New safety table saw - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

oldgoat · 09-12-2007, 04:54 AM

Saw this for a new type of table saw that is suppose to be the safest on the market. Thought it might be interesting.

http://www.woodcraft.com/stores/saws...FQenIwodJBkrzg

Jimmer · 09-12-2007, 08:15 AM

A fellow developed this technonogy a few years ago. He marketed (markets) it as an add-on for regular 10" saws. They demo with a hot dog at trade shows— when the blade makes contact with something that conducts electricity like flesh does, the blade freezes and retracts. Not sure what it costs to get it running again, I'm guessing a couple hundred, but less than the ER would for sure.

He tried to convince the government to mandate it on every table saw, and so far has not succeeded. He recently developed this saw, as he says, from the ground up, to be safe. It has some other nice touches: for instance, the paddle style off switch should have been standard a long time ago.

I have not heard any reports on how good a saw it is. The thing about a Powermatic is you are getting a very well engineered, time tested saw. Will this one work well out of the box, be in adjustment? Will it stay that way with five or fifteen years' use on it?

Jimmer

6stringmason · 09-12-2007, 12:54 PM

I use a table saw daily and am seriously considering selling my JET and getting one of these.

Even if it does cost a couple hundred to get running again, I couldnt imagine life without my fingers. This SHOULD be required on all saws if it works that good. I dont see why people wouldnt want one.

And the fellow in that video is right. The more you use, the more comfortable you get with the saw, and the better chance of an accident. I've had kickback a couple times that have given my some nice gashes, but so far I've been lucky.

Knockin on wood!

**Cole** · 09-12-2007, 02:46 PM

I was going to buy one of these a while back but I decided to hold off until they release the contractor saw.

http://sawstop.com/products-contractor-saw.htm

From someone who knows how it is to get cut by a saw, the safer you can be the better.

tgeb · 09-12-2007, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Brake Cartridge for 10" blades $69.00

For that little bit of money....I think it would be well worth it.
Of course you would more than likely have to replace the blade also, but still cheaper than a new finger.

If more saws had these the price would come down too.

mickeyco · 09-12-2007, 04:31 PM

I saw one of these on This Old House or Ask This Old House, Tom Silva demonstrated it with a hot dog (I wanna see someone use their fingers). He said the blade and the unit (sensor and blade holder) would have to be replaced if it was "tripped", it was quite expensive (cheaper than replacement fingers). I wonder if it would trip if cutting wet lumber. I personally witnessed a coworker cut off his fingers on a table saw so I think it's a great idea but if it "trips" when something that conducts electricity contacts it wouldn't have helped him, he was cutting aluminum plate (I'm assuming you couldn't cut aluminum with a Saw Stop).

tgeb · 09-12-2007, 05:04 PM

http://sawstop.com/how-it-works-faqs.htm

Quote:

5. Can I cut any material with my SawStop saw?

Any material that is electrically non-conductive can be cut with the SawStop saw. This includes woods, plastics, laminates, etc. If you want to cut aluminum or other conductive materials, the safety system has a key-activated bypass feature that can be used to disable the brake while cutting these materials.

It didn't mention wet wood products which I would guess are conductive.

eddieapoc · 09-12-2007, 06:32 PM

That is really cool. I use a table saw everyday and never really think about it. After watching that Im going to be paranoid im about to lose a finger everytime that I use one.

**Cole** · 09-12-2007, 06:49 PM

60,000 TableSaw Accidents Every Year!!

One accident in every 9 minutes.

**joasis** · 09-12-2007, 08:46 PM

And to think I have a sawmill with a 56 inch blade, and stand 3 feet from it with no shielding while sawing logs....125 horsepower Hercules engine....probably wouldn't make the belts bounce if I got my finger, or whole body into it...and trust me, I treat my table saw with the same respect.

oldgoat · 09-13-2007, 04:28 AM

I've been more scared when I was cutting wood using a buzz saw driven by a old JD A. Only being a little ways away from that blade wasn't very comfortable and it didn't help that my Dad and Father in Law were talking about people cutting wood and having it hit old nails or wire that had been grown into it. Makes short work but makes you nervous also.

DrewD · 09-15-2007, 10:32 AM

I'm buying the contractor saw when it comes out. I have to buddies who lost fingers while we were in Iraq, theres so many things they can't do now its really sad. I couldn't imagine the loss of my finges/hands.

