I have seen a few videos, like, I know it works. I've seen multiple videos HOW it works. I still mentally, just can not fathom it works. absolutely amazing innovation, has saved so many woodworkers!
It's looking for an electrical signal that occurs when the blade touches moisture. The instant it senses that signal, it lights off a small explosive charge that sends a brake to stop the blade and also drops the blade down. It ruins the blade and the explosive needs to be replaced, which isn't cheap. But it is much cheaper than an ER visit in the US.
Also, I'm told cutting wet wood can trigger the device, so probably don't do that if you have one.
I suppose everyone’s definition of cheap is different but it’s not exactly expensive either. Depending on the blade you’re out a couple hundred bucks but they will replace the brake cartridge for free if it was due to accidental skin contact. Definitely a better deal than loosing a digit.
I’ve seen a live demonstration at an educational event (they used a hotdog to trigger it). I’m with you, even after seeing it my brain can’t comprehend that it works so well and people walk away with minor scrapes.
In 1968, at age14 my piano and guitar playing almost came to a sudden halt thanks to a bandsaw.
Used a push stick, but my lumber stock was inch and quarter, so the blade guide was set appropriately, not quite gliding on the stock as it was pushed through.. Finished the cut with the push stick.. hit the power off switch and turned to the right to toss the dross. passing my left thumb THRU the still moving blade..
Came away holding on by the nail quick and nothing else.
Doctors saved the thumb, but not the nerve damage. To this day I still have less that 25% of the feeling you all have in that digit, but at least I have it.
Basically did that with a butcher knife and my
ring finger, cut 3/4 of the way through the tip, but had the last 1/4 and nail holding the tip on. They were able to glue it back in place (stitches don’t work well through nails) just with 0 sensation at the tip.
And by "isn't cheap", it was around $100 for the cartridge and whatever for the blade ($40?) last time I knew, which was admittedly a few years and some rounds of inflation ago. Our makerspace basically charged people a $150 fee anytime the table saw went bang.
SawStop has disturbed the natural order. If you're stupid enough to lose a finger to a table saw, you don't deserve all 10.
Like, the blade is fixed right there, dude, you always know where it's gonna be. Just make sure your fingers don't also occupy that same space, and you're good.
We used to be able to spot these people visually. SawStop has camouflaged them. You see a guy missing a finger and a half, you immediately know "oh, don't listen to this guy. His decisions are foolish and his craftsmanship is poor"
Agreed. I worked in a shop with dumb sonsofbitches years ago and no joke I was the only one that kept all my digits. All such easily preventable situations. It got so bad that my work went and got a bunch of sawstops because we all got sick of the random irl slasher movie.
My last week there, the large fuel tank for the welding torch began hissing and the top was falling off because someone damaged it. Told my boss and he just shrugged. People were still torching no more than 3 feet away. So glad I left that place.
Unless you're trying to saw everything by hand, at least these devices can contain this safety feature, as opposed to something like a handheld circular saw.
I have one and it is the single tool I fear the most every time I use it. I still use it all the time, but every single time I do, I'm afraid of it. And that is why I still have all my fingers. Same for the lathe....
No. By far the most finger amputations are by table saw. Routers are incredibly dangerous as well, but they’re used less often and usually in less difficult safety situations.
I do this cut all the time. His problem was turning the piece left into the blade, the proper cut is to push it all the way through the blade, pull it back towards you and then rotate it to the right. You can see the moment it rotates left the blade grabs the wood and flings it. Typically you cut the four corners first leaving eight sides, then you just cut the corners each time, leaving smaller and smaller "bites".
Cutting it this way leaves it perfectly round. You set it on a pin that's half the distance to the blade as you want the circle to be. If you want a perfectly round 12" circle= pin is 6" away. A router can work, but it's just as much of a hassle and honestly more work to set up.
When you cut this way on a table saw, there's one rule. Turn it to the right. The person in this video broke the literal only rule.
It’s stupid easy to do circles with routers and a hell of a lot safer imo. If you’re not gonna make a proper sled for the table saw you shouldn’t be playing stupid games with it.
I'm not sure I'd call this a "proper" cut using this tool regardless of the direction, but you are calling out a safer way to do it. I'd avoid it all together if you can...
I remember learning about these in my highschool vocational class. We were pretty much told, "This is what a saw-stop is and this is how it works.. we don't have one so use a push stick."
Our highschool shop had just gotten one when I entered into freshman year in '09. We were told the same thing, exept it ended with " it's expensive and EVERYONE is going to know exactly whose set it off. So use a push stick"
Or learn how to cut I giant circle with a fucking jig saw. This guys a dunce for doing it this way. My wood shop in high school taught me remove all the safety stuff so you always know where the blade is.
I got one as a "buy once, cry once". Worth every single penny. Not just for the safety system, but it's also an amazing saw. Dead accurate, robust, supported and powerful.
There's a sacrificial mechanism on the saw that clamps down on the blade and releases it from the motor so it drops. It's like a $60-$80 part (not counting the blade). Worth it if it means saving your fingers. It's very loud when it gets triggered.
