SawStop saga continues

[Joseph Klosek]

I don't know if the Consumer Products Safety Commission can cause the necessary change to get the Saw Stop technology implemented nationally. But It seems as if Mr. Gass may be on his way to getting his way.

I noticed that in the NPR broadcast and article they did not mention the safety guards that come with table saws and the failure of injured operators to use them.

I think the technology is great and can save lots of folks from horrible injuries, but is this the way to go?

I know this is a hot topic, but it really seems to be getting more national attention.

J.P.

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/25/136617222/advocates-urge-lawmakers-to-make-table-saws-safer

[Mike Henderson]

Ah, and so it starts. I had hoped no one would respond to this post and it'd die a natural death. This subject has been beaten to death over and over and over. We don't need to go through that again. Let it die folks.

Mike

[Jerome Hanby]

Seems like Sawstop is a good saw. If the NPR article is correct and the addition of the safety devices is not that big of a cost, maybe the Sawstop will drop to a more affordable price...

[Neil Brooks]

Amen to Mike.

Nothing to see, here, Folks.

Move along .... ;)

Rarely does anybody bash the saw. The rest is politics, and ... SMC ... frowns on that.

[Greg Book]

I heard this story today as well. Very good reporting from NPR, as always. I also work in a hospital, and when I get to walk through the ER, I see the overcrowding. In addition to room #'s, they have "hall" #'s along the corridors between rooms. The ER is so crowded, they had to permanently assign #'s to the stretchers that are always waiting in the hallway.

If sawstop technology would prevent the 40,000 annual ER visits mentioned in the article, it would benefit the people who really need to be in the ER. Getting injured on a tablesaw is not always due to operator inexperience. A tablesaw is a dangerous piece of machinery, no matter who uses it. I'm sure every person who ends up in the ER with a tablesaw injury thought they were doing everything right and never thought it would happen to them.

Like seatbelts and airbags, the widespread usage of sawstop-like technology is inevitable. If you don't want to wear your seatbelt or want to disable the airbag, you still have the freedom to do that.

[Joe Angrisani]

....Very good reporting from NPR, as always.....

Really?? I didn't hear it, but the OP states they didn't mention the riving knifes and guards on all saws, and the fact that the injured people had removed those devices. If the report, in fact, did NOT include that important information, then it makes me think less of NPR when reporting something I'm not familiar with. Makes it sound like NPR is trying to make a point, not report the news. Which is too bad because I kinda thought NPR was the last bastion of "doing it right".

I am Switzerland regarding the SawStop thing. My comment regards NPR.

[Jim Foster]

Ah, and so it starts. I had hoped no one would respond to this post and it'd die a natural death. This subject has been beaten to death over and over and over. We don't need to go through that again. Let it die folks.

Mike

Seems like you also felt the need to respond

[Ryan Hellmer]

I think it's fantastic technology and can't wait until every saw has it.

[Matt Day]

Is the statement of it only costing $100 per saw really accurate? Seems to me there is a lot of mechanical/electrical stuff going on there - and of course the inventor should be due something for his design rights.

[Jim Rimmer]

Never mind.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Ah, and so it starts. I had hoped no one would respond to this post and it'd die a natural death. This subject has been beaten to death over and over and over. We don't need to go through that again. Let it die folks.

Mike


Seems like you also felt the need to respond

It's BAAAAACKKKKK!!! ARRRRGH!!

Jim - you are correct - Mike "felt the need" to respond, and I "felt the need" to respond to your "need" to respond to his response.....even though I swore to myself a year ago I would never again open threads with SS in the title...........

Mike - you are also correct. Unfortunately, it is not "natural". Fortunately, though, The CDC recently posted an Emergency Preparedness Guide for a Zombie Apocalypse: http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp

Keep this link handy - grounding PVC ductwork, O1 v A2, BD v. BUS, LV v LN v fettled Type 11, and a multitude of other long-dead horrors may also be coming out of the grave soon!!

Gotta run - I need to fire up my hotdog-eating Unisaw........:D

[Erik France]

I heard this story today as well. Very good reporting from NPR, as always.While I usually have a very high opinion of NPR and their reporting I felt that this radio story and accompanying website article was not good reporting. Sensational examples, unqualified injury figures, etc. iI believe the 40,000 estimate is not just for blade contact injuries that could possibly be prevented with a stopping tech.

[Glenn Clabo]

We have long ago stated that a discussion on the use SS saws is ok...but the subject of it's need or how it started is not. If you have a technical question about that saw...have at it in another thread...but keep the politics out of it.