Comments on: Hot News Flash: Table Saw Safety

By: Jerry Jaksha

Jerry Jaksha — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 06:28:09 +0000

I have made millions of cuts on the tablesaw in the last twenty years without having my hands within a foot of the blade. The technology is inexpensive and works on any table saw.
What is it ? A hold-down and feather board. Not only do they replace fingers, but they also stop kickback.

A Saw stop might not cut your fingers, but does nothing to prevent kickback of a binding board that never gets to the splitter. It does nothing to stop the kickback of a piece of plywood being dadoed. A plywood kickback has ripped many fingers off.
Should the Saw Stop company be sued because they did not offer the extra protection of a table saw feeder?
I don’t think so, but the same logic exists as in the Roybi lawsuit.

By: Ray Menard

Ray Menard — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:20:37 +0000

Here is a link to a blog by A.J. Hamler posted in the new edition of Woodshop News about this story.

http://blog.woodshopnews.com/workbench/?p=238

Sorry I don’t know how to make a hot link in this format.

Quick summary is: The guy who got hurt was absolutely NOT qualified to use a table saw. If he had been using a 3 hp saw or bigger, he might have been killed by kickback.

As one respondent to the blog wrote- a car is not safe because I can drive into a tree.

I’ve written above trying to make a case supporting SawStop technology (or the like) being incorporated on all newly manufactured saws, BUT I’ve got to say that in this case the problem was absolutely the fault of the user and no safety technology could have helped this rank amateur. If the 11 points noted by Mr. Hamler are accurate, I believe, the operator’s boss should have been held accountable and Stephen Gass, the Saw Stop inventor, would have generated a lot more credibility had he acknowledged the gross negligence of the worker.

Lawyers win/ Common Sense in the toilet

By: joinery45

joinery45 — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:05:49 +0000

Every job I’ve ever worked on, some fool removes the riving knife or breaks the blade guard. These are the same people who insist on setting the rip fence with a tape measure rather than relying on an accurate calibrated fence scale.

One guy on a job had a cartoon of Calvin peeing on the word ‘Socialist’ until I reminded him that we owe the weekend, workmans comp, and that ‘we’ must be paid in money, not script for the company store to ‘Socialist’ .

I loved the reference to the CCCP, the big difference is Saw-Stops work and the Soviet version wouldn’t.

By: Greg S

Greg S — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:15:02 +0000

I’ve been using a table saw for over 35 years and never had any tablesaw-related injuries. I had a good mentor who taught me how to use ALL power tools safely. This year I finally decided to upgrade my old contractors style saw to a Saw Stop Professional cabinet saw. I went back and and forth between the new Delta saw and the Saw Stop. I read the reviews and did a hands on evaluation of both saws. In the end I chose the Saw Stop because of the blade break. I believe in and am willing to invest in items that give me an extra margin of safety. Common sense is always my overriding rule. If I don’t think I can cut it safely on the table saw, I rough size my boards and then move to my table saw. I am always aware of where my hands and fingers are when I am using the table saw and always use feather boards and push sticks. Choosing the Saw Stop with its blade break, was a no brainer selection for me.

By: David

David — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 22:22:26 +0000

The same argument was made about seat belts, anti-lock brakes, safety glass, steering wheels (remember those hard plastic steering wheels?), air bags, etc. Selling a car nowadays without those safety features would completely unethical.

Every employer that requires someone to operate a table saw has an ethical and legal obligation to provide, and require that the operator use, every reasonable safety precaution and technology. The cost of this SawStop technology is peanuts compared to the lifelong disabilities that are inflicted by table saws. No one making $10 an hour should be asked to use a table saw without flesh-detecting technology. Period.

And just because the inventor of this technology has a conflict of interest (assuming there is one) does not mean that the technology isn’t a great idea. One should be wary of a person with a conflict of interst but it doesn’t mean that what he is peddling is flawed.

As a matter of fact, the patent system was created in order to reward inventors, such as Mr Gass. And it seems to me that such incentives are a primary reason that the United States is the greatest creator of technology that has ever existed.

By: Arnold Torres

Arnold Torres — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 10:58:38 +0000

Why is the guy in the video is unsafe as well – where are his safety glasses? Or does the device know that the operator is not wearing any? Isn’t Operator error the Operator’s error?

