Donald Trump’s yes-men at the Consumer Product Safety Commission are withdrawing a series of proposed safety rules, including an appendage-saving safety mandate for table saws. This will mean thousands more fingers lost per year.
Donald Trump’s yes-men at the Consumer Product Safety Commission are withdrawing a series of proposed safety rules, including an appendage-saving safety mandate for table saws. This will mean thousands more fingers lost per year.
To add to your comment: SawStop tried to sell their technology to all major saw producers originally. They all refused. That’s when SawStop started making their own saws and did a pretty good job of it. They’re high quality. It was at this point that SawStop had to protect their patent. Bosch tried to make their own and violated it. Ultimately, their goal has always been to save people from table saw accidents. It’s pretty generous to give up their patent if implemented industry-wide and speaks to the authenticity of their mission.
The technology is not without faults. Cutting wet wood, like pressure treated, might trip the brake. I believe there’s a way to turn off the mechanism for these instances. In that case, you have to replace the blade and brake. The blade could be recovered, but won’t be ready to continue working right away. You’d need back up blades and brakes on hand. But still, erring on the side of caution is better than not.
It’s a good case to self reflect on one’s feelings on patents. Bosch and others shouldn’t be able to steal his idea if we’re a society that values them. Even those here against patents typically could find his goal noble, and would likely be against a megacorp stealing from a single amateur inventor. At the same time, him giving it away from the start could have saved many people injuries.
I just skimmed the wiki and it’s interesting to read about some of the hang ups of negotiations like his patent license fees and disagreements on share of legal liabilities should a saw stop not function as designed.
I had heard about the blade damage, and it seems more things like the wet wood you’ve mentioned have surfaced since I got out of woodworking. Even so, it’s quicker, easier, and cheaper to patch or replace a saw than one’s hand, at least in America where we get the pleasure of paying directly for our misfortunes.
I absolutely agree that the cost of replacing a blade and brake is worth it. I cut the tips off two fingers over ten years ago. I know many people in the industry that have also lost fingers. The technology is great! I only pointed out the supposed downsides for context. It does seem that this issue is nuanced, but the technology definitely helps.
I lost a fingertip working in a supermarket deli. The part I cut off thankfully grew back, but it’s a reminder to watch my fingers!
I didn’t take your previous comment as being against the system. I’m fairly neutral as now I live in a place I can’t use any tools like this. It’s kind of crazy this hasn’t already become a law or someone to have found another way to do it without violating the patent. It’s not like the issue has gone away.
Altendorf has albeit only in large production shop sized saws last I checked.
That’s a heck of a saw!
The feedback the unit gives is pretty nice. Cameras in a dust prone environment and AI detection makes me a bit nervous, and price aside, I might prefer the less tech version of the saw stop, but very cool demo!
Wow, I spoke too soon! I just saw the demo of the slide unit at the end… Amazing engineering and craftsmanship! Thank you for sharing this!