Nothing Severed Yet

SawStop?

My brother recently told me about an update to a curious safety story I've been following for a few years: the persistant people of SawStop, who invented a new safety feature for tablesaws. They equip the saw with an enormous brake capable of stopping the blade in an instant. If their finely tuned electrical system detects that the blade has contacted a finger--or a Jenny O hotdog--it brings the whole thing to a screeching halt. Given the title of my weblog, you'd think I might be interested. There's a few catches, though.

First off, the saw you want doesn't come with it. Sawstop is involved in a fascinating battle to get this technology to you, but so far, they haven't got a single saw manufacturer to install their system on their product line. Instead, they've had to custom-commission specialty saws that they sell from their website and at tradeshows. Are they any good? Tough to say. Fine Woodworking has done two articles about the technology, but the only review of it is only available in their book, which I haven't read. It's a new saw from a new company, though, and that's a bit of a concern from a reliability standpoint.

Next, the system is expensive. The contractor version appears to come with stamped sheetmetal wings and a mediocre rip fence, yet still costs $799. The cabinet version weighs in at a hefty $2,499, although it does come with a riving knife. Even if it was available in mass production on conventional saws, it would probably add $100 to the cost of the saw.

And it's not necessarily infalliable. The jury's still out, but it looks like false alarms are possible. At $60 for a new brake cartridge, and $100+ for a replacement blade, you'll be pretty ticked off if it false-triggers for any reason (the braking process destroys the sawblade).

I love this idea. I want to keep my weblog name; I've grown fond of it. But until the big guys start putting it on their saws, I've got to recommend caution.

Posted by danshapiro at December 12, 2004 03:24 PM | TrackBack