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Originally Posted by
Mark Wedel
RE if sawstop goes out of business: There are lots of what ifs in that situation - chances are they would not completely disappear, but some company would be the IP and whatever assets of sawstop if it got to that point. Also, once all the patents and what not expire, other companies could make the safety cartridges, and there are probably enough sawstop saws out there that it would be worthwhile for someone to do so.
But presuming the cartridges could not longer be obtained, I suspect there is some way to wire the sawstops so they still work - I know there is a bypass mode on them which will make it so the cartridge will not activate even if it detects contact (good for wet wood) - I can't remember if you can run them without a cartridge at all. But at a basic level, you just need to get power to the motor, which does not seem like a hard problem to solve if it gets to that point.
SS is owned by the parent company that also owns Festool, Tanos and some other names, including the IP. The risk of them "going out of business" isn't zero, but it's less likely given the strong ownership.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...