nhieger

I am looking forward to the airing of this series, but I think wardrobe needs to find Tommy a plaid shirt.

While I understand and agree with the need to be responsible, mistakes and poor judgment do happen. I work at a high school and we are considering a new table saw, I can’t imagine how any company or shop could justify anything but a SawStop saw today.

As for the government getting involved, it is sad, but one has only to look at the auto industry to see how safety design and equipment had to ultimately be mandated before it became commonplace in today’s cars. Everything from seatbelts to airbags were legislated before they became available to all.

With all the potential for injuries and the subsequent law suits, why has the industry not stepped up to provide the protection technology that is now available to their new equipment?

Perhaps soon the economy of scale will work in our favor, either because of government mandates or when a company gives us the option of purchasing a saw with the new safety features or one without them, but with an added insurance surcharge that costs that same as the safer model. Yes the addition of the SawStop safety features will increase price, but it will be worth it and if it gets applied to all new saws the additional cost will be affordable

Having said all that, I have to admit to rebuilding an old Unisaw to use until I can afford a SawStop of my own.

I am more of a machinist and enjoy the set up, making fixtures and jigs as much as the project. I also think I may get more bang for my machine dollar than I do form high quality specialized hand tools. My favorite machine tools are old made in the USA heavy iron that I enjoy bringing back to life and using. All that being said it’s hard to beat the feel of a well tuned quality hand plane in action.