SawStop Will Never be the Same! Huge Changes to SawStop Patents 

I think there’s some factual errors in this video, perhaps. I’ve read the responses from other manufacturers to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) (It isn’t a “consumer protection agency” as stated in the video description). They claim that they applied to SawStop to license their technology, but the licensing terms were unreasonable, or they outright refused licensing to some. In the case of Bosch, they developed a wholly separate technology that didn’t brake the blade, but did drop it to safety immediately, and were sued by SawStop, and Bosch had to withdraw the technology from the market. It seems that SawStop, having been founded by a patent attorney, has been aggressively pursuing litigation to prevent other manufactures from implementing safety technology, so hardly the altruistic picture painted in this video. The manufacturers were appealing for any regulation requiring AIM technology to also include a FRAND clause, (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory licensing) to ensure SawStop didn’t get up to it’s shenanigans. Also, per the filing documents, at least one SawStop patent covering a key aspect necessary for any AIM device to work expires in 2033, a little over 9 years from now.

I’ve been an occasional woodworker for most of my adult life. No saw injuries so far. Now in my 70’s I upgraded to a SawStop figuring that I won’t get smarter or more careful as I get older.

Sawstop's patent, #9,724,840 (the one they say they will be dedicating to the public) expired in Jan of 2023. They are "dedicating" an expired patent to the public that they no longer have control over; a patent that the public, right now, has access to, and can make use of.

One of the competing designs that got recalled because of SawStop's C&D was from Bosch. Their design merely dropped the blade very quickly. No $150 cartridge that destroys your $200 boutique blade when you hit a staple in that recovered barn wood. SawStop may be a noble cause, but it's a ridiculously barbaric solution.

I was a high school administrator in New Jersey when I first learned of Saw Stop technology. I am happy to say that I was easily able to convince our schools administration to replace all the table saws in the district with the Saw Stops. I know they paid for themselves before I retired in two accidents that didn’t happen! What cost can you place on a child’s finger. It may increase the cost of the machines but like air bags in cars I’m glad to see it become a requirement.

I have had the Bosch version for years. Same saftey stop effectiveness but without any damage to blade or "brake". Only thing to replace is a little gas cartridge.

I've had a Sawstop for 8 yrs they are not only safe but are a dam good saw. Never set it off from skin only staples, because I didn't check the lumber close enough. But have to agree with old school slow down and pay attention to what yo9u are doing.

Great comments! I have been a Saw Stop owner for the past 14 years. Not only is their safety system outstanding, but it is also an excellent tool. When working with my grandkids in the shop, I instill 4 simple rules: 1- Safety First, 2- Safety Second, 3- Safety Third, and 4- Measure, remeasure then measure again. It's been a great saw, engaged the safety system 3 times, staples, and most wood. Oops! I recently had to replace some worn parts and their customer service is impeccable. When calling their tech support staff there is little to no wait time, you speak directly to a person you can understand and they are committed to solving your problem.

Baseless worry. Do seat belts make your driving worse? The safety provided by the SawStop technology is better than not having it. Full stop.

This tech saves from injuries. Claiming people become lazy can be true but it still saved fingers and injuries.

Saved fingers TWICE over past ten years, and I am not a full time woodworker. Main lesson is to stop before getting tired especially on repeated cuts, both times were "just one more cut to go" where my attention must have wandered a bit. Both times, the lost cartridge was replaced by Sawstop leaving me only with needing a new blade - and my finger tips had only a scratch on them. Buy the saw stop - it is paid off on first avoided trip to the doctor just in the time lost healing up. Finger injuries haunt you for years with the nerves being chopped up.

I’ve had a saw stop for 15 years still scared to death never set it off with Skin

Suing a saw maker after getting injured, and claiming you wouldn’t have been injured if they had used Saw Stop technology is about as low as you can get. It’s about equal to a rapist or a sea pirate. What ever happened to individual responsibility? When things happen on a job site or in your own basement and you caused it, you should have enough integrity to accept that you are at fault unless the equipment you were using was faulty.

I suffered a table saw injury that cost me thousands of dollars and permanent but minor impairment. This was after decades of accident free use of such tools and I was not a careless user. Accidents happen and mine could have been much, much worse. Get your Saw Stop and ask your dad if he drives more recklessly because he is wearing a seatbelt.

