Is this worth a look?

My first thoughts concerned just touching the guard will shut the machine down. Maybe a little over done. You're concentrating on avoiding contact with the guard instead of the task at hand. You need to pay attention to that chunk of wood and what it is doing. I think that people might become frustrated when the saw keeps shutting off at the slightest provocation. Just my .02
 
No downtime when that happens, though. Just start it back up with no added costs.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I never let my hands get close enough to the guard for that to be an issue, re: constantly shutting down.
 
I'm kind of with Roger on this one. It's a commendable attempt at making a safety device, but the guard seems overly large and in the way, or at least it'd be in the way for a good percentage of the cuts I make on a tablesaw. (Same as pretty much any other blade guard I've seen.) Then again, my tablesaw use probably isn't all that typical.
 
I'm kind of with Roger on this one. It's a commendable attempt at making a safety device, but the guard seems overly large and in the way, or at least it'd be in the way for a good percentage of the cuts I make on a tablesaw. (Same as pretty much any other blade guard I've seen.) Then again, my tablesaw use probably isn't all that typical.

X2 I use my table saw a lot to cut thicker edging veneers and I need to be able to see what I'm cutting.
 
A commendable effort to design a safety device. But, it looks awkward. And "1/8 of a second" seems like a long time compared to the (reported) instant stop of a SawStop.
This might be sign of a trend to develop safer tools.
Like other items (cars, guns, knives, etc.) the best safety device is the nut operating the tool.
 
I like the idea of folks working towards safer equipment, it can't hurt...but I know all too well 'first hand', that the equipment is not the end all solution.

What bothers me about this ad, is the following...clipped from their site...
"If the operator approaches or touches the clear blade guard fence"
the word 'approaches' makes me wonder, how often it does in fact shut down, lot's of room for interpretation with that statement alone.:dunno:
 
And "1/8 of a second" seems like a long time compared to the (reported) instant stop of a SawStop.
Considering your finger would be about 1" from the blade when it shuts down, 1/8 of a second seems 'fast enough'. With the Sawstop instant is better only because you must actually com in contact with the blade to actuate the brake.
 
It a cool idea. But at-lass it would work just like the safety guard that I have for my saw now. High up on the shelf where it is safe form harm. :thumb:
 
THE TECHNOLOGY IS HERE. EMBRACE IT. SAWSTOP IS THE NAME.

think about not spending 300 dollars on a router lift and bend down more often, so you can afford a sawstop and have piece of mind that you might save yourself pieces of yourself one day.

Stop looking at devices that cost money and arent the right thing.

My wife called me stupid for not buying a sawstop the instant I knew about it.
 
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A commendable effort to design a safety device. But, it looks awkward. And "1/8 of a second" seems like a long time compared to the (reported) instant stop of a SawStop.

I watched the videos. Looks promising, and I wish him well.

But that 1/8th of a second grabbed my attention also.
That's fast, sure. But sawstop does it in 5 milliseconds. 1/8 of a second is 125 milliseconds, so that is 25 times slower. I've seen a sawstop demo where they whacked the blade with a hotdog and it barely cut the skin, with a 1/8 second stop time I don't think that would happen here. I'd like to see some FAST cuts on this whirlwind saw also.

ALSO note that was on the Makita jobsite saw. I looked at the other videos and found one where he demos this on a Delta tablesaw, and now he said it stopped the blade in "about one second". That is very slow!

Competition is good, and not damaging the blade is also good. I hope he makes it to market, but he'll have to improve that stop time on cabinet saws.
 
Does the whirlwind use an expensive cartridge that destroys the blade when it fires?

According to the website and the videos it does not damage the blade.

But he also doesn't tell how he does it, as he is trying to find a company to buy it off of him.

You can see that he has metal strips along the edge of the blade guard, so that is where he is "sensing" your flesh. There is no mention at all of any flesh sensing in the blade alone.
 
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