Thursday, September 20, 2012
More SawStop BS
Toolmonger: Over the summer we saw more movement in the constant SawStop battle, and we thought we’d share it with you. Honestly, we’re getting a little bit weary of the whole mess, but it’s still something we know many Toolmongers care about. I’ll just start by sharing the email that landed in our inbox over the summer, above. Take a look. We’ll wait.
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4 comments:
I haven't heard anything about this lawsuit, and I would be very interested to know more details about it. I can't imagine a lawsuit based on the statement "our product is the safest one of the market so everyone should be legally forced to use it" would have very much weight. I have seen the SawStop save a freshman crew member's hand and understand how it can make using the tool safer. However, it does cost a lot of money, and a lot of theaters can't afford to replace a blade when it costs over $50 to do so. As I understand it, the SawStop brakes the blade anytime it comes in contact with anything that conducts electricity. This means it'll stop when it hits your fingers, but also when it hits a staple, screw, or nail left in scrap wood. This could potentially lead to a lot of new blades if the shop isn't careful, which adds up to a lot of money.
Theaters will need to measure the cost of the new saw and more expensive blades compared to the worth of having a safer tool. If you're working in a shop with highly trained employees who use all of the safe guards already in place on the saw, it would seem to me that you're working as safely as you are able. Would the larger expense of a SawStop make enough of a difference to make it worth it?
I couldn't agree with this article more; and even better than its sentiment is the heart-on-its-sleeve language that implies safety starts with BEING CAREFUL. If contractors buy a table saw and immediately take off all the guards, what makes anyone think contractors won't do the EXACT SAME THING and disable the sawstop tech on their now more expensive table saw.
Hmm, the guy bought a brand new table saw, took all the safety devices off and then made a dangerous cut made MORE dangerous by not using ANY supplemental tools (miter gauge, etc). And he got hurt. Yeah, it's the tool's fault.
i like one main point in this article about people who cant afford saw stop and chose to be safe the old fashion way by learning to be freakin careful. we all are familiar with the several days of DR's lecture on the table saw. yes there are some places that could benefit like high school wood shops but fun fact, the CMU safety board actualy does now have a clause that any new table saws (whether its new or newly inspected i forget the fine lettering) must have a saw stop on it. the Archi shop has already been equiped with one and it has helped a few times already... how ever they are archies with less carp experience and less sleep.
Oh capitalism. Before I get into my personal opinion on SawStop technology, I would like to call attention to the blatant exploitation of “safety” that the makers of SawStop seem to be guilty of. They are attempting to mandate the use of a technology that only they sell on all saws. This would require saw manufacturers to pay SawStop patent owners exorbitant amounts of money in order to follow a law that the patent owners themselves put into place. Essentially they are trying to create a legal monopoly on this particular feature to ensure they make money. That being said it is difficult to imagine they really have public safety first in mind, which is the impression they are attempting to perpetuate in their lawsuits.
Frankly SawStop technology is great in some situations. If schools want to mandate that all table saws owned by the school have SawStop technology then great. Although the true driving factor there is to protect schools from lawsuits, such mandates also help protect students just learning how to use power tools safely. A government mandate of the type SawStop patent owners are trying to implement is another story entirely. Professional shops with well-trained workers knowledgeable in power tool safety should not be forced to spend tons of extra money on a technology that they have done without for years. Most of the danger of power tools comes from poorly trained workers and unsafe practices, not the tool itself.
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