"Table Saw Safety - This is simply stunning!" Topic

As someone who has tangled with a table saw in the past, I find this particular invention to be magnificent. I don't know if it would have made a lot of difference in my own incident, but I'll bet a lot of us know someone who wishes they'd had this saw.

sawstop.com

That is simply the coolest thing I've seen in a long time!

The "Why SawStop?" video is good, but there are others on the site as well.

I saw this in the woodworking magazines several months ago. This is a neat device and I would love to retrofit this to my table saw. I've been bitten once by my saw years ago and I don't want to relive the experience.

Very Cool, the hot dog demo really shows what happens if a body part comes in contact with the blade. Worth the money( and I did not even look for a price yet) I have a table saw and the damn things have always scared me enough not to want to use it.

I STILL can't use one. At least, not the last time I tried some 4-5 years ago. I got as far as turning it on and just barely nibbling at a piece I was trying to cut and then I turned it off.

I stuck my finger into the blade of one some 15 years or so ago. It went straight in, so one of the teeth struck the tip of my finger. There was a TING! sound and I felt my finger go numb. I wish it had STAYED numb. No lasting damage, other than the tip being a touch lopsided and the nail curving a bit more than it should. But, when it happened, it shattered the bone in the tip of the finger. THAT was painful.

Funny coincidence: After wanting one for years, my parents had finally gotten me my first guitar for Christmas some two weeks before this happened.

I don't know if this device would have helped much with that sort of "impact damage" injury, but it might give me the nerve to use a table saw again! LOL!

Rattlehead,

My experience wasn't quite as bad, but bad enough. I was ripping down some thin stock. As I brought my hand back over the top of the blade I dragged my left index finger across the blade from the BACK side of the blade. I felt the contact and figured I had just skipped my finger across the top of the blade. When I looked at it I could see that I had cut myself nicely. It hurt like hell and I was glad that I didn'tr catch the blade coming forward.

YOWZA! Good thing it didn't bite in and pull you into the blade! Goodbye hand!

Glad to hear you weren't seriously maimed.

ACK! Now I'm thinking of the episode of Supernatural where the guy was thrown on the table saw on his back… That was the most cringe-worthy scene that show has had in my opinion!

Oh, for the record, I believe the base model runs about $28,000! I'm sure it's worth it though!

Wow! That's an amazing saw. I'm not sure I understand how it works, but I can't imagine being the guinea pig on that thing. I used to work with carpenters on boats (I was the refinish guy), and I've seen some nasty accidents. One of the worst things I've seen is a carpenters face when he cuts his hand in a bad way.

Rattlehead – I think you slipped a zero there.

It's a very nice saw, the saw part could be a bit better, but not much (Powermatic PM2000 -MMmmmm). The only down side is that it wrecks the saw blade & safety mechanism every time it fires, and it does not only fire for fingers or frankfurts, it also fires for damp wood and some other things. And last time I looked, it does NOT work for the most dangerous blade types – dado and molding blades, only narrow, single blades.

My father has been in the Commercial cabinet business for 25 years. He has told me many horror stories from around the shop. When he was running a shop many years ago they had a guy ripping thin peices of trim on one of their large saws. One of ther peices split and the blade caught it. The blade shot it back into and through his upper thigh. It went all the way through his leg. Before he realized it he grabed the peice and yanked it out. Well he hit the floor bleeding heavily. The guys got to him quickly and began appling pressure to the wound, however they did not realize it had went through his leg and he was bleeding out the back. It took them a few minutes to see the blood pooling under him. Well they got enough pressure to contain the bleeding and 911 arrived quickly. Had the wood been a few inches closer it would have hit his main artery. Even then he still lost a lot of blood. It was many weeks before he returned to work.
I hate the darn things and do not touch them unless I absolutly have to.

They do say there is a dado safety available.

Nah – SawStops aren't that expensive. They aren't too much more than a normal cabinet saw like a Unisaw (cheaper than some)…$2200 or so.

Not all roses though, it works by detecting a change in moisture in the material being cut (using a resistance sensor if I recall from the last demo I saw for it). The downside to that is that if you are cutting wet wood (due to rain, or a spilled drink) or wood that is still green (I don't recall the specific moisture content…something over 30% though) it will engage.

