Thread: Festool bought SawStop

where would the blade go in a handheld saw, into your forearm just like the kickback when the blade binds. save your finger and stab your forearm, though hopefully the blade won't be spinning. Not a practical application for the technology. And I don't see how Festool would benefit by applying it to their plunge cut tracksaws which are much safer than a typical circ saw anyway. Though I'm sure they'd be happy for you to fork out for one of their expensive blades plus a new brake cartridge every time you get a false trigger cutting treated pine or hit an embedded staple.

Christ, the negativity on this forum is unreal.





These things happen. I was at the hospital last year (gallstones!) and an old bloke was next to me. Must have been 80. He'd cut his hand right open on a circular saw. It was late. What this bloke was doing at 11pm in the shed... who knows, but there we were.

On the Festool TS55, the saw blade lifts and retracts. I came down the studio and had another look at it and how it might work. I see absolutely no issue whatsoever in modifying the handle to incorporate a mini-sawstop aluminium comb-stopper and a release that lets the blade flick back up.

If you are going to do nails and staples, turn the function off. Your choice.

But I would guarantee that if an employer had the choice of forcing his chippies to use this kind of thing, or be tied up in legal BS or compo (or added contributory costs), then the choice is obvious. If you walk onto the site with your own tools, then obviously its different. Its like tagging now. Everyone hates it, but it reduces costs and idiots.

Clearly there are issues with stuff being flogged, but that would disappear with RFID and mandatory checkins.

As I said 500:1 - Absolutely every dude with a shed has a circ saw. If they want a $56 KMart special, let them at it. But Her Huggs will ask for you to buy the $350 safe one. Guaranteed.

What was Ivan thinking .... the poor bloke has sliced open his leg and he just carries on filming waiting for another bloke to run in and offer assistance. That is why I choose not to work with the You Tube generation.

The "negativity" here is just critical thinking.

It's all well and good to say "Hey, I've got this idea that I think is great", but if you submit your concept to the R&D guys and the engineers, their job is going to be precisely what we're doing; poke as many holes in it as possible and see if it still holds water.

Another thing to consider is how much they will have to reinforce the casing to absorb the shock without being destroyed.

I'm thinking more of the physics involved and the practicality of implementing it. SawStop is a good thing on a table saw, where you push material into a fixed blade and it uses the rotational force to retract the blade under the table. The forces are transferred into 150kg plus of table saw and the floor and foundation. But a handheld saw, the vast majority of accidents are caused by kickback. The blade is driven directly from the motor shaft which is in a fixed position to the handles. When the blade grabs, that rotational force goes into throwing the saw motor forward, and you with it.

On a SS table saw the tooth speed is about 5cm per ms. Even with the brake, it would still cause a significant injury in the 5ms it takes to stop it. The blade retraction away from the user is crucial to injury minimisation. But on a handheld circular saw there is no blade retraction, only the spring loaded guard. SawStop works on skin contact, the kickback can cause an injury before it brakes. And the brake would cause a second torque reaction.

A plunge saw is a different scenario. It is hinged at the rear of the baseplate, the guard is fixed to the baseplate and the track sits on top of the material being cut. They have a riving knife which puts something between you and the blade. They are orders of magnitude safer. But remember that the torque reaction from a stopped blade will twist the motor forward, on a rear hinged saw that will push the blade into the cut which is the opposite to what you want. This would make the blade brake somewhat counter productive.

I look at SawStop as a specific solution. It has a place on table saws, and could conceivably be used on radial arm saws and possibly SCMS. But it's not a solution to every problem.

Time will tell. We live in litigious times.

I love my Sawstop (the original Industrial version) because it is a great saw, on a par with a Powermatic IMHO. Plus the safety feature.

Reality is that some people get lucky (some after no hard work) and I think the SS sits there somewhere. Why TS manufacturers didn't take the offer up in 2002 or whenever is beyond me.

And if someone could come up with like technology on my drop saws (where kick-back is frequent), I'd pitch in my $.

Seriously, I have a good many saws in my shed (too many perhaps), 3 circ saws, 2 bandsaws, 2 drop saws, 2 TSs, 2 panel saws. And you know what? I feel most secure when using the Sawstop. The build quality is great - but always in the back of my mind is the safety feature. I have handfuls of jigs for my other saws to be safe, but the SS takes some topping.

Griggio are now selling the Unica Safe panel saw, which rumour has it was developed with SawStop. Might be the first licensing deal. But in the Griggio it doesn't damage the blade, after a blade drop you just reset the saw and continue working. To have any traction in the commercial sector, that's how it needs to be. Minimal downtime and no blade damage. But it might be a bit late when there are beam saws like the Fimal concept 350 for similar money.

You would think that if Saw Stop had a hand in further developing the tech so the blade was not destroyed, they would offer it on their new saws and maybe as an upgrafe on existing saws?

Originally Posted by richmond68

Griggio are now selling the Unica Safe panel saw, which rumour has it was developed with SawStop. Might be the first licensing deal. But in the Griggio it doesn't damage the blade, after a blade drop you just reset the saw and continue working. To have any traction in the commercial sector, that's how it needs to be. Minimal downtime and no blade damage. But it might be a bit late when there are beam saws like the Fimal concept 350 for similar money.

sounds more like a variant of the Bosch mechanism than SawStops

Yes, the Griggio works like the Bosch Reaxx with co2 cartridges on both main blade and scribe blade. But they have licences from SawStop to be able to sell them, I assume they may also be licensing Bosch patents for Reaxx. So it's some progress, albeit on a panel saw in the 40k plus range.

After the explosive gas firing of that Greggio Unica, I'd say you'll be replacing more than the cartridges!

BBBOOOMMM!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fKDllY2-NOc

Big saw (450mm blade) means a bigger bang for your buck

From the Griggio spec sheet: Protruding from the working table with blade Ø 400 mm completely down at mm 25

So if you have a 400mm blade, you can't lower it completely below the table. I wonder how that would work if the system triggers

Woodpixel, those videos are horrific. I will be dialling up my workshop safety after watching them.

I think only good things can come from Festool buying SawStop.