DIYbanter - View Single Post

Doug Miller[_4_]

wrote in news:gpo7v9peibpve3l21bidlos50v750iga8r@
4ax.com:

I guess that is what I need to have explained ...
Thanks for the web links everyone - but none of them explain -
- to me - how a finger stops the saw .. but a hotdog that is not
held by a finger does not stop the saw ?
Anyone have any idea ?

As has already been pointed out, SawStop uses an electronic circuit to determine the
capacitance -- the ability to store electric charge -- of the material being cut.

Surely it is obvious that an 80kg human body has a far greater ability to store electric
charge than a 50g hotdog. Their compositions are similiar, after all, and one would expect
that 1600x the mass would probably have a subtantial effect on capacitance.

Hence the circuit might be expected to react similarly to 80kg of human, and 80.05kg of
human + hotdog -- but quite differently to 50g of hotdog alone.

Of course, you could always email the manufacturer and get the information direct from the
authoritative source.