By: Lou Cosme

Lou Cosme — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 03:16:36 +0000

I confess, this moronic mindset of anti sawstop machismo is beyond my paygrade. If the technology had been put in place years ago, it would be very cheap today and a none issue, period. All table saw manufactures, by playing the waiting game and ignoring sawstop tech have no one to blame but themselves. This law suit is just the tip of the iceberg. What untill the patent expires and all the manufactures suddenly come out with sawstops tech. Anyone who is injured with pre-sawstop tech will be compelled to sue because the tech has existed for a moon and none of the manufactures implemented it sooner. I can’t believe no one can see this coming. A buddy of mine believes as a lawyer that the lawsuits will drive the cost of table saws through the roof as manufactures will pass on the costs of these suits on to the consumer if it does not put them out of business. Not to mention the possibility that SawStop the company might have grounds to sue all other manufactures for some ungodly amount of money—think intermittent window wipers…

By: Don Kerkhan

Don Kerkhan — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:45:40 +0000

We can all have an accident if we are not carefull. The advertisement for this Sawstop device shows a saw blade that is foolishly high for what is being cut. And then the mans hands are foolishly close to a blade that is way to high. Granted he’s trying to make a point. If any kickback occurs, with the way he using the saw,he stands the chance of loosing much more than he’d enjoy loosing. He would be mamed for life,so, he needs a Sawstop. The blade should only protrude above the material being cut by perhaps 1/4″, or so, to help avoid a more serious injury. A sliding table or push stick should be used to push something so small through the saw……not your hands. Your hands should never come close enough to the blade to be cut if kickback occurs. Then if there is kickback, the sliding table or pushstick take the damage and not your hand. Of course this little Sawstop destroys the blade it stops, so just go ahead and replace the blade! Blades can be $50 and up, to a lot more, for just a small saw. What if this new technology Sawstop shorts out, and you have to change to a new blade, make another cut, and this thing stops the new blade again? Then again! Just keep digging into your pockets to keep replacing the blade. This device is being marketed to all of us because too many untrained saw users are making mistakes by making cuts they shouldn’t be making in the first place. Training an operator is necessary. This Sawstop, to me, is a bad joke!

By: Tim Smith

Tim Smith — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:49:18 +0000

Amen, Big Bob,
The real corruption is with this left wing government of ours. I can’t believe that this court ruled in favor of this guy and against Ryobi! Do all cars have air bags? If they don’t then you could sue the manufacturer for NOT putting them in your car EVEN THOUGH YOU KNEW BEFOREHAND THAT THE CAR DIDN’T HAVE AN AIR BAG! Why is it Ryobi’s fault that this guy cut himself? When he bought the saw he knew that the saw didn’t have the sawstop technology. Therefore he was willing to take the risk. This is not Ryobi’s fault in any way. At the time sawstop technology was an available option for this guy yet he chose to use the cheaper Ryobi. The fault is all on himself. I personally bought a sawstop since I was setting up a home shop and knew that I would never forgive myself if I or someone else had a serious injury with that saw. But it was MY choice. We still live in the land of the free, we’re free to be stupid (which I have been at times with tools), but nobody can prevent all types of accidents. That’s why we have insurance companies, to cover us for those times when we will need them. I believe this ruling will be overturned upon appeal.

By: Tommyt

Tommyt — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:51:39 +0000

From what I,ve read about the lawsuit and the litigant, he was a Columbian who was learning English, working for an oriental employer using a table saw on the floor without any of the safety guards installed. It reeks of attorneys looking to make a quick buck who care nothing about that individual at all. My problem lies with the inventor and owner of Sawstop, Stephen Gass, being involved in the matter. His sour grapes attitude because he was turned down by the major manufacturers of table saws in this country for the use of his idea has now gotten into the courts. Come to find out he’s also an attorney (patent). Smells like a fox in the henhouse to me. While sawstop is great technology, at the moment its being overshadowed by his involvement in this case and will do more damage to his credibility than good. It will be overturned by a higher appeals court and Sawstop will go by the wayside as newer technology will become available from other more prominent manufacturers in the future at much lower cost.