Watch the hot dog

[Doug Canada]

http://www.sawstop.com/

Doug


.

[StevenBauer]

We've discussed SawStop here before. Most people's complaint was the whole SawStop component would have to be replaced after each 'deployment' and that it ruins your ts blade in the process. How are they doing with their campaign to make SS technology mandatory on all tablesaws?

Steven

[willmarsh3]

That's pretty cool. I think it will save many needless injuries.

Will.

[willmarsh3]

We've discussed SawStop here before. Most people's complaint was the whole SawStop component would have to be replaced after each 'deployment' and that it ruins your ts blade in the process. How are they doing with their campaign to make SS technology mandatory on all tablesaws?

Steven
But the cost of the blade and brake part is quite a few orders of magnitude smaller than the cost and distress of lost fingers. I'm just guessing but I think a shop might say, if you have to replace the brake, the boss will be mad, if you do it again you get fired. If the saw is modified the shop doesn't have a leg to stand on in a lawsuit. The home hobbyist might get used to the saw doing this and let his guard down, and the technology fails him. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Will.

[Paul Pless]

How are they doing with their campaign to make SS technology mandatory on all tablesaws?
That's the inventors dream of course, probably gonna happen about the time the patent expires...

[JimConlin]

I gather that, disregarding the stopping feature, it's an excellent tool, the equal of a Powermatic 66. If so, the added cost of the stop feature is about $1000. To me, that sounds like a reasonable value. I'd pay that to get my finger working right again.

The problem is that table saws last a long time. Anyone want to buy a Powermatic 66?

[ishmael]

I hadn't realized this was a one shot deal, and that it ruined the blade. No matter, I suppose. In fifteen years of dealing with table saws I never got kissed by the blade, and if I had I suppose something like this would have been a good thing. I wonder if it's fast enough to really deal with the number one danger: a kick with fingers close to the back or side of the blade. Not that you should usually have your fingers there to begin with, but people do, all the time.

Adds a grand to the cost of a saw. Hm. Ya know, even though the TS is the only shop tool that regularly gave me heebeejeebees, and the only one that ever bit me, I think good safety practices makes it pretty benign. Given a choice, at a grand, I'd pass. There was an extensive discussion of this a few years ago, and I think I reached the same conclusion.

[Lew Barrett]

The local Woodcraft store has started carrying this saw and it looks terrific. In addition to the stop feature, it has a riving knife, better blade guard, Beismeyer fence, and very nice looking trunion and casting quality; at least the equal if not better than current production Powermatic 66s. I have a 66 and it's a great saw, but if I were buying new, this would be my choice. A new 66 is 2500; the difference is really not that great. All it takes is one slip to pay for the feature. To me, this saw sets the new standard in almost every respect. US made.

[essaunders]

I've never used an airbag in a car... but I'm glad they are there...
So, my question about this is: What percentage of cost of an automobile were the very first airbags? How does this compare to the sawstop? Katherine -- any idea about the airbag cost history?

[Beowolf]

$300.00

I worked for GM Saginaw Div in the early 90's when airbags were first being installed and for some reason, that's the number that sticks in my head for the cost of the airbag system. (I think that TRW produced them for GM)

Of course, if one of them deployed, you had to purchase a new steering column assembly, and so the replacement cost was higher.

Jeff

[boylesboats]

I thought it was an great idea at first, but naaaaaa... That component that stop the blade will get costly and will add up each time it deployed..
Be smart shopper, make an wise choice when buying a saw...
No matter what saw configuration it would be, you can still lose fingers..
Always use a push sticks, and keep fingers or your limbs out of line of cut...

[Lew Barrett]

I thought it was an great idea at first, but naaaaaa... That component that stop the blade will get costly and will add up each time it deployed..
Be smart shopper, make an wise choice when buying a saw...
No matter what saw configuration it would be, you can still lose fingers..
Always use a push sticks, and keep fingers or your limbs out of line of cut...

It doesn't cost anything if it doesn't deploy, and they are proven stable; if it does deploy, you'll have a nick instead of a nick name: Four Finger Frank.