Most of the Sawtop early patents have expired or are soon to expire since they are good for only 15 or 20 years. I suspect this move is more about losing the patents soon anyway and trying to get some good PR before they expire.

I used an old Craftsman table saw for about 35 years. When I retired and upgraded my saw I bought a Sawstop cabinet saw without hesitation. After using it for 5 years I can say it's an excellent machine, and Sawstop support is excellent if needed. I think the idea of the technology making people complacent is nonsense. People don't drive recklessly just because they have airbags and seatbelts. It's a phenomenal technology and well worth the cost.

I've had one for over 10 years, never tripped it. Still have to be careful, because kickback is still real.

I purchased a sawstop about 18 years ago for our woodshop production. Saw is used non-stop 8 hours/day for all of this time and is still going. We have, of course, had to replaced belts and bearings. Best saw as far as cutting I've ever owned and way better than the Delta Pro we used to use. It has saved at least 3 finger injuries or worse from people not paying attention or think that they don't need to use the pushstick for the "one small cut". Even though we have 1-2 false activations a year due to thermocouples in our resin impregnated wood that are sometime very difficult if not impossible to detect or from wood that was too "wet", I am happy to shell out the extra money for the added protection.

I've had one for four years. I bought it for the excellent saw it is. Its one of the best out there but I did activate the brake one time and I had to change my shorts once I realized what happened. Surreal feeling

I paid 3400.00 for Saw Stop. Figured it was better that 10 to 20 thousand for an injury.

I’ve had the SawStop for 6-years. I’m still a belt-and-suspenders safety guy. I use the blade-guard/riving knife, hold downs and push blocks whenever possible, and I think about every cut before I set it up to figure out how much safety I can build into the cut. I don’t think you can have a casual approach to a single tool in your shop and a strict approach to the others, like the router and band saw. Better to be safe than sorry. Also, accidents happen more often due to fatigue, repetitive cuts, mind drifting from the task and other distractions, not a careless disregard for safety. No one should have to pay the price of the loss of half their hand because they are human and succumbed to an instant of lost concentration.

Let's be clear here, the reason the CPSC is looking at table saws is because the Stephan Gass has been in their ears for years trying to force them to mandate blade stops. As someone else pointed out, the patent that SawStop says they will make public is a general system outline patent that references at least 26 other patents that SawStop isn't making public. This patent also opens the door for stop technology to be mandated on pretty much every piece of equipment in a shop and on a jobsite. 731 Woodworks did a couple of videos on the SawStop/CPSC issue and it exposes the goal of SawStop to monopolize the power tool market in the US.

I've had a SawStop for several years, and yes, when I have to disable the safety system to cut damp wood, or used wood that may contain nails or nail fragments, I do sweat the safety details a bit more and I'm hyper aware of blade and finger placement. I did trip it once when the blade found an 18 gauge pin nail I overlooked. An expensive error. I have a high quality metal detector wand, like you see in airports that I use to scan any wood that may have metal in it. Other than that, it is an amazing table saw.

I like the Bosch version that was available for a short time until SawStop sued them. At least you don’t have to buy new blades after a trigger. And the stop cartridges a cheap!

SawStop is not putting the patent in the public domain. They said they would do it IF the rule is passed. The passing of this rule has been an ongoing battle for over 15 years..

Trauma Nurse Dave here - Any give day we have 2-6 kids running in and out of our garage, and while I am religious about unplugging my equipment, I’ve witnessed first hand (too soon?) over and over that it only takes a moment of oversight for accidents to happen. I totally appreciate the complacency argument, but at the end of the day, I asked myself, “if my table saw was about to cut one of the kids in our garage, how much would I pay?” As a start, I’d pay quadruple what these cost. Same applies for swim lessons for kids - I’ve never fussed for a moment about the cost for swim lessons, because when you have seen one lifeless child, you’ll do anything to never see it again, but I’ve digressed in a dark, dark way, like we do. Especially with kids in the shop, it has been a bit (see above, I live in doomsday…) of peace of mind, but I know it would pay for itself, should something happen. And last but certainly not least, when I was shopping for a SawStop (PCS 1.75 - Love it so much), I was told over and over that while the safety technology is great, the overall quality of the saw AND customer service are second to none, so they are all around quality machines that will last decades. All that said, it is still real money to get these things, so I can also appreciate the argument that folks do not want to be forced to pay extra for the technology. …But Trauma Nurse Dave will close with, when someone loses a digit (or more), more often than not, they pivot and get the SawStop.

