Bottom line on table saws will always be they are designed to cut what ever contacts the blade. And any user runs the risk of cutting themselves if they don't stay away from the blade.
The government shouldn't be expected to protect everyone from themselves in every area of life. I'd love to see how many people ever take a class in table saw safety, or basic use before or after they buy one. I bet those numbers are far less then the number of injuries. It wouldn't be fair to outlaw videos or TV shows that show how to build using advance skills. Because there are those that are at that level and they deserve to go farther if they choose. Just like we as kids learned, you can't tie on Superman's cape and fly. And you can't take a table saw out of the box and expect to become Norm Abram. The Saw Stop is a great machine but it has a problem too. If you run a board through and the moisture level is outside their set level, it fires the brake and your hand doesn't ever have to touch the blade. Given the attitude of most, you know what will happen after a couple miss fires. You have the option of turning off the electronic brake. After replacing a $70 cartridge and losing a $100 blade, most will get upset and the sensor will never get turned on again. So while this is a great feature, it needs to remain a choice not a mandate. There are plenty of choices to stop kick back, and I'd be willing to bet a large percentage of kick back happens as a result of operator error. If the fence isn't square, whose fault is that? If the blade isn't sharp enough? If you reach over a spinning blade? Those are the people that will benefit from a Saw Stop. They don't have enough sense to work safely. Using the saw correctly won't allow your body to contact the blade during kick back. You shouldn't be that close to the blade to begin with. If you get hit with a board that is kicked back, that's another problem and even the Saw Stop can't stop that from happening. I'll get off my soap box now. I have to use a chain saw today. And I don't even want to start talking about chain saw safety. ----- Original Message ----- From: Gary To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 9:42 PM Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] Table saw injury report. Below is a direct link to a recent storyabout table saw injuries on NPR: http://tinyurl.com/http-www-npr-org-templates-p Gary From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:blindhandy...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bob Kennedy Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 7:39 PM To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Table saw injury report. I have a comment in that bunch. My name on that site is Old Hickory... ----- Original Message ----- From: Dan Rossi To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 8:17 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Table saw injury report. Bob, Yes, not only was I surprised that job site injuries weren't reported as part of this report, but since experienced users are at greater risk of injury, I can only imagine the numbers are pretty scarry for job site injuries. It is so interesting to read the comments from all the wood workers. The arguments are exactly the same against safety equipment that I've seen in the skydiving and rock climbing communities. The argument essentially goes, as long as you respect the tool, keep your head about you, don't do anything that you know to be dangerous or stupid, know everything that can go wrong and protect yourself against it, you will never have an accident. Personally, I don't believe that. Accidents can happen and I don't know anyone who is 100% aware 100% of the time. I also don't completely buy into the idea that making something safer means people will be more reckless doing it. I don't know too many people who get into a car with a seatbelt and airbag and then run red lights. Nor do I believe that someone using a SawStop would casually run their hand into the spinning blade. It's interesting to see all the stories from the guys who did get bit by their saw. -- Blue skies. Dan Rossi Carnegie Mellon University. E-Mail: d...@andrew.cmu.edu <mailto:dr25%40andrew.cmu.edu> Tel: (412) 268-9081 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
