How can table saw safety be improved with the use of SawStop technology?

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jackwhirl
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I was reading this article about table saw safety and it seemed pretty interesting.
When I watched the video attached I knew it would be appreciated here.
If I ever buy a table saw, it will be one of these:


What interesting examples of safety engineering have you seen?
 
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Discussion

jackwhirl said:
I was reading this article about table saw safety and it seemed pretty interesting.
When I watched the video attached I knew it would be appreciated here.
If I ever buy a table saw, it will be one of these:

This would be good for that monopoly/patent discussion: this guy invents and patents a safety feature, then petitions the government to make it required!
 
russ_watters said:
This would be good for that monopoly/patent discussion: this guy invents and patents a safety feature, then petitions the government to make it required!
It's not unprecedented. Seat belts, airbags, and backup cameras come to mind.
 
I have a table saw that does not have this feature. I got my thumb in the blade once, just about 62 years ago, but it never happened again (and I still have my thumb; it has even regenerated a proper sense of feeling).
 
OCR said:
If we are staying with saws for a bit... chain brakes on chain saws.
Don't know what the guy is talking about.
I thought the brake was designed that way so that a kickback would not have moving chain come back at you and saw through your head( or other parts of your body). Removing a hand from the chain saw is asking for trouble.
 
256bits said:
Don't know what the guy is talking about.
Removing a hand from the chain saw is asking for trouble.
What...?
 
I was cutting a piece of plywood for a guy on the table saw. As soon the pieces separated he yanked on one and I was too surprised to let go. Dragged all four fingers over the blade. I could see the bones.

A safer saw has my approval.
 
If you have an ordinary table saw (like most of us do), there is one critical aspect of setup for each cut that is not illustrated in the SawStop demo video. That is, always adjust your blade height to match the thickness of the board being cut. A 3/4" board gets a 3/4" high blade adjustment.
Or, as our wood shop teacher taught us in seventh grade, only expose the amount of blade above the board to the same amount of your finger you are willing to cut off.
I recall receiving that lesson each and every time I have used a table saw since.
 
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Noisy Rhysling said:
I was cutting a piece of plywood for a guy on the table saw. As soon the pieces separated he yanked on one and I was too surprised to let go. Dragged all four fingers over the blade. I could see the bones.

A safer saw has my approval.
Obviously you had a little bit too much "help" with that particular cut. You have my sympathy- and I hope you healed completely with no nerve damage and the experience has faded into just a bad memory!
 
alayman said:
Obviously you had a little bit too much "help" with that particular cut. You have my sympathy- and I hope you healed completely with no nerve damage and the experience has faded into just a bad memory!
This was when I was stationed in Sicily, shore duty for a snipe could be anything, including running the Wood Hobby Shop. This incident taught me to use push sticks. It also told me I could walk four blocks to Sick Bay while dripping blood on the sidewalks.

And yeah, it tingled a bit after the shock wore off.