Machine safety

Maybe woodworking tools -- though some (like a router, jointer or planer) are more difficult to make that sacrificial stop for because it depended on the large OD of the sawblade, and the sawblade died along with the sacrifical stop.

There is a lot more room under a table saw for the emergency stop mechanism than in most other woodworking tools, including radial arm saws and the like.

However -- for metalworking -- Star Trek had transparent aluminum. Do you think that they can come up with non-conductive aluminum and steel? Sure -- for what I just spent the afternoon/evening machineing (Delrin) no problem, except that I don't see stopping a big lathe chuck at high speed would be as easy as stopping a circular saw blade at similar or higher speeds.

But a secondary problem is that this requires the cutting tool to be insulated from the workpiece mount. This means something which is softer than steel and cast iron somewhere in the path, and thus a loss of rigidity.

Also -- metalworking tools tend to not be moving that fast, except for tiny high-speed milling cutters or tiny drill bits.

I don't think that it is worth the cost and the tradeoffs for metalworking tools.

Enjoy, DoN.

It is actually using the momentum of the blade to pull the blade down- if the blade didn't stop so quickly, it wouldn't drop so quickly.

Dave

My worry would be false trips, say goodbye to the blade and aluminum stop. BTW, A while ago I saw a show with that same machine and they recommended a $100 moisture meter for wood, if the wood has just a little too much water in it the machine will trip.

Thank You, Randy

Remove 333 from email address to reply.

One wonders why they removed the guard that is fitted to nearly all table saws and why the blade projected so far through the work when normal practice is to have the blade only high enough to make a clean cut.

Unless it was in order to sell a product..

John B.

They've been pushing that nany-saw for years, even with such corrupt ploys as trying to make it mandatory on table saws. The bottom line is that patent or not, it is a failed product that virtually nobody wants.

Well, nobody who actually does woodworking with any regularity actually installs the guards on their saws since the guards are designed by lawyers who have never used a saw in their lives and have no understanding of why such guards actually increase the dangers of the saw.

As for not setting the blade height correctly, and presumably also not using the feather boards, push sticks and the like that are routinely used by people who actually know how to use a saw, that is just the usual marketing distortion trying to sell a failed product.

The big problem is that the developers of these nany-saws are so emotionally invested in them that they can't understand why everyone isn't jumping to buy them. They have even tried such corrupt practices as attempting to get their product to be made mandatory on all saws. They are basically like religious loons blindly preaching their faith to those who are smart enough to see through it, or in this case to those who know how to use a table saw and have no use for nany-crap.

A worse situation is with auto airbags, where I have said from the beginning that they were a bad idea, it was proven to be a bad idea, but they tried to redesign the bags, and now yet again it has been shown that they are a failure and are harming more people than they help.

It is actually using the momentum of the blade to pull the blade down- if the blade didn't stop so quickly, it wouldn't drop so quickly.

Dave

Oh ok, the blade appears to stop before it moves down, so I thought that there were two mechanisms.

wow I hadn't thought about false triggering at $60US a go. Is there a "test" function?

$60??? A lot of cabinet-making blades start at $100 and go up from there. God knows what it would do to a dado head. The figure for the actual stop mechanism that I saw several years back was $150 for the parts that destroy themselves and the blade plus $600 or so for the guts. Kind of stupid when a cheap contractor's saw runs $150 or so. These guys are still at it, want OSHA to mandate installation on all power saws.

OSHA's already upped the price on contractor's saws by causing the manufacturers to make a change in the blade guard design this year. The DeWalt guy said it can't be retro-fitted, either, has to be a whole new saw.

Stan

Then there should be a lot of good used saws dumped into the hobby marktet.

More than that, $60 replacement Nany cartridge, plus $60-$120 replacement ruined saw blade.

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:45:06 -0600, the infamous "Pete C." scrawled the following:

If you put your blade up high and put your hand on the wood, it will smoothly go under the guard and be cut off your wrist. Where guards are good is if you slip and an appendage lands on the top of the blade. If the blade is set right, you'll get a nasty cut but not a severed limb.

It's not a failed product. His attempt at extortion failed. He wants a price for the device ($150-200), and the price for licensing is a full EIGHT PERCENT OF THE SALE PRICE OF THE SAW! It would double the price for a contractor's saw and add at least $400 to the price of cabinet saws. The lawyer who invented it priced himself out of the market. As I said on the Wreck a couple days ago, if he'd really wanted to see everyone safe, he'd have sold licenses to the mfgrs for a couple grand and asked a buck or two per unit sold. He'd be set for life and the device would be on nearly every new saw sold worldwide.

And not only table saws. He'll see them on bandsaws and miter saws, too. The one thing he can't sue away is the vast amount of stupidity out there.

Not to mention that the cost of a false stop is $90 for the cartridge and $120 for a Forrest Woodworker II blade, plus an hour to get them and an hour to install.

Physical damage or deafness? I understand that they're louder than a shotgun. I hope to never hear one.

-- If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do. -- Samuel Butler

Physical injury and even death. There was another study that just came out that showed that the redesigned airbags are even worse than the originals.

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:46:14 +1100, the infamous "stu" scrawled the following:

More like $200 a go. Woodworkers use expensive blades and the replacement cartridge price hasn't gone down, it has gone up to $70 and $90 per. (reg saw/dado) Wet wood can trigger it, too.

Two other niceties for the saw: It's made in China and costs a minimum of _twice_ the price of a comparable saw.

$3k for a Sawstop cabinet saw vs $1350 for a Grizzly.

-- If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do. -- Samuel Butler

I have neve seen the aluminum shoe damage a blade - but $60 won't buy the replacement part up here.

com...

Tell that to my sister and her daughter who are alive to day thanks to the airbags in their Honda.

SNIP --Have one; wouldn't trade it for *anything*. Cost of replacing the module has dripped significantly; around $65 IIRC. Blades are cheaper than they used to be too. What price a finger or the palm of your hand? More than that I'd venture. Clumsiness isn't the only route to danger; s*it happens..

Clumsiness isn't the main route to danger, carelessness is. I wouldn't allow one of those nanny saws near my shop, especially since a lot of the time I'm not cutting wood and sometimes I'm cutting conductive material.

I see some potential problems, even on a table saw; but the device only works because the blade is relatively light. Try doing an instant stop with a 200 lb. lathe spindle and 60 lb. chuck, and the whole machine would probably roll over and crush you to death.

KG