My concern is that this will be extremely cost prohibitive on contractors. Big cabinet makers are going to be spending thousands on big cabinet saws already, what's a few more bucks to add the safety feature? Whereas small contractors are often using small jobsite saws that are only a few hundred dollars. Slap another few hundred dollars for the safety feature and suddenly a new contractor has to pony up a lot more cash to get in the game. That's not including the fact that many jobsite carpenters and contractors use miter saws too, which if not used safely are just as dangerous. There's no safety mechanism for miter saws (at least not yet). I'm all for added safety. I seriously am, but we are already short a massive amount of carpenters and contractors right now, will this cause even more to reconsider going into those trades due to the added cost of getting started? Of course, it could have the opposite effect and encourage more to get into it due to knowing the risk is not as high as it used to be.

Did you pick up on the fact that the patent that SawStop has "Dedicated to the public" is 9,724,840, which is a patent that has already expired and is in the public domain. That announcement was done for PR purposes and is BS.

When using a Saw Stop, you can test your treated lumber by putting it against the blade while the motor is stopped. If it is constructive, you can disable the safety trigger.

Originally other makers didn’t want the technology because they felt it would create a legal issue where previous saws they made could be considered unsafe in a lawsuit

The patent they are releasing is useless until the other patents expire.

Hats off to you and your attitude about safety. I had a big argument with one of your RU-vid competitors about this. He thought that people should have a the choice to buy a less expensive table saw and that safety was just a matter of being careful. I've only used a SawStop table saw and I'd never use anything else. My father was an orthopedist so you can guess where I'm coming from. A family friend's son was depressed and committed suicide on a table saw. A friend of mine lost 1.5 digits which the doctors were able to re-attach, of course never quite the same. So I think requiring this technology is a great step forward. Anyone not willing to pay the extra cost is IMHO foolish.

Let's see. SawStop sued Bosch over their better blade retraction system that didn't destroy your blade. Grizzly reported during the government hearings they tried to license SawStop technology but their request was denied. Also, saw manufactures said it would take 3-5 years to incorporate the technology and it would liklely price some saws out of the market. Gee, thanks SawStop.

I have a $10,000 missing thumb. Wish I had a SawStop!

It would be interesting to know numbers of injuries and how they occurred. Such as was the saw self made like a couple of the really dangerous ones featured in this video. Also was the blade cover and riving knife fitted, and all safety features used when an injury occurred. It’s all very well throwing injury numbers out but the facts and evidence should be a huge factor in this too. Also do more injuries happen with a certain brand of saw from one to another. Granted injuries happen, a saw blade is a very scary thing especially if you don’t respect it and become complacent when using it.

I honestly think that HSAs and FSAs should cover SawStop cartridges/provide a subsidy to buying a saw with SawStop technology.

I Live in México, and a lot of woodworkers have a DIY saw, It is amazing that you can have the safe mechanism on a table saw.

Congratulations and hats off to you Dave for making a video of this with a more complete story and an even handed one, unlike another youtuber who I won't name.

As I remember, Bosch came out with a version that was essentially a disc brake. Nothing was damaged. Saw Stop filed for patent infringement, or something like that, and won. Bosch had to stop selling saws with that technology. I have not heard of any other manufacturer making table saws that does what a Saw Stop can do since then.

I love my SawStop saw. I still pause each time to be sure that I don't accidently kick off the brake since it costs alot to replace brake and blade.

The fear of down time and $150 for new hardware keeps my healthy sense of fear going.

Our local community college had an entire wood shop of Powermatic tools. The community college switched over to a shop full of SawStop tools. I personally thought that was a great idea since most of the students were 17 to 22 years of age. I have been using a Craftsman radial arm saw and a Shop Smith for over twenty-five years. I always keep the blade guards in place, know where my fingers are, and do a thorough maintenance/alignment service once a year. The only time I remove my saw guard on the Shop Smith is when I using a dado blade. Thank you for taking time to make your video.

I have an older Powermatic 66 cabinet saw. I'd would be happy if I could just retrofit a riving knife on it.

