This inigenious. Table saws scare the crap outa' me.. I don't want to be any where near the blade. <object height="385" width="640"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/E3mzhvMgrLE&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="385" width="640"></object>.
SawStop has been around for a few years now, it really is a neat saw. The background is not so nice though. The inventors pitched the tech to all the table saw manufacturers, none of them wanted to buy it. So after that they went to Congress to get a law passed that would require their SawStop tech in all saws manufactured/sold in the use. That failed too. Next they finally went into business for themselves and started making table saws. All that said, it will be my next table saw. A while back they were also working on a bandsaw version, but I think that project has been canceled.
That's interesting. I'm in the middle of "The Alpha Strategy" and it speaks of exactly that - That businesses will put socialist type restrictions on commerce by seeking laws that favor themselves over other businesses. The result being a tangled web of legislation that erodes our freedoms. Here it is in PDF form: It is basically a short primer on Libertarian/Austrian economics.
that's awesome.. and I too and totally not a table saw friendly guy. I'll take keyboards over stuff that cuts my fingers off any day of the week
Had a large panel kick back into my abdomen once thought I really hurt something and there's something about that nearly invisible whirring blade and all the 3fingered shop teachers I've had... "pusher stick" is the only way I'll get a piece of wood through one.
A Jointer/Planer is wicked dangerous too. My father lost the tip of one thumb back to the first knuckle - "BUZZ!" and it was gone that quick! Danged lucky my uncle was there to take him to the hospital....... They grafted skin from his chest over the now-shortened thumbtip. He knew to use the 'push stick' - either got in a hurry or got distracted.
funny we built lots of production machine guards one place I worked, with all the stickling osha regs, distace,dimension and formulas . The "tool room" in any plant has very little in the way of nanny guards for the mills,lathes and edm machines. get caught in a spinning lathe chuck and its gonna win. They figure machinist are replaceable I guess. Where's mr. VALKMAN IN ALL THIS???
Every wood shop, and most all cabinet places I have been into, that have table saws, have removed their "pawl" type safety devices.... There's a reason! They have a nasty tendency to hang up and then NOT just the wood comes back at you, but pieces of sharp broken plastic and steel "fangs" from those things! Most machines will tear you apart if you are NOT careful. I've lost the tiniest tip of a finger and nail, running a router over an "open" router table, as the pieces I was making at the time had to be done without a guard or a shield. All I felt was a buzzing! I have seen people get their LONG HAIR pulled out by the roots when bending over a Cadillac lathe, with a 4 jawed chuck spinning at over 3500 rpm. The bosses wife was NEVER quite the same after that! ( now sports a wig full time) I've even had a 14 inch table saw throw a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood back, missed me, hit the wall, and left a lasting impression! I Saw a guy lose most of his palm grapping a "quill' on an old cnc Bridgeport Boss 5...he thought it had stopped! It had a quick change collet and it was heavily knurled! Most shop accidents happen due to people just NOT paying attention. A friend of mine lost all 3 middle fingers to a table saw, he turned his eyes away when an employee called his name. He sold the cabinet shop right after that. I have seen tooling/bits like those shaper heads, hit a hard knot, and they come out of those rotary heads really fast! I "lost" a "fly cutter" when the cnc mill was programmed incorrectly and the "Z" axis came plunging down like a rocket into a mill vise....We never did find that 6 inch blade either! Took me awhile to ever walk up to that machine again.... I have seen people do really odd things too...like grabbing a curling shard from a mill that was cutting through 3/4 inch stainless, with a 1 inch bit...the operator grabbed the metal as it spooled around.....He lost a finger. Funny part is, most of the accidents happened to the older guys that either were too over confident, or were distracted for just a second or two.
Place I used to work sprung for one of those saws to build pallets and shipping crates of all things. IIRC once the safety mechanism tripped it was around $300 in parts to get it going again.
Ya, spendy to replace the parts and you need a new blade. But it's generally cheaper than the alternative of a trip to the ER, surgery, rehab, etc. I haven't had the guard on my saw for a long time. A lot of parts I cut are small and are done on a jig so it doesn't allow for the guard to be on.
I need to hear these horror stories every so often. It's how my high school shop teacher taught safety. Lost half a knuckle to a disk sander last year. Now it's scared over and ok except for a slight loss of range. Time to slow down.