Also when you switch from a normal blade to a Dado blade you do have to swap out the SawStop cartridge as well. The thicker blade interferes with the mechanism used. If you have a WoodCraft store in your area…most of them used to carry them. Let you get up close and personal with em.

Now THAT is cool. My Dad is a *very* experienced carpenter, and he still managed to slice into his right index finger using a table saw a couple of decades back. No loss of digit or nail, but it took many stitches to repair the damage.

I don't need a table saw, but if I did, I'd plunk down the extra money for one of these.

I use a table saw all day, everyday in my job.

Admitted it tends to be for lighter work, the occasional board, but usually work for architectural model making.

The best safety device you can use when using a table saw is the brain of the operator using it!!!

If you are sensible, pay attention, and use the guards/push-sticks etc. it is reasonably safe.

Admitted, I still take the guard and riving knife off occasionally to cut the odd groove, but lets not go into that!

The CEO of that company should put his money where is mouth is and stick HIS wiener in it. What man wouldn't trust a hand where he trusts his jewels?

Had a small piece of wood get wedged between the guard and the guide once. It shot back into my bicep. It hit me so hard, that a huge square of my skin bled for about a day. Still have some scar marks.

I'm just thankful it didn't hit my cheek. I was wearing eye, ear and mouth protection at the time, but if it hit my cheek, I would be scarred for life. Now I use a full face plastic visor. It looks ridiculous, but I don't care.

D'oh! Yes, that's an extra zero in my last post… I don't know how it snuck in there. The price listed on the site was $2,800 for the base model, NOT $28,000. LOL!

Okay, I'll admit it. Table saws scare the out of me. Always have. I've got a circular saw that I use for some small jobs, and occassionally think about a table saw, but I just don't want one. They make me nervous.

This saw, by the way, is AWESOME!

And yes, I also use good face protection (think I'll get that full plastic visor, too -- a very good suggestion).

What an absolute waste of money.

Have had a table saw for over 15 years with regular use and NEVER a problem.

They're MY fingers, so *I* look out for them. Fingers should NEVER be in a position to get damaged.

I note that this is an american saw as it quotes that it comes with a "European style riving knife for added safety". A riving knife is a legal requirement on a saw in Europe, which incidentaly makes it impossible/illegal to mount a dado or wobble blade or to perform a cut that does not penetrate all the way through the board – but then, thats what routers are for – and much safer! Right tool for the right job.

wow I just got a new Table saw and it only cost me $400.00 USD and there were cheaper ones available,yea I had to build a table to mount it in but $2,800.00 USD just seems unreal for a saw no matter how super safe it is.

Like Brandlin, I am the primary safety device on my table saw, or any other power tool. I removed the blade guard from my Jet many years ago after a kickback from being jambed by the guard. Follow basic safety rules and you should never have a problem. Never have your hands in the same line as the blade. Keep hands at least 6 inches from the blade; use a push block. Turn the power off and wait for the blade to stop before reaching for the cut boards. Never lean into the work; if you have to push hard to make the cut, something is wrong with the setup. Always, always were safety glasses with side shields.

I met the CEO of this company several years ago. He approached the Federal bureaucrats about making his device mandatory on all new tablesaws. They loved the idea, until every saw manufacturer said they might as well stop production instead of adding $2,000+ to the price of a $500 USD saw.

As bad as table saws are jointers and planers can be worse. I FEAR those things. Ons slip and it is literally bye bye hand, not finger but hand. Jointers and planers are necessary and handy tools but like ANY tool including non- powered hhand tools need to be treated with a high degree of caution and respect.

As bad as table saws are jointers and planers can be worse. I FEAR those things. Ons slip and it is literally bye bye hand, not finger but hand. Jointers and planers are necessary and handy tools but like ANY tool, including non-powered hand tools, need to be treated with a high degree of caution and respect.

A guy at work just lost two fingers on a table saw. After investigation, they found that the guys in the woodshop had taken it off years ago. He was about a month from retirement too.

Complacency kills, or dismembers in this case.