I'm in UK so not able to buy sawstop. But now have a festool tks 80 which is amazing. Good power for what I need. It still scares the hell out of me though! The technology should be available to all.

I bought a SS 5 years ago as a retirement present to myself, and to replace a Pm64 (which a son now uses). The construction on the SS is much better. I wanted the safety features and the 3hp motor. I've never had a tablesaw injury, but I think the SS has actually made me more conscious of what I am doing, mainly because I'm too cheap to want to replace the safety cartridge! I never regretted the $$ spent on the SS.

I owe a SawStop for over 3 years, I triggered the brake twice until now with no injuries, thanks God, I’m glad I purchased this table saw. Now I’m ready to move to the real industrial sliding table saws and I’m looking at Altendorf or Felder. The Altendorf safety feature cost $20000, yes you heard that right the safety feature of an Altendorf which is an option to add on to the saw cost $20000, but it triggers the safety every time your hand or fingers get close to the blade by 1” 1/2, so you never can actually get in contact with the blade. The Felder safety feature costs $7500, but this like Sawstop triggers the safety only on contact with the blade, minor injuries. Even with the price tag I’m kinda leaning towards Altendorf. I value my fingers more than any amount of money.

I only got into woodworking on retirement so I had no experience to fall back on. Everything is very expensive in Australia, however, I thought the extra $1000 for a SawStop vs a DeWalt was well worth the investment regarding safety. Will I miss that $1000 on my deathbed, I think not. Regarding complacence if you have a safety feature to save you is reflective on the person. I would think that the number of people that would change their table saw behaviour with a SawStop vs another brand is minimal. I always practice my cut prior to turning it on. The enemy is repetition as one becomes less engaged in the process. I was an Air Traffic Controller for over 40 years and the major cause in the majority of incidents caused by ATC was repetition and a lack of engagement in the process. A welcome outcome for safety.

Great question about having the safety feature and becoming complacent. Like you, I would love to have one but even with the safety feature I would still be totally cautious because I have a very healthy respect for the multiple injuries possible. I think anyone who becomes complacent just because they have a SawStop doesn't understand the range of potential injuries from the table saw and will probably not practice correct safety procedures. This is a personal flaw not an issue with the tool. Safer is always better so great that Festool is helping get the technology widely used. The higher price will be a natural start but I'm sure as the technology grows among multiple companies, the price will come down. This was a great story.

I've done wood working at home with table saws for some 30 years. I've built several chests of drawers, and other such projects. I've always had a good respect for the dangers that a table saw exposed me to, and would never even use it if I was tired or not feeling at my best. Getting cut by the blade is not the worst way that a table saw can injure you, as anyone who has seen kickback will know. I once had a 2x4 I was re-sawing kick back. If flew past me and put a hole in the wall behind me, like it had been fired from a large gun! I never stood directly behind anything I was cutting for fear of kickback, and I always used a push stick, or at least handled work some distance from the blade! I can see where you need to work on a small piece of wood where one would be tempted to hold the work close to the saw, but the table saw is probably the WRONG TOOL for such work. There once should use a slower scroll saw, or a band saw, or even a hand held fret or coping saw. Would I buy a SawStop today, if I was in the market for a new saw? In reality, they are not THAT much more expensive than other name brand saws, AND they are rather well made. Would having the extra safety feature make me less careful? I hope not. I don't think I'd want to find out just how good that feature really is! I also wonder, how one would react when the explosive charge in the blade retract fires. It must be quite LOUD and SCARY! As to why the SawStop system wasn't adopted, you can thank the lawyers. If a company started selling SawStop equipped saws they could be seen as ADMITTING that they KNEW their previous products were dangerously defective, and they could then be sued for any accidents that happened on their older saws. Their legal teams probably told them to forget the idea!

IMO, the single most important safety feature on a table saw of any type is the riving knife. A failure to correctly apply this feature is one of the prime causes of a hand being drawn into a blade as a result of kickback. Closely related is proper set up of the saw for parallelism, which is often neglected. Excess blade height is another dangerous operator error. Another similar cause of accidents is attempting to cut freehand. People just do not understand or respect the forces involved. Operator error is probably the biggest ultimate cause of mishaps.

I bought a Jobsite from Sawstop about 5 years ago after a near miss on my old table saw. I had one incident where the brake engaged (wet wood) and I must say it was impressive. Just set up my new Sawstop PCS last week. I feel it is worth every penny. I don't feel that I am any less cautious with these saws than one without the Sawstop technology - they still scare the sh** out of me with every use.

