Shopsmith Forums

The technology of the SawStop is pretty simple. 3 volts are applied to the blade. Any thing that will conduct electricity from that blade will cause that $70 block cartridge to trigger, slamming into the saw blade. And, you toss both your expensive blade and that cartridge into the recycle. You can never use either. Wet wood, treated wood and many other things will stop the machine.

There is an over ride to beat the wet wood (pressure treated). So, turn off over ride switch and slice the hot dogs! LOL! While at it, you might just take off the tip of a finger and sue because there shouldn't be an over ride switch which defeats the purpose of all that flesh detecting technology. What fine webs we weave for ourselves!:rolleyes:

I'm not a sawstop expert but I believe there is a test button. Before you cut you press the test button and touch the wood to the blade. If the wood for whatever reason would cause a false firing of the mechanism a light signals and you must then cut the wood with the Sawstop disabled. I think wet wood and certain other conditions make this happen.
The question then becomes what happens if someone cuts off their finger because the were told to disable the sawstop?

I'm worried saw manufactures like many others have got to be scared of the ligation, so I wonder where this is going to take us?

Ed in Tampa wrote:I'm not a sawstop expert but I believe there is a test button. Before you cut you press the test button and touch the wood to the blade. If the wood for whatever reason would cause a false firing of the mechanism a light signals and you must then cut the wood with the Sawstop disabled. I think wet wood and certain other conditions make this happen.
The question then becomes what happens if someone cuts off their finger because the were told to disable the sawstop?

I'm worried saw manufactures like many others have got to be scared of the ligation, so I wonder where this is going to take us?

New stuff will probably start coming with more carefully thought out waivers than warranties...
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I want to make an additional comment here and say that I firmly believe that many of the accidents that have brought much of this on is guys trying to make machine cuts on tiny pieces that should only be cut with hand tools.
It is called "woodworking" not "avoiding hand tools at all cost".
I won't say that I am not guilty of cutting stuff that is too small now and then but the problem is the mind-set of never even considering a hand tool for a little job.
I needed a small cut last week and grabbed one of those Asian pull saws and made the cut in about 15 seconds effortlessly. Had I used the table saw it would have taken me several minutes to have sat it up to make the cut and just as long to have made the actual cut as it did with the hand saw.
I didn't even take into account the minute it would have taken me to have moved all of the crap I had previously left laying on the saw table...

Is my safety (our safety) really what these folks are all worried about? I don't really think so. All that motivates these folks is the almighty dollar. They have invested far more into this adventure than the profits from a table saw will ever return to them.

But, just think, if the number of incidents that are going to be avoided is anywhere near as high as predicted - the dollars spent on new blades and new sawstop cartridges is astronomical. Add that to whatever is earned for the license to incorporate the sawstop and....well you do the math

This just might be what turns me into a hand tool junky.

dusty wrote:Is my safety (our safety) really what these folks are all worried about? I don't really think so. All that motivates these folks is the almighty dollar. They have invested far more into this adventure than the profits from a table saw will ever return to them.

But, just think, if the number of incidents that are going to be avoided is anywhere near as high as predicted - the dollars spent on new blades and new sawstop cartridges is astronomical. Add that to whatever is earned for the license to incorporate the sawstop and....well you do the math

This just might be what turns me into a hand tool junky.

You do not need to turn into a handtool junkie, just do not purchase any of the 'new' excessively expensive, 'safe' power saws.

dusty wrote:Is my safety (our safety) really what these folks are all worried about? I don't really think so. All that motivates these folks is the almighty dollar. They have invested far more into this adventure than the profits from a table saw will ever return to them.
....

I think limiting their liability is a factor they consider. One lawsuit can eat up an awful lot of profit.

I'm not sure if this is further opening up a topic that may be at rest. But, I have been reading quit a bit about this controversial subject and I just recently viewed a commercial in my area that I thought interesting (maybe alarming).

The other night while I was watching one of the reality shows on the History Channel. An add came up from a law firm offering their services for legal mitigation for anybody injured using a table saw not equipped with Saw Stop Technology. Have these started popping up anywhere else. I see these all the time for claiming legal restitution for auto accident victims and such. I just thought it alarming that now they are jumping onto the Saw Stop band wagon. Is Saw Stop now required on all new table saws? I kind of lost track of where the Saw Stop Law suits are at this time. But, now that the legal industry is jumping onto this bandwagon it just doesn't look good for the tool industry that sells and produces table saws. What ever happened to personal responsibility due to bad judgment or pure dumb luck?

dforeman wrote:I'm not sure if this is further opening up a topic that may be at rest. But, I have been reading quit a bit about this controversial subject and I just recently viewed a commercial in my area that I thought interesting (maybe alarming).

The other night while I was watching one of the reality shows on the History Channel. An add came up from a law firm offering their services for legal mitigation for anybody injured using a table saw not equipped with Saw Stop Technology. Have these started popping up anywhere else. I see these all the time for claiming legal restitution for auto accident victims and such. I just thought it alarming that now they are jumping onto the Saw Stop band wagon. Is Saw Stop now required on all new table saws? I kind of lost track of where the Saw Stop Law suits are at this time. But, now that the legal industry is jumping onto this bandwagon it just doesn't look good for the tool industry that sells and produces table saws. What ever happened to personal responsibility due to bad judgment or pure dumb luck?

I am really sorry to hear this. No, SawStop is not yet mandatory but it seems that Steven Gass (the inventor) is doing everything within his power to make it that way.

Seeing that Steven Gass is himself an attorney (patent attorney) the legal community has been so involved from the very beginning.

We all still have a personal responsibility but there are those who would would capitalize on the fact that we occasionally make mistakes.

Do a Google search for " Lawyers Seeking Table Saw Victims " and you will be introduced to at least four such law firms.

I'm betting they saw the judgement in the Ryobi case and their eyes became full of dollar signs.