Comment by tbihl
7 months ago
FWIW, I supervised in one of the safest industrial environments in the US, and also one with incredibly robust workman comp. The 18-25 year olds I supervised typically just found ever stupider ways to get themselves hurt or accumulate improper- or over-use injuries... Arguably we would just fire them before they got us in trouble, which we didn't, but neither do people in much riskier settings I've heard from ("get these stupid safety railings uninstalled once the inspector is gone, they just waste time and get in the way").
My suspicion is that the better analogy for these things is airbags rather than seatbelts. Because people don't use seatbelts (guards), install something expensive that can't be easily defeated, airbags (sawstops), which are touchy and known to brick the car (saw). Do sawstops, when not engaging, inhibit the function of the saw as badly as airbags inhibit visibility around A pillars?
SawStop saws work like any other table saw while you're cutting. The only difference is that you won't cut your finger off, though you are still vulnerable to kickback which is also dangerous. When I swap my regular 10" blade for an 8" dado stack I have to change the brake cartridge which only takes an additional minute. I don't change blades often so it's not a big deal. I've had my SawStop contractor saw for years and have never triggered the brake. On the other hand, blade guards, which are clear plastic things that go over the saw blade, do make using the saw more difficult imo. Lots of saws come with them now but basically no one, myself included, uses them as they obstruct what you're doing and are incompatible with certain types of cuts. I feel safe with a riving knife installed and using push blocks like the Grrr-ripper 3D to keep my hands far away from the blade at all times.
> I've had my SawStop contractor saw for years and have never triggered the brake.
Do you live in a humid environment?
Yeah, northeast US. And the only usable shop space I have is in the basement, the most humid place in the house. A dehumidifier and air filtration (don't have expensive dust collection) make it work pretty well.