Quote:
Originally Posted by intakexhaust
And about that Sawstop. Wonderful intention and invention BUT I CAN"T STAND individuals pushing for a law for the benefit and monopolize of a product and exactly what the inventor is doing. This guy is using BIG BROTHER GOV pushing it onto every saw maker.
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I disagree with this. SawStop originally tried to invent a product that could be adapted to already produced table saws, but none of the makers would go for it. The three owners of SawStop then decided to make their own table saw with safety device. That was 2005. Europe once again, is far ahead of us with table saw safety. They created laws back in the 90's dealing with mandatory riving knife and other devices to minimize risk.
My dad has a SawStop and has triggered it twice, though neither was because of direct contact. It had to do with a aluminum miter-gauge and failing to readjust the fence as the angle was changed. The saw worked as advertised and as far as I know, the saw blade was sent back to Forrest and they were able to straighten and resharpen the blade and is still in use today.
I'm all for America and the freedom, but it's time to make the industry safer and if laws need to be created to do so, then so be it.
There was a good article on table saw accidents and a timeline of when certain safety features were introduced both here and Europe. The complete article does not seem to be online, but here are two smaller articles that talk a little about it. I will try and scan the timeline from the article later.
Tablesaw Safety Goes Under the Microscope--Again - Fine Woodworking
More Details on the Carlos Osorio Tablesaw Lawsuit - Fine Woodworking
I also have a feeling safety devices would save a lot of people money in the long run as well. About 38,000 accidents a year on table saws alone. The lawsuits that come out of these accidents cost millions.
Table Saw Accident Stories and Statistics