[boylesboats]

It doesn't cost anything if it doesn't deploy, and they are proven stable; if it does deploy, you'll have a nick instead of a nick name: Four Finger Frank.
That's for sure:D

[essaunders]

right now the company is exchanging (for free) all brake assemblies that have deployed due to human contact. Granted, you still have to purchase a new blade, but that doesn't seem bad. I suppose this replacement scheme won't go on forever, but should reduce the (cost) risk for early adopters. I bet you'll have to replace all your own "hot dog test" assemblies too....

[Tom Robb]

Is there a guarentee? Something like your money back if it fails and you cut off your hand, less back if it's only a finger and you've gotten lazy with being careful?

[Bruce Hooke]

Somehow I can't imaging getting that casual around a tablesaw, even if you knew this device was installed.

The company's exchange policy strikes me as a bit backwards. I think most people would be quite happy to write off the cost if, in fact, there was human contact with the blade. After all, you would almost certainly have saved yourself, at the least, a large hospital bill. What I would be more worried about is the thing triggering when it shouldn't have. So, what I'd rather see them offer is a free replacement if the thing triggers without human contact (of course there would need to be an exclusion for someone trying to set it off intentionally by, say, running a hot dog through it).

I know the thing has apparently been proved stable, but I have to wonder whether they thought of every possible type of material someone could reasonably cut on a tablesaw.

All of that said, as Lew noted, most of us do not regularly replace our tablesaw, so in some ways the whole thing feels rather academic. I'd bet that anyone who has a good tablesaw probably expects it to last a lifetime...

I wonder if anyone is looking into a device like this for the bandsaw. From what I've heard, most people actually hurt themselves on the bandsaw than the tablesaw...

[Keith Wilson]

The damn thing actually works. I sure do wish I had had one on my jointer last October. :(

You'd think they could come up with a way to stop the blade that doesn't ruin it,though. OTOH, better than a finger.

[StevenBauer]

Bruce, the saw has a keyed shut off switch for cutting through material that would set it off. And if you go to "products", then "future products", then "prototypes" you can see the SawStop bandsaw demo.:)

Steven

Oh yeah, there's a contractors saw in field testing now.

http://www.sawstop.com/graphics/contractor_saw_v2.jpg


SawStop is now finalizing its newly designed contractor saw. It will be the best contractor saw made, with a massive 62 mm main bearing, heavy-duty arbor shaft, cast iron trunnions and arbor block, solid cast iron table with removable extension wings, dust-collecting blade shroud, and a 1½ horsepower motor -- and of course SawStop's revolutionary contact detection and brake system.


* SawStop® Safety System

o blade stops and retracts on accidental contact
o protection is always on
o performs continuous self checks
o invisible protection – does not intefere with work
o compatible with all standard blades
o works on all woods and non-conductive materials
o includes bypass switch for cutting metal

* True riving knife to minimize kickback
* Low profile blade guard for narrow cuts
* Tool-free quick-change mount for guard and riving knife
* Blade shroud for improved dust-collection
* Large start/stop paddle for hands-free shut off
* Main power switch with removable lock-out key
* Aluminum extrusion rip fence
* Heavy duty 1.5 HP motor
* Vertical slide blade elevation for increased stability
* Zero-clearance insert
* Stamped steel extension wings
* Heavy duty leveling pads on cabinet legs
* Powder-coated cabinet
* Optional cast iron extension wings
* Optional T-Glide Fence System and extension table

[reeljob]

I don;t think anyone's guard would be let down just because the system is on the saw. There isn;t a system like this with your other tools, so why would you let your guard down on just one tool?
I would seriously consider one of these if I was getting a big saw like that (someday hopefully).

[reeljob]

Since the brake is activated by an electric charge, could a static spark set it off?

[Tom Robb]

I'm guessing (call it a conjecture...because if there's been a definitive study on this, it's news to me) that bandsaws hurt lots of people because they seem benign, they look safe, and in a lot of ways they are. It's easy to get careless if a thing seems safe. I'm guessing, again, that if a TS seemed safe, people would tend to become more careless than if it seems like it's itchin' for a chance to maim you.
My experience with electronics is that while the new ones seem to last forever, when they fail, they fail completely. It's one thing to have my computer crash in the middle of some important document, but the fail-safe on the saw? Remember the Titanic....