Sawstop save...could have been bad...

[Scott Bernstein]

Another good sawstop save....

Two days ago was ripping and cross-cutting some pieces of Baltic Birch for kitchen cabinet shelves. I was using a cross-cutting jig and floating dust collection guard. I had the floating guard raised quite high above the table, to allow room for the cross cutting jig. I had been pushing the large cut-offs away from the blade with a scrap piece. I had the garage door open and as I reaching for my scrap piece I was distracted by something outside...ended up attempting to grab the live, spinning blade rather than the push stick. I heard the pop of the emergency retraction mechanism and was left with a very tiny cut on my thumb. Probably would have cut it clean off, and mangled the rest of my hand. Would have been a truly awful day. Instead, I spent 10 minutes changing the brake cartridge & blade, and kept working.

SB

[Frank Pratt]

For sure a heart stopping moment. Good to hear you're OK.

[Frederick Skelly]

Glad you are ok. Thanks for the reminder.

[Jim Barstow]

I do wonder that if in the act of saving a hand the sawstop might cause a heart attack.

[Tom Majewski]

I often work by with the garage door open for ventilation. That is always a fear as I have been startled a few times by movement outside, and just yesterday a neighbor walked up for a friendly visit and startled me. He did admire the sawstop while he was there. Glad you were saved by the brake.

[glenn bradley]

Instead, I spent 10 minutes changing the brake cartridge & blade, and kept working.

SB

You didn't include the time spent to change your pants :D. Seriously, good save and just kidding about the pants thing.


I do wonder that if in the act of saving a hand the sawstop might cause a heart attack.

I fired my safety mechanism on some conductive material and the event is so mild it takes a moment to realize that the system fired.

[Rick Potter]

Glad it turned out well Scott. That would have been a life changing moment. We all have moments of lowered concentration. I am imagining putting myself in your place.....that must have been quite a moment.

I picture myself getting off my knees and going in the house to hug my wife, who told me to buy a SS.

[Jim Dwight]

I'm glad it worked well for you. I think that experience is typical when you move a portion of your body into the blade. If kickback throws your hand more forcefully into the blade, as happened to me, then more damage occurs. But in all cases there is a lot less damage than would occur without the sawstop.

When I had my shop garage built I did not let my builder put a garage door opener on the garage door. My wife pulled up to the door of the old car garage/shop too many times and hit the button. It never caused me to put my hand into the saw but I was always worried about it. Best to limit distractions when we can.

I would not call the firing of the dado cartridge mild. I had a 3/4 dado stack in the saw and I thought it was a pretty violent event. A bone in my finger was broken and I still wonder a little if it was the rotation of the blades that did it or the forceful withdrawl of the dado stack below the surface of the saw. Doesn't really matter. It was a loud bang, clear even with hearing protection.

[Scott Bernstein]

Yeah, a kickback would definitely be worse. Nonetheless, with this incident I think the blade would have sliced off my thumb and a couple more digits. Scary business.

SB

[Mike Henderson]

Remember that SawStop will give you a new brake if you triggered it with a flesh contact (at least they used to). Go to their website and see if they have the form to fill out about your contact. You'll have to send them the old brake but they will send you a new one.

I know this because...

Mike

[Derek Arita]

Every reminder is a good one. Glad you got out with just a small cut. Whenever these stories come up, I mention them to the wife in hopes that she'll say, "...maybe you should look at replacing your saw with a SS." Without her blessing, it'll never happen. All she really says is, "...then you better be more careful."

[Scott Clausen]

This is why I considered my Saw Stop investment as an insurance policy. I insure my car, my house, my health and my life. Saw Stop was to insure my fingers. Just think of the financial impact of a hand injury. For me it would be $3K deductible plus any other fees or co pays. Add to that loss of work and loss of whatever body part. I have an employee that ran up a $70K bill and lost 3 months of work losing the ends of three fingers in a home woodworking accident. When I did the math, I went out and got one. It is just me and only time will will tell if I ever need it but glad its there.

[Brian Tymchak]

Scott (OP), glad to hear you suffered only a minor cut. You are right, scary stuff.


This is why I considered my Saw Stop investment as an insurance policy.

Haven't shopped insurance in quite a while. I wonder if the insurance companies have picked up on this yet.

