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Post by TKennedy on Apr 2, 2024 19:01:00 GMT -5
www.npr.org/2024/04/02/1241148577/table-saw-injuries-safety-sawstop-cpscI didn’t get a SawStop because the cartridges available would not accommodate a fret slotting blade. That may have changed. One thing’s for sure, of all the power tool hand injuries we took care of a solid 90-plus percent were from a table saw. I am incredibly careful with mine. Long pushers and feathering boards when appropriate on all cuts. My wife watches all the home improvement/restoration shows. There are some pretty cavalier techniques to be seen.
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Post by Rob Hanesworth on Apr 2, 2024 20:27:25 GMT -5
There is another system that uses cameras to detect body parts moving toward the blade and immediately drops the blade. Unlike SawStop this system does not destroy the blade or require you to install a new safety cartridge.
It is my understanding that it's only available in quite expensive saws probably aimed at industrial markets.
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Post by amanajoe on Apr 2, 2024 20:50:58 GMT -5
www.npr.org/2024/04/02/1241148577/table-saw-injuries-safety-sawstop-cpscI didn’t get a SawStop because the cartridges available would not accommodate a fret slotting blade. That may have changed. One thing’s for sure, of all the power tool hand injuries we took care of a solid 90-plus percent were from a table saw. I am incredibly careful with mine. Long pushers and feathering boards when appropriate on all cuts. My wife watches all the home improvement/restoration shows. There are some pretty cavalier techniques to be seen. At some point it was decided that all the saws in the furniture shop should be changed to saw stop brand. The shop foreman and one of the senior builders refused and kept their 30+ year old deltas. Here is what we found. 1. The cost of the replacement cartridge ($250+) that is dead the minute a touch occurs is more likely to keep you safe than the actual mechanism. It gets darned expensive if you are stupid. 2. You need a different cartridge for dados and it can be a pain to change them and set them up. 3. Some woods / miter gauges are actually capable of fooling the mechanism and tripping it without a touch. 4. The big one is that the start switch and the motor contactors are both crap. We have had to constantly repair the switches (replacements are $400+) and they use the cheapest Chinese contactor they can find, they fail regularly and are buried inside the machine instead of being outside. It takes the better part of an average work day to replace one and because of the electronics in the control panel and the box it fits in, you can’t replace it with something better. All in all, get a really good saw and treat it with the utmost respect. In all the time we’ve had them there were two trips and neither was from people actually touching the blade. One was incorrectly adjusted for the dado. The other was wet dense wood that tricked the unit into triggering.
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Post by Marty on Apr 3, 2024 9:18:54 GMT -5
*Table saws scare the living crap out of me. I've used them but only because there was no other way to do the job.
*That is the best safety reason for not using one.
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Post by dradtke on Apr 3, 2024 10:26:47 GMT -5
We had several table saws in the museum shop, and one of them was a sawstop. In all my years there, we only had two finger-losing accidents, both of them with the old original non-sawstop saws. And both of them, oddly enough, with the same guy. After the second one, he was moved into an office job.
Our guy was using a 3/4" wide dado blade. Vaporizing is a good description. There was nothing to reattach.
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Tamarack
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Post by Tamarack on Apr 3, 2024 13:04:17 GMT -5
I thought the NPR article was well done and covered all the angles on this situation. Among the angles were the expense of the SawStop system and the reasonable supposition that people will hang onto older saws (and my supposition that prices of used table saws would increase) if the SawStop type of system is mandated. There is also the matter of blade guards that make it impossible to see the line you are cutting, and make it difficult to use push sticks.
I have a circa 1980 heavy Taiwanese imitation Delta tablesaw. It has taken lots of filing and shimming and tinkering to get it to cut straight and square. The useless steel blade guard was scrapped long ago. I use it very, very carefully.
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Tamarack
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Post by Tamarack on Apr 3, 2024 13:08:54 GMT -5
Terry - among the power tool injuries you saw, did you see any bandsaw injuries? Bandsaws appear to be the safest amongst stationary power tools. Depending on the size of the workpieces, some woodworkers are using bandsaws instead of table saws for operations such as ripping cuts and crosscuts of small pieces.
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Post by kenlarsson on Apr 3, 2024 13:39:36 GMT -5
Had a friend who mangled a finger years ago using one of these.
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Post by TKennedy on Apr 3, 2024 15:48:45 GMT -5
I don’t ever remember a band saw injury Tam. A few jointers and miter saws.
