[Mike Marlow]

Despite his confidence in his product, it was an unbelievably stupid thing to do.