[Mike Henderson]

This is why I considered my Saw Stop investment as an insurance policy. I insure my car, my house, my health and my life. Saw Stop was to insure my fingers. Just think of the financial impact of a hand injury. For me it would be $3K deductible plus any other fees or co pays. Add to that loss of work and loss of whatever body part. I have an employee that ran up a $70K bill and lost 3 months of work losing the ends of three fingers in a home woodworking accident. When I did the math, I went out and got one. It is just me and only time will will tell if I ever need it but glad its there.

I looked at it the same way. It's an insurance policy with only one payment (when you buy the saw). After that, if it saves your fingers, you have to replace the brake and blade. I think of those costs as the deductible.

That's a LOT less expensive than the medical cost of a serious incident - to say nothing about the loss of feeling and flexibility even if they can sew your fingers back on.

Mike

[Scott Clausen]

Scott (OP), glad to hear you suffered only a minor cut. You are right, scary stuff.



Haven't shopped insurance in quite a while. I wonder if the insurance companies have picked up on this yet.
They never ask if I woodwork only if I skydive or smoke. Medical rely only cares about family history and smocking. Life ins. is the same but get into asking about extreme sports.

[Richard Hart]

I have my dad's old Craftsman 100 all ready to go... nowhere until I get the zero clearance throat plate and splitter in place. Various push sticks and blocks are on their way.
Good point about the garage door. Now I have to try to get it through to my wife NO interruptions when the saw is running. That'll be fun. (sarcastic)

Very glad that you avoided disaster!

[Rick Potter]

It wouldn't be hard to put a garage door outlet on a switched plug.

I have been startled by that a few times. Fortunately, I now have only the inside switch for the garage door in my shop (no car inside...no remote).

[Eric Cothern]

Your story is why I got a Sawstop and my wife was 150% behind my purchase. And I was even more pleased at how smooth and quiet it operates.

[ED Budzinski]

After touching the side of the rotating blade twice a few years back I purchased a SawStop Industrial model . Even thou that has never happened again I am very happy with the SawSop for it's safety feature . I was lucky as it was only a warming slightly of the finger and not an accident .Glad to hear the operator of the SawStop only had a minor cut when his thumb contacted the blade . I face my table saw so if anyone enters the shop I will see them and not get startled . One could install a sign asked people to stand by the door until recognized .

[Jim Becker]

While I'm not a fan of cabinet saws anymore...missing my slider big-time...I'm not displeased that the PCS I'm using in my temporary shop so I actually have a table saw to use has the safety feature. I do wish that this kind of thing was more ubiquitous in the industry at this point.

[Jim Dwight]

I like my PCS and am glad I avoided my normal tendency to be cheap and bought it. It replaced a Ryobi BT3100 that I had worn the female threads off the height adjustment aluminum casting (I could have fixed it but decided it was time for an upgrade).

I wanted the additional safety and I'm sure it saved me the end of a finger. But I also don't like the technology at times. I still have not successfully used a dado stack on it, for instance. My one incident was with a dado stack which was ruined, of course. I had never changed a cartridge at that point and the process of changing from the blade to the dado cartridge took time, as did setting up the dado stack. Now I could do it easier and quicker. But first time it was a hassle. It certainly wasn't the reason I got stupid and held a small wooden block over the zero clearance insert as I raised the blade but I think it didn't help. I still keep the manual - which is pretty good, long but well illustrated and very useful, on the saw to deal with all the light codes. I do not get many now but did initially. The technology is at least a little bit of a hassle at times but still I think it is well worth it.

The need for the change-over has caused me to just use a router or multiple cuts with the normal blade for dados. That is working fine for me and my be my permanent "fix". But people with a little patience could make a PCS work fine for dados.

[David Sloan]

Like Jim I upgraded from a Ryobi BT benchtop to a 3hp PCS. Had used the Ryobi for decades. My wife and daughter insisted I buy a Sawstop when we all visited Highland Hardware in Atlanta. I make my living as a surgeon so I should have bought a Sawstop a long time ago. Absolutely love the saw!

[Tim Streagle]

I had unrelated hand surgery last year that left me with a lot less nerves available for knowing where all my fingers were. The Sawstop proved to be an ideal solution to keep what I have intact. I can never be sure when cutting if my digits are where they’re supposed to be unless I am watching like a hawk. BTW, finger surgery is painful stuff — there is a reason bad guys break fingers.

