SawStop New Table Saw Safety Technology

[Jim Yanik]

"RicodJour" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

there's an issue of Wood Magazine that had an article on this product.Pictures too.

[RicodJour]

It's not simply conductance. The SawStop is not using you as a "ground". You could be hanging from rubber shock cords from the ceiling and it would still kick in the brake if you touched it. The capacitance changes when flesh contacts the blade - like those touch- lamps. You don't have to be grounded to turn the light on and off.

One step at a time. BTW, the things that do prevent kickback and increase safety(splitters and guards) are often removed by the operators because they get in the way. The SawStop doesn't get in the way. The SawStop price gets in the way!

There are so many ways to get injured while working with power tools that it's impossible to make them idiot proof. Large steps in safety such as seat belts, motorcycle helmets and the ilk, are the best way to approach it. Yet there are people still arguing against seat belts and helmets. No surprise that there are people arguing against the SawStop.

R

[mm]

I haven't heard this about airbags and seatbelts that I can remember, but I definitely heard that all-wheel drive or ABS had resulted in people driving faster.

This is not to say I'm against safety devices. Although I am against seat belt laws for adults, but not because I think seatbelts are unsafe.

"Ban food with transfat. Prevent deaths from second-hand fat."

[Jim Redelfs]

I believe this is incorrect. I do not recall there needs to be a complete CIRCUIT to activate the stopping mechanism. I watched all the videos (to my interest and sometimes amazement) and recall it was capacitance technology or something similar.

The SawStop, according to their website, DOES address kickback - very effectively, IIRC.

[Doug Miller]

Tell you what: why don't you use Google to find out a little bit about the SawStop. It does, in fact, cut wood just find -- and stop in an instant if the blade comes in contact with flesh.

?? Explain the logic underlying *that* conclusion.

Yes, which is kinda the point of the SawStop technology: to minimize the extent of the hurt. It really does work. Google it. There are some pretty impressive demonstration videos available on the net.

Speaking of which... you're not exactly making yourself look like Einstein here, you know...

Common sense ain't so common (obviously). And sometimes the conclusions drawn from it are wrong.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

So, Michael Jackson does woodwork? I'm not so sure the conductive path works the way you think. a hot dog strapped onto the wood works as well.

[RicodJour]

Strapping a hot dog to a piece of wood and running it through a table saw...there's just something wrong there. It's like some psychopath's hobby. I bet you that's what Jeffrey Dahmer did in his workshop. Practice makes perfect!

R