Ever seen this????

[Boilermaker]

I was watching the Donny Deutsche show on MSNBC last night and they were talking about people who took products in they use in their everyday life and improved upon then. The one guy in question was an avid wood worker, former physicist, and current patent attorney. He has had several friends lose fingers while working on their table saws so he was looking for some safety features to add to his saw. What he came up with is the saw blade can sense whether it's cutting wood or into a finger. When it senses it is cutting into a finger the saw blade disappears down into the cabinet of the saw. I would not have beleived this if I didn't see it for myself. They've got some promotional footage on their website. Some of the videos are kinda long and take a while to get to the point where they actually run a hot dog through the saw as their substitue finger, but it's well worth the wait.

www.sawstop.com

 

[christopheralan]

I saw this thing at a Wood Craft in Flordia a while back, and Ask This Old House did a few minutes on it. It seems really cool, and worth the investment for companys who can afford it. I have been fortunate enough not to have had any major accidents, but I am fearful that people will become more careless. Remember when airbags came out and people stopped wearing seatbelts? Same thing.

I'll admit that often times I don't use some of the guards on my powertools. I feel that they get in the way and I notice that I get more sloppy when I cut wood. "The guard is there, I'll be fine." I find that I am more careful when some of the guards are not there.

Just me.

 

[PeteM]

Jeremy (GotoJeremy - Charlotte) has one if you want to check it out first hand. Just bring your own hot dog and I'm sure he'd be glad to demonstrate it for you ;-):slap:

(Just kidding of course. It costs big bucks to replace the mechanism and the blade if it goes off. It is a great saw though.)

pete

 

[jglord]

The Sawstop is supposed to be a pretty good saw - Fine Woodworking liked it. The safety works by sensing a change in the electrical conductance of the blade - sort of like what a ground fault plug does in your home. When it senses a change, it fires an aluminum block into the spinning blade and the blade drops below the top surface. It does destroy both the brake and the blade. To see this in action go to the Sawstop web site and select the hotdog demo - down on the left. The brake cartridge sells for $69 and you would need to replace the blade as well. Still, it is less than an ER visit.

The saw is very expensive - $2,799 + fence + rail + shipping ($550 in NC).

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

I was watching the Donny Deutsche show on MSNBC last night and they were talking about people who took products in they use in their everyday life and improved upon then. The one guy in question was an avid wood worker, former physicist, and current patent attorney. He has had several friends lose fingers while working on their table saws so he was looking for some safety features to add to his saw. What he came up with is the saw blade can sense whether it's cutting wood or into a finger. When it senses it is cutting into a finger the saw blade disappears down into the cabinet of the saw. I would not have beleived this if I didn't see it for myself. They've got some promotional footage on their website. Some of the videos are kinda long and take a while to get to the point where they actually run a hot dog through the saw as their substitue finger, but it's well worth the wait.

www.sawstop.com

Now don't take this the wrong way, but it looks like you haven't spent much time on the web reading WW forums or looking at WW mags over the last 2 - 3 years.

The Sawstop has had quite a lot of press and generated MANY, MANY, HEATED discussions since being introduced. Some folks love it, some have mixed feelings (EXPENSIVE, etc.), but MANY MANY folks have taken great issue with the inventor's push to have a similar device (his is currently the ONLY one out there) mandated on ALL tablesaws by submitting regulation proposals to and lobbying the Government (Consumer Product Safety Commission, etc.) (He was unsuccessful in marketing it to all the tablesaw manufacturers- Delta, B&D, WMH (Jet), etc. etc.)

 

[gator]

Klingspor has one on display in the store along with a mechanism that has fired. Shows what the mechanism looks like and what it does to the blade.

George

 

[rickc]

Klingspor has one on display in the store along with a mechanism that has fired. Shows what the mechanism looks like and what it does to the blade.

George

...and it isn't pretty! 8-O But as pointed out, it is a small price to pay if you come away with a nicked finger, rather than a missing one. I think if I were doing repetitive, "production" type runs where my mind could wander, I would not hesitate to invest in one. However, right now, I like the setup I have with my Rigid. The guard is easy to install and adjust after removal for the big stuff going through the saw.

 

[clowman]

Looking at their future products, they also have a bandsaw, contractor saw and chop saw in the works.

 

[christopheralan]

What about hammers?

 

[ashley_phil]

(He was unsuccessful in marketing it to all the tablesaw manufacturers- Delta, B&D, WMH (Jet), etc. etc.)

My understanding is he introduced this at the 1996 IWF Show in Atlanta and offered it to the manufacturers. They all declined because it would jack the price up so high they thought no one would pay for it. Plus due to litigation fears if they offered it on one model they'd need to make it standard if it was that much better.

Well after waiting for them to decide they wanted his product the Taiwanese manufacturing came to be a reliable source. He went overseas and had his own saw designed and pushed into production. After passing on it for several years the big manufacturers now more fearful of litigation passed on implementing it on their saws before he brought out his own saw. At IWF in 2002 he introduced the SAWSTOP to much cynism and sneers to the established Table Saw industry.

Well what has happened is his idea and his saw is selling like hot cakes! It really is a safer approach and a great option. There will be competitive models with similar saftey in the next few years and the price will come down in my opinion.

Is the guy a lawyer and likely a jerk? I've not met him, but since he's a lawyer he could be. But the reality is he has a great product and brought it to the public the only way he could give the resistance to his product.

They will have trouble implementing this on other products due to the force the machine takes when it faults. I envision it buckling the steel legs on a contractor saw!

I spent $ 7,500 on saving my thumb a few years ago, so $ 3500 for a saw doesn't seem so bad anymore! From a production standpoint if I owned a shop and had employees I would not dream of having any other Table Saw from a liability stand point.

 

[sapwood]

There are many scenarios where safety is more important than cost. And it has consistently been rated a top-notch cabinet saw. With ample money and space I would love to have one. As others mentioned, the Sawstop will certainly pay for itself in a production environment. KMI folks in Wilmington recognized it's value teaching woodworking skills to at-risk kids. Budgets are tight in their not-for-profit world. But foresight and persistence enabled them to purchase one for the kids. The perfect place for a Sawstop :icon_thum

Roger

 

[DaveO]

KMI folks in Wilmington recognized it's value teaching woodworking skills to at-risk kids. Budgets are tight in their not-for-profit world. But foresight and persistence enabled them to purchase one for the kids. The perfect place for a Sawstop :icon_thum

Roger

As long as the kids never know what it does until they, hopefully never, actually need it to work. I could see a lot of nicked hotdogs and fired brake catridges/ruined blades if they did know :roll::roll:
Dave

 

[clowman]

I believe I heard Jeff and Jimmy say that they have never told the kids what it did. That could have changed from a year ago. I could see it now... "Hey Ya'll ... watch this!!!"

 

[sapwood]

I believe I heard Jeff and Jimmy say that they have never told the kids what it did. That could have changed from a year ago. I could see it now... "Hey Ya'll ... watch this!!!"

Yep, they were quick to realize the dangers of knowing what a Sawstop does :rolf: And I'm confident they still don't tell the kids!

Roger