To SawStop or not...
 

I tripped the SawStop table saw tonight and pretty happy that I was using a SawStop and not another table saw. I actually have no idea what happened, as I have no marks on any fingers or other body parts. I'm not sure I touched the blade, as I was using a push stick and the blade was not sticking that far above the material.

I was halfway through cutting some wood for my shift knobs, when THUNK!, the room got very quiet and I could not figure out what was going on. The push stick was covering the top of the blade when it tripped.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1413095390.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1413095374.jpg

New cartridge on the left. You can see how deformed the aluminum is on the right. Saw blade is most likely okay, but now has to go back to Forrest so they can true it up and resharpen it.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1413094418.jpg

It'll cost about $200 to buy a backup cartridge and have the blade dealt with. A lot cheaper than the hospital costs involved when you chop of a finger. ;)

Ripping dense wood. Mahogany can make you wish the blade took your appendages off. I shouldn't say that, but a brother of mine had a kick back while ripping using a stick, and it nearly did take his hand off. A few surgeries later and he doesn't do that anymore.

Mahogany, classified as a hardwood, is actually soft. The maple I rip on the other hand... :)

I run a Sawstop in my qc department to help protect my techs since they cut so much panel on a shift. The Sawstop has tripped six times in the last four years, twice due to contact with fingers. Thank God for it! The other four trips happened due to a suspected piece of metallic substance touching the blade. Either tramp metal or other source. The mystery trips are annoying but worth the trouble due to the added security for my guys.
Troy

One of the guys I grew up with cut off 4 fingers on one hand. Re attached with replacement joints and tendons.... Still looks gnarly...

I'm pretty sure that he wishes such a product existed 25 years ago.

Glad you weren't cut up.

Saw blades don't cut skin, they rip out chunks. I was careless once, wife rushing me to go etc. Lucky it was just a small chunk of the edge of the thumb. Few stitches and no visible scar now. SawStop is a great device, cheaper than the ER visit.
Mahogany is not very hard. Teak, Cocobolo and Ironwood are tough on the saw.

Glad you're ok.

I understand that Saw Stop has a portable that's almost ready to go to market.

Any moisture in or on the stock being cut?

That is why I get my maple gun stocks pretty well roughed out so I do not have to do any sawing on them!

Rejoice when writing that $200 check.

Glad you are ok, technology rocks!

Thanks, all. I've had one very minor incident with a band saw and that's all I care for.

They do have a contractor table saw...

As for moisture, I live in SoCal, very dry climate. The wood is stabilized and virtually dry.Moisture content is usually under 7%.

Awesome product.

SawStop could add a softer, cheap, and preferably reuse-able blade catch.
Like a pad of fibers on a strip.
Add a power source interrupt as well, if it isn't already on there.

The power to the motor cuts as soon as the system is tripped.

If the saw is off and you touch the blade and try to turn it on, it won't. It senses the current draw from your finger and prevents the saw from turning on.

Look at the difference in cartridges. I don't think anything softer than aluminum will work. The idea is to stop the blade as quickly as possible. As well, the aluminum is shoved into the blade by a high tension spring. The cartridge is pretty much destroyed on impact. It's been 5+ years since the last replacement. It's a pretty cheap item to replace in the long run.

I'd say for the occasional user the saw stop is awesome. I teach "newbies" to use a table saw at a community college and know the system works. All that said it's got limitations of course being that it is so sensitive and functions so quickly. I know it trips with any metallic laminate but never saw one trip from moisture in the wood. I've never used the system with a dado blade or molding cutter etc. I've seen teeth removed from a blade after saw stop has done it's job... actually pretty scary to hear the thing function.
All that aside working inherently safe will save your hand long before technology.... if your hand/fingers are where they belong and you're using push sticks correctly and or finger boards,not overly tired,and clearly focused on the blade...... I'm old school and used to use saws daily with no guards etc and luckily only had my hand sewn back together once :)

Back when I was 18 or so I had a summer job building trusses. They didn't have any fancy "SawStops" back then; you had to stop the saw with your fingers, like a real man.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1413205744.jpg

(yes, those are my fingers)

+ a gazillion on the ouch of dicing your fingers.... Even after a good sew up job it takes forever for feeling to return or as I have finger nails that no longer act normally

Gives my chills. I still can't run a table saw. Damn.

Wow, glad you're all right Dave!

We've bought a few sawstops for the Studio. We've lost five fingers on shows in the 12 years I've been at Disney. But to put that in context, several hundred workers using table saws. When I do my safety meetings I bring in a Mason jar filled with water and five "movie fingers", some with rings, some with nail polish. I ask if they want to add to my collection? It gets their attention.

As tough as it was to turn it on after compromising my counting abilities, it is WAY harder to hear someone else use it.

I think it's a great tool for the occasional user and professional. A lot of people focus on the injuries that happen when the operator is not careful. The SawStop also prevents the accidental injuries. The ones the operator did not see. That nail that was hammered into a tree when it was a sapling so many years ago and the tree grew around, hiding it until the person that bought that piece of wood with the hidden nail, runs it through the table saw. The saw wasn't designed so you can watch tv while cutting wood. I'd rather have the added protection of a device that has a good track record in saving digits.

