Article on Skin sensing table saw

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Ben Piecuch

So, is the extra money and the time delay worth a finger? That's up to you. Would I recommend a product like this in every school system that has a woodshop? You better believe it! A trained woodworker should have the experience and the know-how to protect himself. Unfortunately, I can't say that about most students, or even myself.

BEN

Give me an hour and I'll bet I can come up with 5 ways to design a table saw type of machine that will prevent you from pushing your fingers into the spinning blade, and none of them will involve destroying the blade or jamming blocks of alumimun into spinning machine parts.

[sanddrag]

Dean Kames once said something along the lines of "Every engineering project is a solution to a problem, but not every engineering solution is something the public needs."

I believe this invention is a marvelous idea, but it just isn't practical in the real world. Once you (a company) start claiming things to be safe, all it takes is one equipment malfunction and you're really in trouble.

The problem I have with things like this is that the easier you make it for people to do something, the lesser skilled they become. I think technology like this would put power tools in the hands of people who really have no business using tools. Power tools are nto for everyone, there's no changing that fact.

I mean seriously, what are they going to do, safen every dangerous tool out there? Put a compressable sleeve over dril bits? Permanently affix a shield into a welder's head? Make an oxy-acetylene torch that you can't point at yourself?

No invention should ever replace simple diligence when it comes to using power tools.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

No invention should ever replace simple diligence when it comes to using power tools.

But I don't think that argument should be used to naysay a safety feature. If a power tool can be made more benign when simple diligence is trumped by accidental circumstance, I consider it a good thing.

The point of inventions like this is to make systems more fail-safe. That means they're more safe when existing practices fail -- which they obviously do.

[joshsmithers]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

But I don't think that argument should be used to naysay a safety feature. If a power tool can be made more benign when simple diligence is trumped by accidental circumstance, I consider it a good thing.

The point of inventions like this is to make systems more fail-safe. That means they're more safe when existing practices fail -- which they obviously do.

i can relate to this because i have personal experience with the said table saw. my school's shop has one and i was in the cabinet making 1 class last year. our teacher was not the least bit less concerned when we used the saw stop. usual precautions were always taken not matter what.

still, i gotta say that i somehow felt safer while using the sawstop. that quick "stop and drop" feature was like an angel over my fingers. most of the other students in my class prefered it over the old table saw we had, too. though we didn't need it, the technology and safety was more relaxing condition to work under.

[Andrew Rudolph]

We have one of these saws here at ULL, I was talking to the guy incharge of the shop today about it. He really likes it, esp since its more powerful than the last saw. He also said that sometimes the thing would trip if you put a metal ruler into the blade, no big deal though since its not spinning the aluminum wouldn't bond into the blade. He says its overall a really well made saw even barring the stopsaw part, he said it rarely ever kicks and whatever other things master cabinet makers like about saws.

He did say however he was having issues with certain blades not having the correct diamter so you have to be pickey with your choice, and as he said to us today,"if i can save you finger for the $70 it costs for the new cartrige i will pay it out of my pocket" for anyone having unexperienced (and overworked/undersleeped design students) using a table saw its the way to go.

[DonRotolo]

I agree with some posters, that the issue here is whether to make such a device mandatory or not. I, for one, hate mandatory things (most of the time).

This is much like chain brakes that were developed for chain saws. In many models they are required, and in fcat they are a darned good thing to have. Certain high-end professional saws are exempted, but the people using them are usually quite experienced.

Would I retrofit this device onto my table saw? Probably not. Is it worth the money? Absolutely.

The bottom line is taht if it costs $25 million per year and saves just a single damned finger, it's worth it. Especially if that's MY finger there.

But, give me the choice.

Don