Better than SawStop

tarheelz

Dave
Corporate Member
Perhaps clear to y'all but I'm not understanding the detection mechanism for this new system. "If the system detects movement past a certain threshold..." Movement of what? The wood is moving. The push stick is moving. The finger, hand, and arm are moving.
 

FlyingRon

Moderator
Ron
Perhaps clear to y'all but I'm not understanding the detection mechanism for this new system. "If the system detects movement past a certain threshold..." Movement of what? The wood is moving. The push stick is moving. The finger, hand, and arm are moving.

Moving your body near a tuned circuit, even without touching it will cause a detectable change. While this system is potentially more subject to false trips than the contact method used by SawStop, the fact that this is easily reset means that this probably isn't a serious problem. On the otherhand, the whirlwind system was optical and relied on bulky blade guard which pretty much means that people would remove it regularly to get work done, disabling the system. On SawStop and the Felder schemes, I can chuck the blade guard and use a riving knife or even just nothing without changing the operation of the safety.

Stopping the blade probably isn't sufficient. I've done more damage to my hands manipulating STOPPED saw blades than I've ever encountered with moving ones. Remember that a lot of these table saw accidents do not involve just someone pushing their hand into the blades. They're often secondary to some kickback method that propels the user's hand toward the blade. Even a slowly turning or stopped one may indeed cause serious injury.
 

Premier Sponsor

Our Sponsors

LATEST FOR SALE LISTINGS

Top