bobwoodman

I am troubled by the fact that our country has gotten to the point that litigation drives everything. On the other hand, a technology, like sawstop was made available and offered to the saw manufacturers who all declined to license it. I would surmise that there were a number of reasons, some of which were probably driven by a desire to minimize litigation opportunities for injured parties. If the saw companies licensed the technology on some but not all machines, or offerred it as an option, there would be an even stronger case to present to juries. Then there is the government regulation side of things. In general, since Sawstop has been successful, we are now in a world where corporate and academic institutions have the ability to purchase sawstop and individuals also have a choice. I don't think we should regulate everything but I would think that any corporate or educational facility would make a better economic decision in purchasing saw stop technology. As for individuals, If a person has insurance, and chooses not to purchase sawstop, that should remain his decision. Care and caution should always be observed irrespective of technology. In the current market, although I am not in favor of mass regulation, we may be in a situation where it is needed to provide the other manufacturers with a legal out so that they can "offer sawstop type technology" on some of their product line but not all and not all the time.

It is analogous, I believe, to the cell phone manufacturers not using plastic in the cases which blocks radiation because they are afraid that this will provide lawyers with evidence that manufacturers believe or are aware of the fact that radiation from cell phones is dangerous. They need to stick to the party line which is that the radiation causes no ill effects. If this means they cannot take a chance and offer radiation proof plastic just in case they are wrong, then they will not offer it.

If noise and space are issues, is there a way to prepare some of your parts so that you can use only a router and handtools in preparation of the tenons?