I’ve had 3 digits suffer minor lacerations due to poorly designed guards, sawstops release of their patent is greatly appreciated, I’ll be in for modifications to my equipment when the release becomes officially available. I’m in my seventies and still have all my fingers and toes and intend to keep it that way.

I’ve owned my SawStop for ten years and it has been a joy to use. It’s one of the highest quality saws on the market and I know it will be there if I make a momentary mistake. Pay no attention to the nay sayers, I’ll take quality and safety and they can sort their fingers in the ER.

I love my SawStop PCS. Worth every penny. I bought it after losing a big chunk of one finger on my old delta. First accident in 30 years. The ER staff told me I was the third table saw accident for them that day.

It should be done on router tables, jointers, band saws, etc

I belong to a "maker space" that has nearly every woodwork power tool and many large table-sized tools. One of them is a $40,000 digitally-controlled table saw. Hopefully the owner of the maker space will upgrade the table saw's mechanism to a SawStop style safety system once retrofits become available.

I’m not holding my breath. Sawstop sued Bosch a few years ago (before they got bought out) to prevent them from bringing a better system to the us market because the sawstop portable lineup is horrible. I’m a professional finish carpenter, and I use a tablesaw everyday. I have used both sawstop portable offerings extensively and both have their issues. I think the CST is better then the full size saw, but not impressed enough with either one to keep them. I run a DeWalt 10” saw with some aftermarket accessories installed and a portable outfeed table that I built. I’ve had the saw for many years and never injured myself. I have a big 1980s USA made delta unisaw in my cabinet shop and it is far superior to the sawstop offerings in my opinion with a few accessories. The ICS line might give my delta a run, but I’ve never used one.

Also, let’s keep things in perspective. Table saw injuries accounted for 40-50k injuries while ladder injuries were around 164,000.

I have a Sawstop. Have set it off twice. I have been a woodworker for decades. Glad the technology is going mainstream.

I think that it’s a fabulous technology, and like seat belts it should be mandatory in all new table saws!

Wow.Awesome. thank you. So if a safety law is making these kinds of patents public, how can we do it with medications under patent? Do people still die because they can't afford the treatment? Or needlessly suffer? How broad, or how far reaching can this new law be that's planned to go into effect affect different industries? Good video thank you.

I always count my fingers before and after using any saw ;)

Sawstop started out with a "Module." They were adding this Module to the Delta Unisaws and only the unisaw. But the problem was that once triggered, the event would be so violent that the saw would be completely out of alignment and the saw would need to go back to sawstop to be aligned and a new Module installed. That meant $$ for shipping and more importantly, Down Time. Sawstop tried to reason with the public saying, if it is triggered, it saved a serious injury. Which would have left even more down time to the worker, not the saw. A lot of people couldn't accept that their saw would be down and after a bunch of write up in magazines, sawstop disappeared. Then they came out with their own saw, based on the delta unisaw, but more robust to handle the violent impact of the Module. This isn't what I've heard. I was reading up on them from the beginning. Sawstop also teased us with the idea of a wormdrive skilsaw with a Module to help construction framers. I thought that would be something, but probably not very popular because it would be heavy.

I tend to lean toward your father's point because people are usually only looking at one aspect of the saw and the safety feature. There's been a very clever veil pulled over everyone's eyes, they've slowly been conditioned on youtube to think that the sawstop is the only safe saw and you MUST have it to be safe as a hobbyist / small woodworker / maker. They've marketed well in this sector and slowly but surely everyone has one now and they all preach about how amazing it is. BUT! They totally disregard other extremely dangerous hazards like kickback. The sawstop will not prevent kickback, which is a LOT more common than amputation and kickback results in more injuries and deaths than fingers being cut off. Of course it's extremely and every injury should be preventable, but people think this saw will save them, so they put their guard down and become complacent, before you know it, you've got a kickback in play when you start making riskier cuts. Thing is, while it's a proven system that works, it still is prone to malfunction and that 1 time you take a risk and make a cut too close to the blade, nick your finger, the trigger doesn't go off, there goes your finger. We shouldn't trust it 100% I am still weary of it even knowing it may help save my fingers. I've seen cartidges not trigger, I've seen them malfunction where they trigger for no reason or if it was moist in the shop and there's sawdust on the arbor and it kicks off. It's not 100% fool proof or guaranteed it's going to work every-time. One other note, we overlook how dangerous other tools in the shop are. The jointer, planer, router and handheld and at the router table, drill press, miter saw, angle grinder, dremel, lathe, etc. None of these tools have this type of safety feature and many of them will do equal amounts of damage to our hands and fingers. What do we do with those tools? We try to make sure we're safe and take special precautions. The same we should do with the table saw. I am all for the technology and do wish it was more widely available but we also need to recognize it's not unicorn gold. It's not going to solve every hazard at the table saw. Also I feel like the Bosch Reaxx was a WAY better implementation. It dropped the blade in a similar fashion, but it didn't destroy the blade and the proprietary cartridge. If it was triggered you'd just have to buy the replacement cart and get back to work.