[Thomas McCurnin]

You are smart and lucky.

I had a shop teacher in junior high school that mangled his hand on a table saw and I got to watch it. I saw a couple of other accidents working on a framing crew in the 1970s building homes with a Comet type radial arm saw, and the foreman taught me how to respect power tools. While the Comet was indeed a little dangerous, we used it for nearly everything, and it while it wasn't inherently dangerous, some cuts required thinking them through. I have carried his lessons into my daily shop routine.

Ever since then, I take table saws and joiners very, very seriously. I often spend minutes setting up a cut, I often rehearse the cut, figuring out where I want my feet, my body and my hands. Where am I going to grab the wood? Do I have the right blade? Is the fence nice and tight? Where will my left hand be, so I can hit the power switch if things go bad? Do I have room to move to the right and left? Do I need a push stick or push block? If so, which one? Will I need hold downs? If so, from the side or the top? It honestly may take me 10 minutes to set up a cut and rehearse it.

I never, ever use the table saw at night, when I might be tired, or the light is not perfect. For crucial cuts, I do them mid morning after I have a had a cup of coffee. I don't work when I am angry, upset, sick or might become distracted. I'll sometimes turn off the shop radio, and get focused.

Table saws are serious business.

[Richard Hart]

You are smart and lucky.

I had a shop teacher in junior high school that mangled his hand on a table saw and I got to watch it. I saw a couple of other accidents working on a framing crew in the 1970s building homes with a Comet type radial arm saw, and the foreman taught me how to respect power tools. While the Comet was indeed a little dangerous, we used it for nearly everything, and it while it wasn't inherently dangerous, some cuts required thinking them through. I have carried his lessons into my daily shop routine.

Ever since then, I take table saws and joiners very, very seriously. I often spend minutes setting up a cut, I often rehearse the cut, figuring out where I want my feet, my body and my hands. Where am I going to grab the wood? Do I have the right blade? Is the fence nice and tight? Where will my left hand be, so I can hit the power switch if things go bad? Do I have room to move to the right and left? Do I need a push stick or push block? If so, which one? Will I need hold downs? If so, from the side or the top? It honestly may take me 10 minutes to set up a cut and rehearse it.

I never, ever use the table saw at night, when I might be tired, or the light is not perfect. For crucial cuts, I do them mid morning after I have a had a cup of coffee. I don't work when I am angry, upset, sick or might become distracted. I'll sometimes turn off the shop radio, and get focused.

Table saws are serious business.

Perfect! Same with me-it's like going through a 747 checklist. I'll add being overhungry, my blood sugar takes a nose dive and if that happens justifiable homicide comes to mind and it's downhill from there. ���� Not serious, just making a point. Ask any hypoglycemic! Also my wife being a PIA with some BS interruption.

I'm a night guy. No way in hell would I do cuts in the morning. I peak around 7-8 pm. So in that 'launch window' is when I'll make cuts.

Glad you posted this, well timed. Just got the Lee Valley zero clearance insert fitted last night and I'm gonna cut the slot today. A little daunting.

I'll bet you've got a little PTSD from witnessing that in shop!

[Eric Arnsdorff]

That's terrific that you came out with just a nick!

I have the 5 hp industrial Unisaw which is a great saw. I also go to length to be safe utilizing my blade guard, push sticks, Jessem stock guides, featherboards (the magswitch one is very good), Micro-Jig Grr-rippers, and such. Yet the thing is it is still easy to get distracted when doing a lot of repetitive cuts. While there are a lot of risks in doing woodworking, this is a terrific invention to reduce one of those risks. Hopefully, in years to come this technology will be commonplace.

[Charles Coolidge]

I have an employee that ran up a $70K bill and lost 3 months of work losing the ends of three fingers in a home woodworking accident.

Yep my hip replacement was $38,000 healthcare is expensive. Hence I own a Sawstop ICS 5hp. Plus what price do you put on avoiding the emotional damage of gruesome injury.

[Rod Wolfy]

Thank you for the report! Nice to know it worked. Very happy with my PCS, too!

[Thomas Pender]

When I see posts like this I immediately show them to my wife. Makes me look smart for spending the money on a 3hp PCS with the 52” fence. She also understands the insurance deductibles, etc., but missing digits are a very powerful reason to go with Saw Stop.