Electrical Capacitance (And how it may affect your pocketbook!)
Until recently, interest in the SawStop Table Saw mostly centered around how cool the flesh-sensing magic of the safety device was. The SawStop Table Saw works by sensing the electrical capacitance of human flesh to stop a spinning saw blade instantly when the blade senses a drop in voltage. Not exactly magic, but cool nonetheless! Workbench magazine reviewed the saw in its June 2006 issue, and you can see a video of the SawStop in action here.
Now, it seems that a recent ruling in favor of inventor Stephen Gass’ technology by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission will turn the debate into one of economics rather than safety. You can read more about the ruling here.
The problem is, manufacturer’s of woodworking machinery are not embracing the technology. And the ruling has led the U.S. government to agree with the recommendations of the CPSC, that mandatory safety standards for table saws be raised to include the SawStop technology.
That’s where money comes in. According to Charles Murray, technical writer for Design News, woodworking tool manufacturers face the prospect of investing millions of dollars to re-tool existing production lines. And inventor Gass agrees, “… there’s a huge product liability problem for any manufacturer who doesn’t have this. People will ask, ‘Why didn’t you have this on the saw you sold to us?’”
So now thanks to this ruling, and as is often the case when lawyers get involved, it comes down to one thing — money. (By the way, Stephen Gass was a patent attorney and a woodworker, when he came up with the SawStop.) If manufacturers of table saws are faced with adding safety features that will potentially cost them millions, who do you think will pay for it in the end? You guessed it — woodworkers!
ray kast said,
I guess i’m not quite sure where to stand on this issue… I believe that we all need to be safe in our shops and at work, and if this is the next step to safe woodworking, then I guess it will come no matter what I feel. I do think there are pros and cons to this new safety feature. What I’d like to know is how many digits from woodworker’s hands are lost each year? How much will this feature add to the cost of each and every saw? And I read where it had saved some digits, but the story never mentioned any failures to save. I also am not comfortable that a patent attorney-type has also made this a cause for government involvement.
This feeling comes with my natural distrust of both… lawyers and politicians. But like i said, there is little I can do to stop this, though I feel bad for the next generation of woodworkers…
think about this… a saw that is suppose to stop in an instanst… hmmm… think kids might want to try to prove it? Where as, a saw that is sure to cut off a finger is less likely to be thought of as a toy. just my opinion… thanks.
(posted on September 14th, 2006 at 11:52 am)