"Ernie Jurick" wrote in message
...

"David B. Chamberlain" wrote in message
...
If you go to the SawStop website, there is a contact page. That gives
you
an email address of


Everyone should send them a polite email telling them that you do not
appreciate a private company using a government agency to extort money
from
private citizens. Maybe a few thousand emails will help educate them.


There's an even bigger issue, Dave. This is from their FAQ:

"How much will a saw with the SawStop system cost?

We estimate that the retail price of a contractors saw will increase by
approximately $50-100 after a manufacturer retools to add the SawStop
system
as original equipment."

Now, we all know that a "manufacturer's estimate" is about one-half to one
quarter of the actual retail price increase by the time it reaches the
customer. This thing could wind up doubling the cost of a lower-end saw.
The
safety increase is marginal. Most of us would wind up junking it the way
we
do with blade guards. If it becomes mandatory I plan to make a fortune
selling retrofitting kits.
-- Ernie

Do not forget that the new cartridges are $69 each. I don't know what
hitting that aluminum block does to your sawblade.
If you do some math it hardly sounds effective for a lot of the situations
you would want it to protect against. They claim that it will cut 1/8" if
you are moving at 1 foot per second. So move at 4 ft per second and you get
a 1/2 inch cut - OUCH!. When a hand slips I usually find it is moving far
faster than 1 foot per second. I can easily imagine it moving ten times that
fast.

Oh, and Leon, even with an 1/8 cut you might still require a trip to the
emergency room, you might be spared some of the rehabilitation though.

-Jack