Mandating the SawStop

[George K]

https://www.wosu.org/npr-news/2024-04-03/after-years-of-trying-the-u-s-government-may-finally-mandate-safer-table-saws

[Jolly]

First cut his third and fourth finger off last year. He's no newbie, he was building kitchen cabinets at the time.

Will be interesting to see if Saw-Stop actually gives up their patent.

[jon-nyc]

First? Your first kid??? OMG

[Jolly]

Whoops! Left out a word... My first COUSIN....

[George K]

I remember reading that if the SawStop engages, it basically ruins the saw. The saw will require a rebuild of the motor and arbor.

Had it been available to me, I would have bought it.

I believe it was about $1000 more than my Delta Unisaw.

[George K]

I was wrong. You need a new blade and a new cartridge. They claim it takes 5 minutes to install.

Link to video

[George K]

Wow. $2849 for the cabinet saw - base model

Great price.

https://www.sawstop.com/product/professional-cabinet-saw-pcs175-pfa30/

[jon-nyc]

@Jolly said in Mandating the SawStop:

Whoops! Left out a word... My first COUSIN....

Ahhh, still bad of course but I’m relieved to hear it wasn’t your son.

[Axtremus]

I may be in the market for a miter saw ... not sure if there is a version of Saw-Stop for miter saw. :man-shrugging:

[George K]

Table saws are widely considered the most dangerous power tool, and approximately 30,000 blade-contact injuries require medical treatment each year in the United States. About 4,000 result in amputations that can be career-ending for some professional carpenters and contractors.

I am fortunate in that I only had one injury in the shop. It was from a handsaw, and it was (of course) because of a stupid mistake. I ended up in the ER and had the wound sewed up. No permanent injury.

[taiwan_girl]

Pretty impressive safety technology.

[Jolly]

@jon-nyc said in Mandating the SawStop:

@Jolly said in Mandating the SawStop:

Whoops! Left out a word... My first COUSIN....

Ahhh, still bad of course but I’m relieved to hear it wasn’t your son.

So is my son...

[Horace]

Probably someone's son.

[Horace]

Went to a neighborhood gathering tonight, the host has a small woodworking shed in the back yard. I showed him the sawstop video and he knew about it. He doesn't believe in it, because he feels it'll make you care less about safety, which will bite you on all the other tools that don't have a safety mechanism.

[Horace]

He built this globe and also builds pens.

[George K]

@Horace said in Mandating the SawStop:

it'll make you care less about safety, which will bite you on all the other tools that don't have a safety mechanism.

I understand that thinking.

Let me tell you about my only injury...

When working with power tools, I was always mindful about the "what if my hand slips" scenario. IOW, if I'm pushing a piece through a cutter (saw blade, router, whatever), I always kept in mind, "If my hand slips, will it slip INTO the cutter." If the answer is yes, I'd change my hand position, or use a push stick or some other safety device.

So, one day, I was going to cut a large flat dovetail into the end of a piece of cherry that I would fit into a mortise at the top of a leg. You'd never see the joint, but I just thought it would be fun to see if I could do it.

I chucked this piece (about ¾" by 2" by 24" into a vise, with the end of it sticking up. I had marked the lines of the dovetail out, and I got out my dovetail backsaw and started sawing away. The piece chattered a bit as I sawed, and I used my left hand to try to stabilize it.

The saw jumped out of the kerf, and landed directly onto the knuckle of my left index finger causing a 2 inch cut through the skin. Fortunately, it didn't go deep, but it required a trip to the ER for some sutures.

I'd never considered "What if the BLADE slips..."