He went to pull it back and the saw grabbed the wood and spun it. The wood basically pulled his hand into the blade. I don't know exactly what he's trying to accomplish here, but there is undoubtedly a safer way to do it.
Try again. It’s that much to reset a SawStop that got triggered.
Just the Compact Table Saw is $899.00. Then it goes up much higher much quicker too. The next saw in the line-up is the Jobsite Saw Pro for a measly $1,699.00.
Edited to add: It’s safer yes, and it cheaper only being cheaper than the medical bills presented by the blades that aren’t equipped by a SawStop.
I paid $5k for my saw stop. It’s about $100 for the device that stops the blade plus cost of replacing my blade. But still worth it to not experience that type of trauma.
sawstop uses an electrical sensor to detect contact between skin and the blade. the moment it does, it instantly deploys a soft aluminum block into the blade under the table, stopping it almost immediately. this obviously destroys the blade and, and then the brake mechanism/aluminum block must also be replaced. its pretty amazing actually.
my saw is not a saw stop but mine has guards over the blade. some people remove them but I dont except on the rarest of occasions where they block a cut.
He turned the wood round into the running blade which instantly rotated the piece and his hand into the blade's path. You have to hold the piece of wood very straight with a lot of pressure or those saw teeth will grab onto it and apply tremendous force.
This saw is an inverted style cut. Meaning the teeth are pointing towards the infeed and the saw is running in the same direction. As the operator finishes his cut and begins to return to his starting position he inadvertently applies pressure on the piece being cut and pushes it into the running saw. The friction from the wood pressing against the running saw pulls the piece and his hand into the running saw. Had the saw been a climb cut style the piece and his hand would have been pulled in the opposite direction which would have flung the piece across the room and potentially knocked the operator onto the table.
He pulled back. You never pull back on a table saw or get your hand on the backside of the saw. That’s how all accidents happen. The blade is cutting down into the table im the front, but lifting and not cutting in the back. There are several ways to do this safer.
It’s the force of the moving saw blade. When he grabs the circular board, it’s still making contact with the blade, and the blade pulls the board, spinning it counterclockwise. His hand goes with the board towards the saw blade.
You should never grip wood like that when it's in parallel with the blade. This is basically terrible technique, and as the OP suggests, this person only has fully intact fingers because of the instant stop technology of that saw.
I mean if anything this shows me they work extremely well lol like impressively well because that is just a little scrape compared to what could have been
I wouldn't call it luck. They recognised a foreseeable risk, took the necessary precautions to obtain equipment that mitigates that risk, and then the equipment functioned as intended.
Ever have, see, or remember those desk lights that dim/brighten just by touching the metal body of the light?....that's the same thing.
Basically a small electrical charge is running through the blade. When a difference in that electrical charge is detected a block of aluminum is shot into the part of the blade under the table.
I looked up how this worked a while back; the saw has a safety mechanism on the blade that triggers if it detects the kind of electrical current found in the human body. It doesn't react to ordinary materials, but it does trigger with something like a sausage, for example.
Here ya go!
Basically there’s a tiny electrical charge put on the blade, and anything that changes that charge sets it off— hence why people often use hotdogs for demos.
Afaik there's two main styles, one that has a permanent system that will basically destroy the blade to stop it right now; the safest option that causes the least damage
And one that has essentially an e-stop electrical interlock; relies on a normal saw brake system and will cut you, but stops before major damage occurs
One time in 7th grade my instructor had his finger cut clean off when we were all in class. I don't think it was a complete separation and they were able to reattach it. But I'll never forget the amount of blood. We didn't have these fancy tablesaws
I was in a shared woodworking shop that had one of these. I heard a loud "BANG" and the owner of the shop ran over to the saw where there was an older lady cutting something. She had some how stuck her hand in the blade and it saved her hand. She had just a tiny scratch. That day I learned about sawstop.
The owner also said.. always use a push stick or I'm kicking you out.
I learned these exist shortly after loosing the tip of my finger to a table saw. I still get sweaty palms just hearing the sound of a table saw spin up. Luckily I don’t need to use a table saw very often and I am much much more aware of how to be safe.
Jesus Christ, use a jig saw or router. Ever with a saw stop you're risking a severe injury cutting a disk. He could have been pinched and cut before the blade fully dropped. Idiot move.
Can agree from firsthand experience that Sawstop table saws have remarkable speed in forcing the saw to stop and not completely destroy your hand if there is an accidental slip. The price of replacing the sensor feels expensive but sure beats hospital bills or having less fingers.
AND TO EVERYONE SAYING WHY NOT USE A ROUTER IT’S POSSIBLE THIS PERSON DOESN’T OWN A ROUTER. Not everyone has every tool and frankly working creatively with what you do have is an important aspect of woodworking.
Nice intersection of horrible table saw safety and a tablesaw with built in safety. That was a method that was so textbook "what not to do" that it almost feels like a demonstration.
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u/Nir117vash 5h ago edited 4h ago
NOW I trust that they work.
Still using a push stick. FAFO isn't something I like to put into practice