Sawstop Cabinet Saw

[Brian Henderson]

I have a PM66 and I'm very happy with it, so I'm certainly not in the market for a new saw to begin with, but even if I was and money was no object, I would never buy a SawStop, I'd go get one of the new PM2000s. My problem with the SS is primarily political, I don't like what they tried to pull and I'm going to hold a grudge for a long, long time, but also, I simply don't think I need to be protected from myself. I've been doing woodworking for many years and I still have all my fingers and toes. Heck, my father worked for many years on a crappy 8 1/2" benchtop saw with a completely ineffective guard and he never hurt himself either. Being careful and knowing what your limitations are is *ALWAYS* more important than having someone's nanny equipment on your saw. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee I'd never trip the SS, at least not the way it's supposed to be tripped. Faulty and expensive trips, as are widely reported, would probably just make me mad.

[Upscale]

You've never ever cut yourself on anything. You've never tripped and fallen. You've never hit your thumb with a hammer, accidentally bumped your head on anything or ever hurt yourself in any way shape or form.

Wow. You must be superman. I'm jealous of all you people who are invulnerable and can't be hurt. You are the only people who can safely say that you don't have accidents or do something stupid and regret it afterwards.What is it like to be perfect?

[Joe Bemier]

I believe it is a well made saw - no issues there.

[Joe Bemier]

That is an issue you need to be prepared for. I know of only one saw and it has "stopped" without reason once in the 4-6 months since it was purchased. The owner runs a Cabinet shop and bought it under pressure from the Insurance Co. He said that it cost him about $400 but the biggest issue was downtime waiitng for the new parts. While it is mostly anecdotal, misfires seem to be an issue.

Good Luck!

[Upscale]

Yeah, I have to agree. All that time wasted because the business owner didn't think to have an extra part on hand. Who'd ever want to prepare themselves or their business in case of something like that? Just think of all that time wasted. It must be worse than an employee hurting themselves on the job and having to go for extended workman's comp. And it would certainly be more time wasted than having to hire a replacement employee and taking the time needed to train them to handle their job.

Of course, all that probably wouldn't happen because the injured employee would probably sue at some point and the business would likely be shut down because of legal costs, fantastically increased insurance premiums and the initial loss of business because of the injury.

But, there's a solution. The business can move lock, stock and barrel up to Canada. We're not so quick to jump into court and tie everything up for a considerable period. That is the purview of the US citizen. We have better things to do than support a growing army of personal injury lawyers. Up here, we like to feed them to the sled dogs and make a tidy profit selling tickets to the event.

However, I digress. We were talking about wasting time. Let me wrap things up by saying that it doesn't make any sense at all to invest in a relatively expensive tool for a business but neglect to factor in a few critical spare parts for when the employees take their lunch time hot dog and decide to test out the new machine.

:)

[Mike Marlow]

Thankfully, that employee will now never be able to hurt themselves.

Yeah - it's just a real problem. We can't seem to keep businesses open because of the daily injuries and the resultant loss of production and inevitable legal fees. In another twelve days or so we won't have any more production wood shops left in the United States.

That's true but it's hard for Americans to adapt to holding that "We're better about everything" that Canadians are so well known for.

That's it. Keep a room full of spares on hand for those times that the machine misfires due to a yet unresolved design issue.

[Upscale]

Naturally, you own a SawStop and are closely familiar with all those unspoken and unresolved design issues. It's also obvious that you have master's degrees in mechanics, electronics and have attended Mr. Gass' business numerous times to evaluate said design issues.

If those things aren't true then the reverse must be true, that you have no experience with those unspoken design issues whatsoever and decided that you'd elucidate us with some verbal diarrhea.

[Leon]

Now that is funny.

[Doug Miller]

In article , "Upscale" wrote: [...]

Just curious about something -- who pays the legal fees in a civil case in Canadian courts? Here in the U.S., each side is responsible for its own legal fees, and personal injury lawyers typically work on contingency: the fee is a portion of the settlement if they win, and nothing if they lose. This creates an obvious incentive to sue at the drop of a hat, because both the plaintiff and the lawyer have everything to gain, and nothing to lose, regardless of the merits of the suit. One proposed solution is to make the losing side in any civil suit responsible for the legal fees of the winner. Is that how it works in Canada? Or are your lawyers simply less shark-like than ours?

When do the tix go on sale? I want to buy some...

[RonB]

If the Sawstop turns out to be good, reliable technology, I suspect you will see others try it in the future. My biggest concern is they are going to get the Government involved and we will have another safety feature legislated down our throats. From what I read, that is already in process.

On the other hand, it seems to be a pretty good safety feature. Most of us think we are safe in the shop. I was telling my wife about my 30-year safety record a few years ago - about a week before I went to the emergency room.

RonN

[Upscale]

That's probably the biggest difference. While Canadian lawyers will occasionally work on a contingency basis, it's much more the exception rather than the rule. There generally has to be some pretty convincing evidence on hand for our lawyers to take on a contingency case. We do have a legal aid system, but to use it, one has to be very much on the destitute side to benefit from it. For the most part, it's cash up front by the plaintiff and that weeds out almost all of the large frivolous lawsuits. Small claims court (>$10,000 claims) with a less solemn setting is the closest thing we have to the lawsuit at the drop of a hat scenario.

There is downside though in my opinion. Some cases that "should" be tried never see the light of day in a court house. I guess that's the trade-off.

[Upscale]

For the greater part, most will agree it's a good technology. The biggest uproar about the SawStop is the attempt to make it a mandated safety technology.

It may happen, but it probably won't get that far because insurance concerns will likely cause most businesses to adopt the technology anyway.

[Larry Blanchard]

You'll never know :-).

[J. Clarke]

Not likely until the Sawstop patents expire. He approached the major manufacturers and was rejected by all of them.

He tried to get laws passed that would require his device on all saws. The government told him to go to Hell.

[CW]

It's lonely at the top but someone's got to do it. :)

[Leon]

LOL.. A little interpretation on your part?

[Leon]

Those that think that they are immune are typically the most likely to get hurt. Until you realize that you do not have total control you are kinda going in blind.

[J. Clarke]

Well, he didn't get what he wanted.

[RonB]

Absolutely correct! I made a stupid assumption that when you turn the switch off the TS blade stops. Walked away, realized I had left a cutoff sitting on the tabletop. Over-reached the blade and ^%#&$.

RonB

[Leon]

Perhaps not the obvious but her certainly got a lot of recognition. Cheap advertising.