"RicodJour" writes:

There's common sense, and then there's common sense. Have you seen
the SawStop in action? Tom Silva demonstrated one on This Old House.
He used a hot dog to simulate a finger. As soon as the blade touched
the hot dog there was a LOUD bang and the blade disappeared
immediately. The hot dog skin was just _barely_ scratched. It
works. Of course every time the brake engages the blade is fried and
you have to replace the braking mechanism and the blade.

Right. As I understand it, the system detects that the blade has
touched something conductive, either by current flow to the table or
capacitance. But neither mechanism is a foolproof way to detect flesh.
How can it detect the difference between a finger and wet wood?
If the SawStop trips by mistake, how much does it cost to replace the
brake and the blade?

Even worse: if it works by conductivity, and you happen to be wearing
rubber-coated gloves, there may be no circuit created when the saw blade
touches your finger, so the SawStop doesn't trigger. Yet, because you
think you can't get hurt by the blade, you're going to be more casual
about working with the saw than if you *know* it will take your hand off
in a fraction of a second. You could end up more likely to be injured
than with a conventional table saw.

Is the technology good? Yep. Is it for everyone? Dubious.

I agree with that.

Dave