On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 21:30:13 -0800, "ted harris"
wrote:
Don't try and backpedal to try and make us believe that you did not say that
the saw had to be shipped here or there...? I mean, if you know that there
is a possiblity that the sawstop device is going to be activated and you
don't stock an extra cartridge and blade? Well then, maybe you shouldn't be
allowed to operate ANY power tool?
Let's see, a replacement cartridge is supposed to be about $70, and
replacement WWII will be somewhere around $100. That is starting to
push the limits as far as what most people (or even a lot of shops)
want to have sitting around "just in case".
Actually, Steve Gass of sawstop stated in a post on Sawmill Creek that
"People regularly push three fingers right through the blade before they can
flinch. Human reaction time is about 25-50 times slower than SawStop, so
even if you are going fast, the accident will likely be far less significant
with SawStop than without it."
I am quite sure that if you email him, he will be glad to support any
statement he has made with research, links, proof, etc.
It's a bit misleading, in that he totally ignores all the injuries
that don't involve pushing fingers through the blade. By far the
majority of table saw accidents involving contact with the spinning
blade (the only ones that matter for SS) do *not* involve amputation.
My guess (based on experience of people I know) is that the majority
don't even make it to the doctor or e-room.
Yes. Perhaps you can show me where it says that the device is
user-serviceable. Just because it is in a cartridge does not mean that it
is user-serviceable. Their site has a fair amount of speculation to it.
It has been that way for a long time. This makes me think that they are
not progressing well. Since you are so familiar with it, please point out
the part where it says they are user serviceable.
u
-j
You could email them at , instead of speculating here
on the internet, and perpetuating yet another "urban legend" and find out,
but I suspect that you have no interest in the truth anyway. Steve Gass has
stated that it only takes a "few seconds" to change the cartridge when
switching between a regular blade and a dado blade." I don't see why it
would take much longer to change the cartridge when it misfires.
My suspicion is that you don't have the balls to man up and do some research
like Steve Gass has, so just keep putting YOUR spin on this issue, instead
of getting the facts.
I think that there is some sort of fundamental design issue with SS.
It relies on stopping the blade by interacting with the blade and
drops the blade below the table as a backup. I suspect it would be
quite easy to make a device that uses a similar detection methodology
that employs spring loaded trunnions that will snap the entire
trunnion assembly down into the saw at a touch. If properly designed
it should be easy to make it resettable and the design would then tend
to "fail safe", that is, if the system won't work the blade can't be
locked into the "up" position.
SawStop may be a good product, but I think there are a lot of other
ways to try to solve the problem. Because SS holds the patent on using
induction (?) or whatever to detect contact with the blade they have
the industry in a stranglehold. A year or so ago it seems that one of
the saw manufacturers said they were interested in the detection
technology, but wanted to develop their own blade stopping system. SS,
at that time, would only license the right to install SS, not to
develop a different system based on part of the SS patent.
Personally, I do not think that SS is likely the best way to solve
this problem, but I'm afraid that they have sewed things up in such a
way that they are probably going to be the only game in town. If SS
becomes mandatory (especially the way their SPSC petition was written)
it could well be illegal to try to do something else, effectively
stifling innovation. Look at the emissions controls on today's cars
for examples of how legislation can destroy innovation and lock us
into second-best solutions.
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com