The Saw Stop Story and its impact by the inventor

Wow! I waded through the whole thing. What struck me hardest was the corporate [expletive deleted] attitude. Reminds me of the Ford situation where they calculated it would be cheaper to pay the lawsuits than to fix a fuel tank situation that was killing passengers by burning them alive.
Of course, the SS story isn't complete until we see what comes next. Maybe one day the technology will be standard on most major tools.
Thanks for posting.
 
Interesting article that contained some details that I was not aware of.

Since it was posted on the internet the details must be correct;), but there will probably be more forthcoming as we move ahead.

It will be interesting to see how things work out.
 
The timing of this post couldn't be better. This morning coming down the stairs to my shop I twisted my ankle and ended up on my butt (Great start for April 1st).
A while later while nursing my sore ankle I started to cut up some curly maple for pen blanks when suddenly WHAM!!! Evidently while shifting my weight to ease my ankle I inadvertenly touched the saw blade and triggered the safety mechanism. Of course the brake was ruined (which SawStop says they will replace when I send in the triggered one) and damaged the blade that I have been told can be resharpened as good as new.
The only injury that I sustained was a slight groove (that didn't even bleed) on the end of my left forefinger and a nick on my fingernail that can be repaired with a nail file.
I want to thank SawStop for making this technology available, (and my wife who after seeing the SS video in November 2009 said, "That's your Christmas present").
 

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Glad you are OK

Wow! What an endorsement.
But, most importantly, you are OK.
Being part of the "Family" really brings the safety issue home with an impact.
I'm actually rattled reading this story like it happened in my own family.
BTW, don't ignore that sprain. I sprained my left foot about three years ago and it is still giving problems. Never saw a Doc. Same side as my ignored shoulder. Later this year I may have left arm in sling after surgery, be on crutches and have left foot in a big blue boot from surgery.
 
Wow Larry. :eek: I think you're the first official Sawstop "save" in the Family. Good to see everything worked as designed. :thumb:

And thanks for the article, Rob. Good read.
 
So, if I buy a motorcycle and try to jump 17 buses and fail, I can sue because the motorcycle didn't have wings?

Just curious.
 
That article is 3 years old. I think they have around 10,000 units sold now.

Larry - Now there's the best outcome you could have. But still remember to keep your fingers away and don't use other power tools when you are uncertain about your physical capabilities. All the other tools don't have that technology. Growing up I remember quite a few of my dad's coworkers had missing fingers and fingertips not caused from tablesaws.

So, if I buy a motorcycle and try to jump 17 buses and fail, I can sue because the motorcycle didn't have wings?

Just curious.

Sure you can sue. But you won't win because it isn't a logical progression of proven technology that is readily available.

Sorry to smash your hopes there.:D
 
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I think my point in posting the article which by the way i found through the Popular Woodworking Editors blog, was that when you first read the court case saga its sounds like well "The guy using the saw should have taken care its his fault." and thats how i feel.

However when you consider the article and more background and safety then you start to say well maybe there is a point to the court case. Not so much in terms of the settlement (unfortunately its neccessary to put a sticker price to the issue) but in terms of getting the industry as a whole to innovate and move forward.

Whilst i fully support individual rights the power that the huge corporations wheel today makes them impervious to change. Until such time as they get like some did recently too big to fail and then we all pay.

I was not aware of just how far back these guys started, nor that they offered the technology to the corporations. Nor the fact that the corps reneged on a deal. It kinda put a little more balanced perspective on the whole thing.

Then you get Larry with a first hand experience at the same time and it brings home to one the value of the technology.

Larry i am curious as to the detail of the brake. What happens now? What is the cost to you besides your blade. Do they have the ability to refurbish the break at a reasonable price and ship you another one???

I still think that regardless of the cost the price of saving a finger or the corresponding discomfort is worth more than the cost of the saw.

Its a real interesting debate. We will see how this progresses. One has to ask if the tort laws in the US were substantially changed then would this technology ever stand a chance given this background, of being adopted.

I also think the royalty he is asking for is a bit steep. 8% of selling price is 8% margin. If that were 8% of the gross margin then it would be more reasonable since if cost increases the margin could well be reduced.

I suspect thats where the negotiations went sour on the hand in the pie aspect.

They now have to do all the work of making selling and distributing saws and probably have a net profit of 8% after costs and taxes etc and in the process they have shared the equity of the business with the angles that backed them so their net stake is probably 20% of the business. Which implies they now would net only 20% of the 8% net profit if thats what it worked out to be. Thats a far cry from a few percent of the big boys pie. Given the market for table saws is $175 million per annum according to the article, I would have settled for a smaller royalty assuming that was the problem.:dunno::huh:
 
Larry i am curious as to the detail of the brake. What happens now? What is the cost to you besides your blade. Do they have the ability to refurbish the break at a reasonable price and ship you another one???

It's my impression that SS has the ability to read the circuits on the brake to determine that it was a finger (and not a hot dog) that caused the brake to fire and when that is determined they will send me a new brake at no charge. I am also under the impression that the blade is not damaged and may just need to be sharpened.

I'll let you know what happens.
 
So, if I buy a motorcycle and try to jump 17 buses and fail, I can sue because the motorcycle didn't have wings?

Just curious.

Gonna have to say you got a good case. As long as the bike you get doesn't have a warning label on it saying not to jump buses.:thumb:
 
Larry,

That's quite a story. Glad you're ok. And give your wife a big thumbs up sign for that christmas present! ;)

Rob, the telling quote seems to be here: "No, thanks. Safety doesn't sell." It's hard to say how much blood is behind those words, but at 3,000 amputations a year, I suspect it's quite a bit. And for what? For a few percentage points of quarterly profit. Those people need a different mindset.

There are a lot of theoretical arguments and varied emotions involved. I don't see any of those. All I see is the blood of our colleagues, spilled to preserve a few ticks of shareholder value. And I can promise you, they haven't gained in profits what we've collectively lost in costs as a result of preventable accidents. If the article's correct, total annual table saw market: $175 million. Total annual losses from accidents: $2 billion. The math speaks for itself.

Thanks,

Bill
 
A good Lawyer could (should) make the argument that the technology is available to anyone that wants it now. You can go buy a SawStop if you want one. If you choice not to then you should be responsible for your choices unless the saw is defective.

If you alter the safety features on a saw or remove them or modify then I don't understand why we should blame the manufacture? You should be responsible for your actions and not try to get millions of dollars out of someone that had no control over your actions.

Using the current logic the next round of lawsuits will be when someone turns off the Saw Stop feature and gets hurt, SawStop should be held liable? Why did they offer it with the ability to turn off the safety feature?
 
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