On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 17:39:24 -0400, Leuf
wrote:

On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 13:43:38 -0400, Joe Bemier
wrote:

On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 03:22:18 GMT, "CW" wrote:

Capacitance change is the trigger. Likely somewhat more sophisticated but
essentially like a touch lamp.

I wondered about this as well. I read an article on the net that said
it senses a *change* between the wood and say a hand/finger. But what
if the accident happened before or after cutting. For example, and
illustrative purpose only, what if one was to stick their hand
directly into the blade? This would not result in a change of any
kind.

Yes it would. The wood, if it's dry, has little/no effect on the
system because it is a poor conductor. You are a good conductor and
you have an effect no matter what.

Think of it more like this, the blade is full of water. The wood is
impermeable to water. The skin soaks it up like a dry sponge. When
you run the wood through it nothing happens to the water in the blade.
As soon as your sponge hits it the water gets soaked up. Even though
water is constantly supplied to the blade, the amount of water in it
momentarily drops because so much of it moved out suddenly.


-Leuf
Great analogy!
It's a slick invention, no doubt. But, personally, I can't agree with
the course of mandating the technology, unless it was at a price that
did not make much difference, i.e., $100 at retail.