If anything my Sawstop has made me even more aware of safety at my other table saws. I tend to go out of my way and even over the top to make cuts even safer.

Maybe Festool could do the same thing with their Domino patents.

I have had a SawStop for 10-years and have had a couple of triggers. In both cases, the saw blade was salvageable. It is a quality saw with a safety.

The use of guards was a big safety issue when I was working. Some operations can't be done with a guard and there is a lot of time lost installing and removing guards. Most guards were safely stored away until OSHA became powerful. It seems like this technology will be good for amateurs and pros alike.

Long time Saw Stop owner here. The technology works great, I am very aware of the cost of a mistake. Baseless concern.

The complacency argument is specious and disingenuous. The CPSC commission will require A safety technology, not a specific technology.

I agree, seeing this in a school shop it absolutely saved a finger(s). I am paranoid/aware when running my table saws. However I dont see Sawstop just giving patents away.

The complacency argument is ridiculous. That’s like saying nothing should ever be made safer because people would become complacent. Sawstop gives me an increased level of confidence, not complacency.

When I started woodworking at 40, I bought the sawstop because I make mistakes. I promise, I have a healthy respect for my saw. I’ve two activations, both were not because I touched the blade. Although it cost me replacement blades and brakes, I am glad I have it and know the system works. Also, I understand the attempted analogy concerning sports and I don’t think it’s wrong. When I played some hockey, the more pads I had on, the more aggressive I was. However, the analogy, for me, fails because even though I wore more pads, at no time did I think I was going to lose an appendage in any given game. Love my sawstop!!

The fact you have to buy a new blade and a explody braky thing in case of accident, might make a lot more people more careful when working.

American guy: "The problem is the cost" Chinese guy: "Hold my beer"

The thing about counterintuitive ideas like “getting safety technology is less safe because you are no longer as afraid” is that counterintuitive ideas are usually wrong. They are counterintuitive for a reason.

Right now my main saw is a Makita, which I bought because I liked its accuracy and portability. I also have several Shopsmiths which I rarely use for their table saw function. If I ever get to a point of where my woodworking is more frequent, I'll probably get a SawStop ! Accidents in the shop can happen in a split second. Best prevention is to always consider safety ! If you don't feel comfortable using your saw for a certain cut or setup,...DON"T Do it !

so this will be like those law mowers that can't cut in reverse unless you get the professional version?

I can see there is some amount of merit in the argument that if people think something is safe they may take more risks, but I also get the feeling that the group of people most likely to throw caution to the winds and do stuff that would otherwise be reckless if they thought some safety feature was protecting them has a pretty good overlap with the group of people who would be most at risk using devices without that safety features.

I think many companies were afraid of lawsuits because of saw stop. Everyone knows table saws are dangerous so you can’t really sue for losing a finger or hand unless the saw was defective. But if you have a safety feature to protect you, unless it works totally and 100% of the time they will be liable for any injury. I am a woodworker and meet Steve in 2000 at the Atlanta IWF and was excited to hear about Saw Stop and was hopeful that future saw would offer his or similar safety features. Unfortunately no manufacturer bought his product and he was forced to build his own saws to see his safety feature utilized. Following the product I believe Steve thought the only way companies would license his product was if Congress offered some indemnity like they did for airbags in cars.

I wouldn't drive a car without seatbelts and airbags, ride a bike without a helmet, or use a table saw without a safety brake or some form of system that keeps appendages away from the blade. Using safety gear does not make one more prone to unsafe work habits; rather, it simply gives us a second chance.

