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Table saw safety rules in the news

August 30, 2011 By

 

Bob Lang, Executive Editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine, was quoted in yesterday’s USA Today newspaper. He advocates more education for woodworkers about new blade guards, and opposes mandatory technology such as SawStop.

Why do table saw injuries happen?

For the record: I totally agree with Lang’s position, for the following reasons:

  • Many, and possibly most injuries in the shop, happen because the person using the table saw removed the blade guard for being “inconvenient”. It is a given that the guard must be removed to make certain cuts; but it also should (must) be replaced.
  • The person using the table saw does not know how to use the machine properly; this includes proper knowledge of situations that could result in finger amputation, for example.
  • Or the worker is simply too tired, and therefore not paying attention to the procedure at hand.

My position

I have stated in the past that I would be willing to retrofit my table saw with a safety feature that is reasonably priced. What is this price? I would guesstimate in the neighborhood of $100 to $150. Lang estimates that technology such as SawStop will likely increase the cost of a saw by as much as 40%.

I hope common sense prevails

I hope that The Power Tool Institute and UL (Underwriter Laboratories) will develop guidelines that will eventually be adopted by CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

Should any guidelines be mandatory? I believe that voluntary guidelines are best, until new and competing technologies to SawStop are developed and implemented commercially. Whirlwind is one such technology I have written about in the past. This will likely contribute to driving down the cost of any technology implementation. Meanwhile, better education is likely to result in significant reduction in injuries at our table saws.

What do you think?

Let me know what you think about this issue, in the Comments section below, or via e-mail — simply click on my signature line below.
 

— Al Navas

 

Filed Under: Blog, Safety, Vacuum Press Tagged With: , , , ,

Recent news on table saw safety

August 24, 2011 By

 

In case you missed it, I highlight Bob Lang’s recent article New CPSC Report: Human Factors in Table Saw Safety.

Bob is the Executive Editor at Popular Woodworking Magazine. He has reported extensively on table saw safety, and also has analyzed data in ways much better than most. I suggest you read all his previous articles on this topic.

In Lang’s opinion, the most import point of the recent CPSC Report is this:

“…Even the best guard can’t protect you if you let your attention lapse and put your hand under the guard as you’re pushing the stock into the blade…”

You can read earlier reports I have written on this topic at this link.

 

— Al Navas

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Safety, Table saw Tagged With: , ,

Recent developments on table saw safety

May 8, 2011 By

Background on previous table saw safety articles

This is an update to two previous posts I have made on David Butler, the inventor of new table saw safety technology. In case you missed them, the links to the articles are:

— Update from the inventor of new table saw safety technology, and
— Emerging technology for table saw safety

As I was not aware of any recent buzz about this important topic, I contacted David and asked him if he had anything new he could share with me, and that I could highlight on this blog. He replied:

Yes, we expect to have a very exciting product update with video coming to www.whirlwindtool.com in the next 3-4 weeks as soon as we get our new patents filed. Meanwhile, we were invited to open a two day public meeting on Table Saw Safety with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington on 03-01-2011. The SawStop folks and the Power Tool Institute representatives were also invited and attached here are the CPSC logs of the three sessions. I gave a PowerPoint presentation on Whirlwind and there was a good deal of discussion and Whirlwind Q&A following… If there is interest, I can send you a copy of my presentation.

Needless to say, I was looking forward to his Powerpoint presentation, which he provided and I have converted into a movie, to share with everyone here. It is a Sandal Woods Exclusive! I include the presentation below.

Exclusive: Whirlwind Powerpoint presentation to CPSC

Presentation by David Butler
before CPSC, march 11, 2011
Health and Safety Systems for Table Saws

 

 

PDF Attachments from the CPSC meetings

I attach the PDF documents/logs of the meetings in March 2011 — click on the links, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission will open in a window. The following are important documents to anyone who has, or is likely to have a table saw:

  1. March 1 2011 – CPSC meeting with David Butler, Whirlwind Tool Company — click the link to open PDF file
  2. March 1 2011 – meeting – CPSC meeting with Stephen Gass, SawStop — click the link to open PDF file
  3. March 2 2011 – meeting – CPSC meeting with representatives of the Power Tool Institue (PTI) — click the link to open PDF file

The following is the Meeting Summary with Butler/Whirlwind:

Mr. Butler presented a slide show about Whirlwind Tool Company’s prototypes for the Whirlwind Health and Safety System for table saws. He explained that it is a multi-tiered system that ideally could be used on both newly produced saws and retrofitted to existing table saws. Mr. Butler noted that the system makes use of a flesh sensing technology to stop the saw blade from injuring the user. The system is also designed to collect and remove saw dust as it is created. Mr. Butler stated that he had patents pending on the technology. Commissioner Adler asked Mr. Butler about the cost of the system to end users, if it should be put into production. Mr. Butler stated that he could not be certain -but he hoped that when produced in large quantities the system’s cost would be below $100. Commissioner Adler also asked questions about the development of the technology and whether Mr. Butler had been in negotiations with table saw manufacturers regarding his technology. Mr. Butler said that he had been contacted by some manufacturers but that he preferred to wait until his patents had been approved. Commissioner Adler also asked if Mr. Butler thought his product would infringe upon any existing patents. Mr. Butler said he was certain it would not. CPSC staffers inquired about the technological differences between his product and other safety devices on the market. Others in the audience asked about whether Mr. Butler thought the technology was going to be easily replicable on a large scale. He said he believed it would. Commissioner Adler thanked Mr. Butler for his time and his presentation.

  1. What are your thoughts about this issue?
  2. Unlike other flesh-sensing technologies, the Whirlwind technology could be used on new table saws, and it could also be retrofitted to existing table saws. Do you like this approach? Personally, I like that it can be retrofitted!
  3. The Whirlwind technology does not appear to infringe on existing technologies, a huge plus for the upcoming Whirlwind patents. Any thoughts?

— Al Navas

Filed Under: Blog, Safety, Table saw, Video

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