A good friend was a lumber yard owner and they had an old table saw in the middle of a shed with no safety stuff at all.
An employee was ripping a long board and it kicked back. The piece flew past him, out the door of the shed, and went through the wall of a nearby building.
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Post by amanajoe on Apr 3, 2024 18:48:42 GMT -5
I will say, if you want a real scare, you should try out the shopsmith I have (inherited from my brother). It literally has the blade just floating in free space. Not only can it get you from the top if it wants, it can get you from the bottom too!
Attaching the top and bottom safety stuff is a royal pain and many don't. I've had a welt from a kickback on my chest because the riving knife was mis-adjusted.
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Thoughts?
Apr 3, 2024 19:06:39 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by paleo on Apr 3, 2024 19:06:39 GMT -5
I got an even crazier saw. I have a home made, all wood, contractor saw. It belonged to my neighbor and when he passed away they tried to sell it at an estate sale, they couldn't get $ .25 for it. They told me I could have it.
I've actually used it a couple times, I think it has a 12 inch blade, hugh (old) electric motor, with dual drive belts. It has a removable metal top (cover) and is all enclosed. I was told that was so you could leave it outside at a building site.
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Post by david on Apr 3, 2024 20:08:58 GMT -5
My junior high school shop teacher had a missing finger due to a table saw accident. I took his safety warnings seriously. My cheapo table saw still scares the crap out of me, as it should. I use it, as Marty says, "when I have to," but I am ultra-cautious.
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Post by epaul on Apr 3, 2024 20:45:54 GMT -5
My table saw will outlast me. So, not especially invested in what is done or not done. But, if sawstop or equivalent tech were mandated, (and pertinent royalties released), no doubt the bottom floor pricing of table saws will rise. But, on the other end, the price of table saws with sawstop technology will drop like rock due to competition (Grizzly will have a nice one out for under $2,500 within two years). And, no doubt, the technology and user-friendliness will be improved as well. So, yep, saws will cost more, but not as much as feared.
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Thoughts?
Apr 3, 2024 22:05:50 GMT -5
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Post by Rob Hanesworth on Apr 3, 2024 22:05:50 GMT -5
My table saw will outlast me. So, not especially invested in what is done or not done. But, if sawstop or equivalent tech were mandated, (and pertinent royalties released), no doubt the bottom floor pricing of table saws will rise. But, on the other end, the price of table saws with sawstop technology will drop like rock due to competition (Grizzly will have a nice one out for under $2,500 within two years). And, no doubt, the technology and user-friendliness will be improved as well. So, yep, saws will cost more, but not as much as feared. Sawstop already has several models under $2,500 on the Rockler website.
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Post by epaul on Apr 3, 2024 23:14:32 GMT -5
-edit-
(Grizzly will likely have a nice one out for under $50 within two years.)
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Post by PaulKay on Apr 4, 2024 8:32:31 GMT -5
I have been trying to sell my tablesaw and can’t even give it away. I am very close to just setting it out on the street on bulk pickup day. It’d be gone before the trash guys arrive. People drive around on bulk trash day to search for anything good.
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Post by epaul on Apr 4, 2024 8:37:49 GMT -5
Give away? Hmmm...
How far is AZ from Grand Forks?
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Post by drlj on Apr 4, 2024 8:41:12 GMT -5
My Uncle Stumpy said table saws were easy to use.
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Post by John B on Apr 4, 2024 9:32:16 GMT -5
I have been trying to sell my tablesaw and can’t even give it away. I am very close to just setting it out on the street on bulk pickup day. It’d be gone before the trash guys arrive. People drive around on bulk trash day to search for anything good. Depending on what the saw is, Roberto-Venn might take it. roberto-venn.com/
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Post by Marshall on Apr 4, 2024 11:18:28 GMT -5
I used to have a radial arm saw. Built a bunch of stuff with it, including kitchen cabinets from scratch. I was pretty careful with it. But once I wanted to cut the end on a small board on an angle (not square). It was a quick little job and I didn't want to go through the rigamarole to rotate the arm. So I held the wood with my left hand at an angle to the rail. My hand was plenty far from the blade, so I figured it would work. But, while cutting the board, the saw blade grabbed the board and slammed it against the rail. BANG!
In an instant I jumped back with my hands in the air. In a quick check, all fingers were still there. But the index finger on my left hand HURT ! Must have gotten smacked between the board and rail. Probably a small fracture. Never had it X-rayed. Put a home-made splint on it for a week or so. It still aches from time to time. That was 40 years ago.
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