Been using a table saw for the past 60 years. Never experienced an injury because my father made it very clear that touching a rotating saw blade would cut off fingers. Simple rule, never touch the blade while saw is turning.

Anything that makes working safer is a plus and should be used. However, just out of curiosity I would love to know all the numbers. What is the percentages of accidents to users? What amount of injuries were purely from ignorance/stupid decissions etc? Also is it any use against kickback?

My safety consciousness doesn’t go down by having a Sawstop - much like I don’t drive recklessly just because I have an airbag.

I had no idea festool owned saw stop. Interesting.

I'm lead carpenter in a production furniture shop for the last ten years. We had a saw stop and got rid of it. The gear assembly to change blade height had to be replaced twice. The blade would drop for weird reasons, throwing metal pieces right at your stomach. Sometimes you would cut through something like a razor in plywood and it wouldn't trigger. When it did trigger it cost $180 overall.

Definitely not hype. And the argument that it leads to complacency when using it is ridiculous. Most people don't want to drop $100 on safety mechanisms (+ cost of new blade as well) either. I bought a new PCS saw last year and haven't had any triggers, but I am very happy to have it. Peace of mind is worth the cost of admission. Accidents will happen, best to try to protect yourself as much as possible. It's like airbags in your car...you hope to never need them and try to avoid using them at all costs, but if you do need them, you are glad they are there. That's safety mechanisms in a nutshell.

I have had a SawStop for 10-years and have had a couple of triggers. In both cases, the saw blade was salvageable. It is a quality saw with a safety. As the manager of the Woodcraft Store in Leesburg, VA told me, the SawStop proves the fact that Taiwanese companies will build as much quality as their customers are willing to pay for. SawStop is willing to pay for the quality.

The first time I bought and powered up my table saw, it's scared the crap out of me. So I learned to respect it. I couldn't justify the purchase of the sauce stop, cuz I only planned on using it a couple of times. So I bought the DeWalt 7491RS, and it has been sitting unused for a few years now. If I end up wanting to use a saw more, and the prices become reasonable, I may reconsider to purchase one. It was also mentioned somewhere, that they are releasing these patents, to be able to kind of hold on to some of their other patents. Whether that's the case or not, I'm not sure.

I agree that having the SawStop may lead to people behaving more carelessly or dangerously. However, the brake technology is still well worth it. You are still far less likely to be seriously injured, even acting more dangerously, if the saw has the brake technology.

I didn’t know Bosch made these as far as full scale production because of patents of saw stop, bowhead was shut down.

When Festool’s parent company bought SawStop several years ago, I hoped they would either stop enforcing the patent or be more open to licensing the technology. (Anyone remember the old Mercedes commercial where they talked about not enforcing a key safety patent? “Some things are too important not to share,” or something like that.)

Hands down, the saw stop is a great idea.

Did I miss mention of the Bosch tech table saw stop and the newest from Eurooe using high speed cameras with blade drop out. no physical brake/ no cartridge

I own a SawStop but I am still very afraid of contacting that spinning blade. And I had one flesh contact activation. It would not have come close to an amputation since only a very tiny tip of the blade broke through the surface of the workpiece. But I was still grateful. And SawStop replaced the cartridge free of charge.

I bought a sawstop because the extra safety was only a few hundred more than an equivalent quality saw. It's been an excellent saw and I'm not seeing myself taking more risk because the replacement brake is expensive.

Saw Stop was smart, they also built a very good table saw, one of the best on the market.

I like the technology and think it's great to have the choice to buy a saw that has it. As long as it's a consumer choice and not a mandate by some governing body. Taking care of your own personal responsibility is the best safety device

How many fingers have been saved vs how many fingers have been lost on a Saw Stop saw. Safety complacency is so small a risk that it is worth the safety benefit of having the safety equipment.

People complained about the increases cost of putting seat belts in cars and resisted using them. Then people complained about the increased cost of adding air bags in cars. But, we got used to the increased cost fairly quickly and the number of injuries and lives saved has easily paid for the safety features. Now, we are talking about a difference here in that a $100 table saw will likely be a $200 to $300 saw with the new technology. But, companies will figure out ways to make it work and competition will ensure that prices come down.