Why no saws with flesh detecting except for one?

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So, looking for a table saw and the only safety saw I can find is by "SawStop". After reading up on this a little, I see the guy who invented these is a lawyer and sues any other manufacturer that tries to make a safer table saw.

His patents are expired, so why no new designs on the market?



Bosch had one on the market, but he sued them and Bosch left the market. Now, even though the patents are expired, Bosch hasn't brought their saw back to the US. And the Bosch is being sold in Europe.



Anyone know of any other flesh detecting saws?
 
I'm partial to old school Darwin Award types of machinery... so, no I have no input on flesh detecting saws, in fact I have never heard of that before.
 
I saw (no pun intended) that thread where he talked about his daughter's medical specialty. I agree - I will buy one before I start building this coming spring. But it's nice to have some choices. I guess not?
 
Probably not enough market for more than one manufacturer. IIRC @Astro14 runs one of these.
I have considered one, but not bought it yet. My 30+ year old Delta soldiers on.

My daughter, a hand surgeon, in a big city, sees several “tablesaws” a week. Sometimes, she can re-attach severed digits, or repair hands mangled by a saw, and sometimes, the best she can do is stabilize what is left.

She would really like it if I got a SawStop. We’ve talked about it.
 

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) still has not issued a final ruling that could hugely affect the portable table saw market.

Basically, they have been working to determine whether every table saw must feature SawStop-like safety tech – active injury mitigation involving flesh detection and blade brake tech.

While the US CPSC has not yet issued a final rule on the matter, they also haven’t abandoned it; the rulemaking has been in the “final rule stage” for the past 4 years.

The CPSC has provided few updates over the past few years, with the most recent one stating that their staff intends to submit a final rule briefing package to the Commission by the end of September 2023.
 
I have considered one, but not bought it yet. My 30+ year old Delta soldiers on.

My daughter, a hand surgeon, in a big city, sees several “tablesaws” a week. Sometimes, she can re-attach severed digits, or repair hands mangled by a saw, and sometimes, the best she can do is stabilize what is left.

She would really like it if I got a SawStop. We’ve talked about it.
About 50 years ago my older brother heard a scream, ran next door and pulled our neighbor off his table saw. He pulled his shirt off and wrapped Mr. Musso's hand in it, while screaming for my Dad. They helped him into my Dad's '71 Super Beetle; my Dad sped off to Kaiser, about 2 miles away, running every red light. They took one look, packed his hand in ice and rushed him to Stanford.

My brother cleaned up Mr. Musso's garage. And the Super Beetle... You can't imagine.

Numerous surgeries later, Tony had a thumb and finger. They grafted bone and skin to build it. He was on the HP bowling team; of course that was over. One day my Mom handed him a golf club and a couple of balls. My Dad took him to the driving range and then the course.

It ain't no joke. Perhaps listen to your wise daughter.
 
So, looking for a table saw and the only safety saw I can find is by "SawStop". After reading up on this a little, I see the guy who invented these is a lawyer and sues any other manufacturer that tries to make a safer table saw.

His patents are expired, so why no new designs on the market?



Bosch had one on the market, but he sued them and Bosch left the market. Now, even though the patents are expired, Bosch hasn't brought their saw back to the US. And the Bosch is being sold in Europe.



Anyone know of any other flesh detecting saws?
Generally no one wants to pay an additional $100 for their saw is what it comes down to.
 
Generally no one wants to pay an additional $100 for their saw is what it comes down to.
Yeah, my buddy almost chopped off his big toe running his chain saw, now he wears $100+ saw boots... If you are doing lots of cabinet/furniture making and already spent $5-10k+ on your shop, another $100 its not a bad investment!
That said, I don't have one on my table saw, don't really use it enough and the saw isn't worth putting one of those on. I use lots of push sticks and seem not to do much fiddly stuff, often I'm just ripping long boards and never get within 3' of the blade... Just cut half way and flip it and do the other half..
 
I saw a demonstration video of a SawStop where somebody pushed a hot dog (to simulate a finger) into the spinning saw blade, and BAM! It retracted in the blink of an eye, and there was just a tiny nick on the hot dog. :oops:
 
A bit late once flesh is detected, no?
Actually you'd be surprised at how effective they are. I saw a demonstration when they first came out. Sawing through wood like butter, but didn't even nick a hot dog! It was like BAM! blade stopped and dropped.
At the very least you might get a cut cut that would require a bandaid, much better than the alternative.

A little late for an aging Uncle of mine. Dropped something on the floor, and used the still running tablesaw to help him get back up.
 
My fingers are saw-blade-detecting!
My dad thought his were too. You can't begin to react fast enough if something happens. GONE. He cut off right index finger between first and second joint. Couldn't be re-attached and surgeon said a stub is worse than gone so he took off the rest to the knuckle. He learned to live with it okay.
 
Watch videos on them. No way is anyone going to do what that saw does. My fingers/hands/arms are worth double the cost of a saw to have that protection, if not more. It's too bad the inventor was a lawyer instead of someone who would have worked with and licensed it so it's more readily available.
 
My dad thought his were too. You can't begin to react fast enough if something happens. GONE. He cut off right index finger between first and second joint. Couldn't be re-attached and surgeon said a stub is worse than gone so he took off the rest to the knuckle. He learned to live with it okay.
Another facetious remark misunderstood. To put you at ease, I still have all my appendages attached to my body.
 
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