Sawstop - You have to watch this, AMAZING

[PaulMarcel]

So it has a safety system that you can turn off? That seems a dumb idea, and kinda defeats the object of the exercise. He's a lawyer & I'm not, but it seems to me that if a guy can successfully sue Ryobi 'cos he cut himself using one of their saws in a stupid way, then someone could turn the SS sensor off & say "I didn't realise it was turned off, and when I stuck my hand in my fingers fell off - give me $250k..."

What happens if you have an 'oops' whilst cutting conductive material?

The bypass is pretty deliberate.  You have to turn a spring loaded key and hold it for 1-2 seconds then powerup the saw while still holding the key.  It isn't as awkward as it sounds, but it also isn't something you could unconsciously do.  The bypass is activated for just that power-cycle.  At the end of the cut under bypass mode, the lights will tell you if the brake would have fired.

As for being stupid because in this case you could get injured cutting aluminum, I'd say this scenario happens much less frequently than the countless saws around here with their guard tossed aside because it was a klunky after-thought or because it needed to be removed for a non-through cut.

I have one and like it; fantastic saw.  While much ink is spilled about how this is just for people who don't pay attention, I think it should be remembered that you can be very very careful and pay a lot of attention, but you can't tell if a board has some nasty reaction wood in it that will pinch it to the fence (yes, that causes kickback not a hand-to-the-blade, but many accidents are due to trying to quickly push down a board about to kickback).  A friend of mine lost 1.5 fingers to that.  A second acquaintance lost 3 when a board with reaction wood suddenly split further ahead of the cut allowing his hand to advance to the blade.  Yes, in hindsight we can say a hundred things that could have been done differently, but in the end, we all push in-line with the blade from time to time by "carelessness" or necessity.

 

[jmbfestool]

So how do you use that saw to cut aluminum?  Or conductive plastic?

The saw has a bypass mode that you can activate for conductive materials (or green timber).

What if you forget to switch the bypass on. You your saw for nothing.  I would be scared that the timber I am passing through mite just trigger the safety device BANG my new blade I just put in and my saw.  I will always have it bypassed all the time so it would be of no use for me cus I would always have it turned off. If they made it so that the blade retracts super fast put it its still spinning but its retracted below table then thats fine with me you then just return the saw to original position to carry on cutting.  Then yes I think you can make it compulsory. Just like a lot of modern saws now have electronic brakes to make it safer.

< Edited by Shane Holland - please do not type around the word filter or use bad language per our forum rules. >

 

[bruegf]

I just bought one and its a great saw - I really like it.  I'll take my chances with a few $200 (new brake and new blade) false fire incidents over taking my chances with a few $15K+ oops I lost 3 fingers incidents.  Personally I wouldn't care if the saw was completely trashed if it saved my fingers.  $2-3K for a new saw is far less than the medical costs would be.  As it is, I view the $200 cost of the brake firing similar to buying insurance - hopefully I pay my money and never need it, but if I do need it, it will be worth every penny it cost me.

All the rest of the BS about not being careful, working safe, etc is just meaningless noise.  Rule #1 is stuff happens, Rule #2 is you can't change rule #1 by being careful.

Just my opinion and obviously YMMV.

Fred

 

[harry_]

All the rest of the BS about not being careful, working safe, etc is just meaningless noise.  Rule #1 is stuff happens, Rule #2 is you can't change rule #1 by being careful.

Sooo true!