Thread: ShortCuts Table saw Survey

Originally Posted by Ray153

Interesting email I got from Fine Woodworking - videos, project plans, how-to articles, magazines, and books about a product that is in development called Whirlwind.

According to the Youtube video from the developer, David Butler, when triggered, the saw will stop in around 1/8th of a second, electronically.

The whirlwind does look like a cheaper alternative to sawstop in situations where the fitting of their custon guard can be assured.

But a hell of a lot can still happen in 1/8 sec (including cutting ones fingers off) so these units activate when part of the human body gets within 25 mm of the blade.

Just like the sawstop I'd like to see the slipping (ie fast moving) pig knuckle test.

Considering the momentum of the spinning blade and pulleys, when Sawstop activates there is the instant transfer of all that energy into deformation of the blade/aluminium block and vibration of the trunnion, mountings, table and the loud noise.

The impact loading of those components might shorten their fatigue life. If the blade had been repaired after a dead stop, the regular vibration/stress during normal cutting over the next few years might cause cracking or worse. This is probably not the operating environment which blade manufacturers would design and test their products for.

That could make for an interesting court battle over liability for injuries caused by a blade disintegrating during a cut!. It also raises doubts about risk and liability if a SawStop was to be retrofitted to a basic table saw which was not designed to withstand this punishment.

Maybe in an industrial situation SawStop could be a valuable component of a safe working system, as a last line of defence. Since some degree of injury seems possible with SawStop, this would not be acceptable as the only protective measure, and penalties for the employer could result.

A commonly used way of protecting factory workers involves close fitting guards with an electrical interlock. This prevents the machine from operating until the guard is in place. This type of system prevents all injuries (assuming correct adjustment and maintenance) and is much cheaper than SawStop.

An interlock system could be applied to a table saw fitted with a sliding guard such as the Brett Guard ( see my earlier post for the DIY version).

Rob