I've conditioned myself to slightly to the left of the wood I am cutting, so that in the event of a kickback, my body is not in the way. I still remember the hole that was halfway across the shop in college, where a board went flying and embedded itself into the wall.

If you are cutting metal or materials that may trip the saw, you can put it into bypass mode, though it's a pain to do (by design).

I tried to post these last night in response to another post, but with the server issues...

Green and ready to go...
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1413247026.jpg

If I touch the saw blade before it's turned on and spinning, it senses the finger and prevents the saw from turning on. You can see the red light next to the green in the pic. Once I take my finder away, the red light blinks for a few seconds until going out, still preventing you from turning the saw on, just to make sure the blade is clear.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1413247046.jpg

To those that no longer can count to 10. Did the accidents happen because of your carelessness or other reasons?

Absolutely my error. I'm not sure what happened, but had I been using a Stop Saw, when it tripped I would have blamed it on a malfunction.

Wow, I hadn't seen this thread the first time around. I'm glad that your fingers lived to fight another day, Dave.

I had an inexpensive table saw (jobsite maybe, folded up for portability) for many years. like a lot of folks, I ran it without the shroud, but I did wear safety goggles and hearing protection.

I remembered seeing posts about sawstop at some point in the past and wanted to post this someplace. Amazing stuff.

<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SYLAi4jwXcs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Years ago my dad told me to always pay attention to my fingers and wear eye protection. He's a general surgeon and used to have to deal with the aftermath.

My left pointer is 1/4" shorter, about 2 years ago. Can't play guitar. Well, I never could play guitar. Stupid mistake, rushing, end of day.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605064496.jpg

The hotdog injury at 4:17 looks nasty.
That idiot is downplaying a very real wound.

+100

I've never had a bad kickback, and I use the riving thing whenever possible, but I always assume that piece of wood is coming at my head if something goes wrong.

Every now and then I get comfortable with the machine and I have to slap some sense into me. It's a great tool, but it'll eff you up quick! I'm not hesitant to use it for its job - but fingers don't grow back...

We just had two Sawstops trigger from glue which had cured for 24 hours, but that wasn't enough, residual moisture still triggered it.
They're great for saving fingers, but it sucks loosing a cartridge and a blade from glue that is 24 hours old...

Really? He basically tossed a hotdog at the blade at high speed and it only went in 1/2 an inch? That's underplaying? That means you could basically trip and fall against a spinning table saw blade, and get yourself bandaged up for the trip to the ER no matter what part of your body hit the blade. No one EVER should have a finger approach the blade at that speed, unless your evil nemesis pushed you into it.

I bought a Sawstop Jobsite Saw about two years ago to replace a 20 plus year old Triton table saw.
The Triton uses a regular circular saw clamped to the bottom of a steel table. It works well but mine has seen better days. (I'm now converting the Triton into a router table)

I was talking to a GF about the Sawstop and after I explained about the safety system and she immediately said "that's the one I'd want". She's not a handy person but she gets it.

What's one of your fingers worth?

The Jobsite Saw. (It uses the same Brake Cartridge as the full sized table saw)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605100999.jpg

The Triton it replaced. (not my photo)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1605101084.jpg

If you use your saw every day I can see becoming careless. I got my cabinet saw from a kitchen builder, one of his employees lost a finger on my saw, so they bought a new saw with a saw-stop built in.

If you use your saw only occasionally, I do not see the need for a saw stop. The saw has my full attention when I use it. Short of falling into the saw I'm not about to lose a finger. I guess if you're a klutz or accident prone...

That's probably mostly true, except that one time when you're busy or distracted. I only used my old table saw occasionally and tried to give it my full attention and respect (especially since I'd removed the guard over the blade). It only takes one time to make for a really crappy day.

Every single person who's ever "personally met" a spinning circular saw blade...or a running chainsaw...or a mandolin slicer...or a lawn mower...or a kitchen knife, or a sharpened pencil...EVERY one of them will tell you that they're always careful and they don't how exactly it happened that their finger and the sharp part met each other and went out on a date.

Not me. I screwed up. Late, rushing, ripping 1/4" plywood for the next day's job. Blade height adjustment broken (I should have tossed the saw). It was getting dark and I didn't take the time to set up a task light, relying on dim garage lights. All preventable, all I take full responsibility for.

He blasted that hot dog towards the blade - there is no way anyone with half their senses would try to cut lumber that fast. There is NO saw that could cut lumber that quickly. The demos done in regular speed/motion there is the smallest trace of the skin being cut on the hot dog.

Watch this video for an alternate result:

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Yep, many car accidents are like that as well. I know that it occasionally clicks for me when I'm driving that I'd distracted. I've also had the same feeling when using power tools. I've been lucky so far.

And a cut, even a bad one, beats the hell out of trying to reattach a finger or piece of finger or dig a finger out of the sawdust at the bottom of the saw.

I said, EVERY SINGLE PERSON. EVERY ONE. ALL OF THEM. You're obviously wrong.

:p

I'm Married, not single, so your good. SmileWavy