Heritage · 09-15-2007, 06:28 PM

I lost the tips of two fingers on a table saw cutting hardwood flooring and I always consider myself the most safety conscious guy on any job. It only takes a nanosecond.

That night in the hospital, there were 9 other guys that had similar table saw accidents

My next saw will be one of these and eventually I'll replace all my saws with these units. Problem is, most of us don't take this serious enough until it's too late. One of my contractor buddies, a guy who was on site the night of my accident said I should use my time off to develop a saw that could prevent these accidents...well, I'm glad somebody did.

pistonnrings · 09-20-2007, 10:42 PM

I was at the local Woodcraft tent sale here in Honolulu, and while picking up a table saw from the DeWalt booth the demo for that Safety Table Saw was starting. I remarked on how amazing the table was to the DeWalt rep, and while he agreed it was great, he lowered his voice and mentioned that he had seen the demo about 20 times, and out that 20, he had seen the thing fail once...yes, sadly the sausage got sliced.

I would also get this saw, but can't help but wonder if my respect for the danger of the saw would be diminished exposing myself to greater harm? 1 out of 20 is only 5 percent, but if there are 60,000 cases a year, that is still 3000 instances, although 57000 people can still count to 10 on their fingers too. Just food for thought.

kklick · 09-20-2007, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pistonnrings

I was at the local Woodcraft tent sale here in Honolulu, and while picking up a table saw from the DeWalt booth the demo for that Safety Table Saw was starting. I remarked on how amazing the table was to the DeWalt rep, and while he agreed it was great, he lowered his voice and mentioned that he had seen the demo about 20 times, and out that 20, he had seen the thing fail once...yes, sadly the sausage got sliced.

I would also get this saw, but can't help but wonder if my respect for the danger of the saw would be diminished exposing myself to greater harm? 1 out of 20 is only 5 percent, but if there are 60,000 cases a year, that is still 3000 instances, although 57000 people can still count to 10 on their fingers too. Just food for thought.

I've seen the live demo about 5 times. Every time it is truly amazing how quick the saw stops and how little of a scratch there is on the hot dog. The only way I could see the demo failing is someone didn't have a good grip on the hot dog or the by pass switch was activated.

The only thing you have to replace when its tripped it the brake cartride and your blade. You have to figure though if you did something to trip the saw and it saved your fingers 70 bucks for a brake and a new blade is well worth it.

The rep I talked to said cutting extremely wet lumber could result in the saw getting tripped. He said best to use the bypass switch with soggy material.

I run a production shop and have tried to convince the owners to buy one but so far no luck. I would thing the insurance companies and osha would definitely be on board with this technology.

TempestV · 09-20-2007, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyco

(I wanna see someone use their fingers)

When it first appeared, they had an artical in tools of the trade. In the artical they say that the guy that invented it did put his fingers on the line once, after building a ready for production saw, and testing it hundreds of times with hot dogs. All he needed was a band aid.

daArch · 09-21-2007, 08:59 PM

I'm unclear on this. Am I to understand that each time the safety brake engages, you need to buy a new brake and blade for $70 ???

Not that there's anything wrong with that.
As everyone says, well worth it.

But that in itself would keep me from getting over confident. I'd rather lose $70 than a hunk of me, but $70 ain't chump change.

TempestV · 09-21-2007, 09:08 PM

if you had to go to the hospital for any kind of cut, it would cost way more than the brake and new blade.

Even the lost time would make it worth it.

Heritage · 09-22-2007, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TempestV

if you had to go to the hospital for any kind of cut, it would cost way more than the brake and new blade.

Even the lost time would make it worth it.

$70 doesn't even cover the Percacets. And no Percacets=no sleep. You can't put a price tag on your limbs. $70? I'd pay $7000 if I could get the tips of my fingers back.

Michaeljp86 · 09-22-2007, 06:44 PM

What I didnt like about this is the blade slams into a chunk of aluminun and trashes the blade. What if the wood is slightly damp? Now there goes about $85 and a loss of time until you gut the new part. I think they should have had it run into a block of wood so it wouldnt damage the blade and have it where you can reset it instead of spending $80 or more everytime in trips itself.