Comment by analog31

Here's the first thing I noticed when I just looked up SawStop. They have a reasonable saw for $2k, in the same "class" as my 1970s Sears, based solely on size. And not all that much more expensive than other brands.

Looking at the picture, the saw is safer than mine even without the brake, because of the quality of the fence and other fittings. Unfortunately, a mandate won't get saws like mine out of circulation.

What's keeping me from going right out and getting a new saw is that mine is only used sporadically, and is mainly a "horizontal surface" in my garage. I'm done with the big projects that made my house livable.

My safety rule for now (this is not professional advice) is that I don't attempt tricky cuts at all. The biggest risk I've noticed is trying to hold onto a workpiece that's too small, and I'd rather just scrap it and use longer stock. My hands are never closer than several inches away from the blade. And I have other tools for other jobs, such as a chop saw, so I don't try to do "everything" with the table saw.