Saw Stop inventor uses finger in demo

[bobby g]

Wow! Here'e the link to the video. http://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/8228/sawstop-inventor-walks-the-walk

 

[fergy]

It still makes me nauseous to watch that.

 

[JimmyC]

The guy is an idiot ! There are very few accidents in this world that aren't caused by bad decisions and there is no mechanical/electrical device that works $100 of the time. He's got a great product, but by doing that he's proving that he's an idiot.

 

[MarkE]

I agree, the guy is an idiot.

Hope he doesn't start manufacturing air bags.

 

[WoodWrangler]

Come on now guys ... if you invent the product, manufacturer the product and sell the product ... then you better believe in the product enough to test it out yourself. If he didn't do that, people would say he talks it, but can't walk it ... the other side is when he does something you wouldn't dare he's an idiot.

I'd had to be an idiot because if it were my product ... I'd believe. Now would I have the balls to do it ... that's a mental wall I'd have to climb!

 

[Bas]

As the President of the Society For Prevention of Cruelty to Hot Dogs, I applaud the use of real fingers for the SawStop demonstration. Too many Hot Dogs have already been mutilated by this invention!

Aside from that, yeah, that's not the smartest thing. I understand about wanting to show you believe in your own product, but this is basically a marketing stunt. This is like the mayor setting his house on fire to demonstrate his city's fire department is top notch.

 

[froglips]

I didn't post my first thoughts, but now I feel I can interject.

Thanks for posting Bobby, its a very interesting video.

I applaud his ingenuity and hope he does well. What he and Discovery Channel did was something I consider wholly irresponsible.

This device should be a last measure, not a first. Showing it in the way they did gave a rather false impression that this saw is safe. It is safeR.

As Jimmy said, technology fails.

While risking being a total jerk, I still am going to point out the obvious. The saw guard was not in place. Yeah, yeah, it was for television.

I also won't even get started on how he has tried to lobby for regulations passed to require his device.

And, whats his BEEF with Franks anyway?

Jim

 

[Mt. Gomer]

It still makes me nauseous to watch that.

+1 *shudder*

 

[WoodWrangler]

Now, not to encourage anyone to do this ... but to set in a bit of reality here ... he clearly takes a slow, controlled approach for this demo (not quite like the hotdog plunge).

And I'm not so sure I can relate this to the fire marshall comparison above, but I do see it a bit more like an airbag in a car or a GFCI circuit in the house.

 

[ptt49er]

He also approaches the blade from the side, not that it's safe by any means, but it's not like he was running his finger in for a chopping.

After seeing his demo, I know I would pick up one of his saws if the money was available!

And can you really blame him for pushing for regulations? If I had an idea that was proven to be a huge safety improvement, as well as make some serious change for myself, I'd be pushing too. Why not? It serves the public and his wallet. I can't fault him for that!

 

[ebarr]

Standing in line at a store the other day an elderly man came up to the register with his hand heavily bandaged. I asked him half jokingly if lost a finger in the shop. He said he had a table saw accident and his hand was pretty messed up. I then asked him if he had heard of the Saw Stop. He told me very seriously that he knows now it would be well worth the money to have the odds in your favor.

I don't own one but if I had the money I think I would.

 

[brian_hunt]

While I don't disagree with "no mechanical device can work 100% of the time", I must point out that we don't know what the predicted malfunction rate of these things is calculated to be. Guess what? The head of SawStop surely knows. My guess is it's pretty high - 1 in 1,000,000, 1 in 10,000,000, higher? What are the odds of your steering failing going down the road? From the white paper, I'm left wondering if they could build a way to test that everything's ok - similar to testing GFI outlets - if they test out ok, then you know 100% that they're working.

Either way, the odds are probably a lot lower than dying in a commercial airplane crash. I can comfortably say this because a) SawStop has surely calculated the malfunction rate before putting this out to the public, and b) the company NEEDS every saw to function in the event of finger contact - their first malfunction will be their last saw (exaggeration), given that the lawsuit would be huge and we'd all lose confidence in their product and by that time there will be others on the market with this. Sure it's a publicity stunt, a pretty good one at that, but is it stupid? I disagree.

 

[drw]

Based on what I have seen and read, I hope a Saw Stop is in my future. While I would not want to put my own finger at risk for a proof-of-concept demo, I do not think the inventor was out of line in staging such a demo. Indeed, I hope it will not be long before we begin seeing this technology applied to other shop tools.

 

[brian_hunt]

Based on what I have seen and read, I hope a Saw Stop is in my future. While I would not want to put my own finger at risk for a proof-of-concept demo, I do not think the inventor was out of line in staging such a demo. Indeed, I hope it will not be long before we begin seeing this technology applied to other shop tools.

Does anyone know when SawStop got the patent award for this? I'm guessing they applied almost 5 years ago, so it may only be another 1-3 years before other companies can produce copycat saw stops...

 

[Umich684]

There is a less sensitive issue here that has been missed among the many good points.(coming from a guy who has 3 finger band-aids on right now)... I have 9.5 fingers left and only 1 accurate table saw.

and a quote that might apply;

"I never SAW an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may - light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful." -Constable, 1837

 

[bobby g]

I have read that they are now working on a bandsaw.

Bob

Based on what I have seen and read, I hope a Saw Stop is in my future. While I would not want to put my own finger at risk for a proof-of-concept demo, I do not think the inventor was out of line in staging such a demo. Indeed, I hope it will not be long before we begin seeing this technology applied to other shop tools.

 

[CrealBilly]

I got mixed emotions - on one hand if your that confident in the ability of your product then go for it, you have no one else to blame but yourself. On the other hand why take the change of screwing up your finger? I don't know :dontknow:

 

[FlyingRon]

Does anyone know when SawStop got the patent award for this? I'm guessing they applied almost 5 years ago, so it may only be another 1-3 years before other companies can produce copycat saw stops...

I think the base patents were issued in 2002, so they were probably filed in 2001, so it's going to be 2021 before the technology begins to be uncovered.

 

[FlyingRon]

I have read that they are now working on a bandsaw.

Last we heard the bandsaw was put on hold indefinitely. Stopping the blade would be a no brainer I think, but getting it to jump out of the way would be a bit more problematic.

 

[Dragon]

I recall many years ago seeing the owner/inventor of Second Chance Body Armor demonstrating it by placing the muzzle of a S&W mod. 29 .44 Mag to his sternum and pulling the trigger. Yeah, the impact energy knocked him back a few steps and the resulting bruise was something to behold, but the dude was alive and well for the most part. Personally, I wouldn't want to be sitting inside an Abrams tank with someone shooting at me. Guess you gotta have faith and belief in your product.