Sawdust on the Floor

There is a not so funny old joke that goes something like this, “How do you tell the difference between an old woodworker and a new woodworker? Count his fingers”.  Hey, I told you it was not too funny.  If you have been doing woodworking for any amount of time, then you are aware of all of the hazards that we face in our shops, and if you are new to woodworking, welcome, but please, as Norm Abrams is famous for saying, “Please read and understand the operating instructions before you start any woodworking project”. 

In my normal 9-5 job, I spend part of my time conducting classes for new employees, and part of that training is on safety.  The one thing we stress is that NO ONE can teach you to be safe, which I know sounds kind of strange unless you really think about it.  Safety is a state of mind regardless if you are in your 9-5 work place or your shop. I can teach you how to operate the equipment safely, but I can not make you a safe operator. That is your responsibility. 

The US Consumer Product Safely Commission reported last year that there were 60,000 shop injuries, and some 3,000 of those resulted in amputation. The causes for these incidents run from machine failure, to operator fatigue, or operator error, interruptions, and the list goes on and on. We all know we shouldn’t operate any machine when we are tired or hurried, but some times, you just want to get that last cut done, before you call it a day. Or that we shouldn’t remove safety guards from machines, but we all do it. After all were only human. 

Thankfully, there are some companies that want to protect us from ourselves.  SawStop ,LLC, manufactures a tablesaw that contains an internal circuit that will instantly stop the blade when it comes into contact with a human finger.  The blade is stopped within 3-5 milliseconds, according to SawStop. 

Currently the only tablesaws that have this circutry are from SawStop,  There product line includes a 10”  Contractors saw and an Industrial Cabinet saw.   My initial impression is that they are both very compatable to the Delta or Powermatic saws, with the exception of the SawStop Circuitry.   My understanding is that SawStop originally wanted to offer this as an add on or upgrade to existing table saws, but were unable to reach an agreement on that, and that there are no plans to offer it anytime soon as an upgrade. 

So how does this work?  The one time use cartridge shown at the left, monitors electrical current in the blade. When the current changes, due to contact with a finger, the circuit energizes, and releases an aluminum brake, which in turn stops the blade.  The Cartridge and the Blade must be changed, if the circuit ever trips, and the stop in engaged.  

Again, according to SawStop, changing the cartridge is very simple, and is no harder then changing the actual blade. 

Does this work for every thing we cut?, No.  If you were to cut pressure treated wood, or any wood that had moisture in it, then you would have to disable the SawStop technology.  There is a large ON/OFF switch located on the side of the cabinet that allows you to turn the circuit on or off.  There are indicator lights on the front of the saw, which indicates when the circuit would have tripped. 

A salesman at Woodcraft told me that a lot of schools are buying this saw for there Woodshop classes, and I applauded that 100%, But I would be much happier with that, if the bypass circuit could be locked in the ON position.  I won’t go into a speech here that shows my age, but I would rather the option were not there to be turned off in the training environment.  The costs of replacing a Tablesaw Blade and the SawStop cartridge is very small compared to the cost of damage to a young woodworker.  The cartridges cost between $85 and $100 each and are readily available. 

Since I currently own a Delta Cabinet saw and am very happy with it, I am not going to replace it with the SawStop table saw.  If there was a upgrade path, then I would be interested in adding this to my table saw.  If I were in the market for a new table saw, the SawStop table saw would certainly be a contender.

Take a look at the video below to see a demonstration of the Saw Stop.

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