How Much Would You Pay to Make Sure You Never Sawed Off a Finger?

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Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨silence7@slrpnk.net⁩ to ⁨nyt_gift_articles@sopuli.xyz⁩

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/30/upshot/table-saws-safety-cost.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hE0.AeIJ.HXaDAEIhYcM7

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ChihuahuaOfDoom@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
If it was a few hundred, sure but SawStops start at $1,000 for a jobsite style table saw which is more than I paid for my big cast iron saw. If I could retrofit that saw that would be great but I don’t see the need to replace it with a unit several times the price on a slim possibility of an accident.

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- grrgyle@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I mean that’s objectively expensive, but a ~thousand to for safety equipment that could save someone’s digit sounds super cheap.
  
  Then there’s just the intangible morale boost working with tools designed with your safety and well-being in mind.
  
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  - Ross_audio@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    This is like saying we should more than double car prices and insist they’re all carbon fibre tubs for safety reasons.
    
    If it moves the product price by such a large margin, you’re only talking about profit motive when trying to exclude products without the parented feature.
    
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  - lightnsfw@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    You can save tour digits just by operating the tool properly.
    
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- tux@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  That’s my problem with this, an entry level table saw from skil or whatever is a couple hundred bucks and lots of beginner woodworkers still have to save up for one. A table saw (IMHO) is kind of a barrier of entry into more serious projects (yes I know there are lots of other ways to make other tools function). If they don’t come down in price then that’s going to suck big time.
  
  Sawstop is an interesting story. They made a great invention, but when no one wanted to license it they started suing companies and pushing for regulation changes, and supposedly have even rejected some companies who have wanted to license their technology (Grizzly). And of course, the infamous Bosch Reaxx lawsuit, where they succeeded in stopping Bosch from importing their version of a safe Table Saw.
  
  Interesting read I found while looking into this more toolguyd.com/companies-allege-sawstop-refused-to-…
  
  And a cool hackaday: hackaday.com/…/ask-hackaday-sawstop-bastion-of-sa…
  
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- silence7@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  The big question: is it cheaper than paying for a small number of very expensive and very destructive accidents.
  
  My gut is probably.
  
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  - Fosheze@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    My dad was a carpenter and cabinet maker for most of his life. Even in retirement he spends most of his time restoring antique wood furniture. In all of that time he has never cut himself with the tablesaw. He has had the table saw kick lumber back at him. He has cut himself with other saws. But the tablesaw is probably one of the least dangerous saws a woodworker works with outside of unpowered hand saws. By forcing saw stop you are jacking up the prices of even cheap tablesaws several times over and forcing more people to use the far more dangerous alternative which is a handheld circular saw.
    
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- downpunxx@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  it all depends on how much you use your saw, if it's not often, then the threat is far less than if you use it all the time. it's a matter or percentages vs risk.
  
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- ikidd@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Their saws are competitive with similiar quality cabinet saws from General. I get what you’re saying about accidents being unlikely if you use your noggin, but they really aren’t much of a price difference. It’s less than retrofitting a sawstop addon to an existing saw.
  
  I’ve gone for decades without cutting a hand off, but I’d pay the little bit extra if I had to replace my tablesaw today.
  
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Today@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
SawStop tried to give away this technology (no upfront costs, 3% royalties) and nome of the major manufacturers would take it.

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- lightnsfw@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  3% royalties is not “giving away”. Now they’re trying to force it by law while also patent trolling to stop manufacturers from making similar systems on their own. They’re not concerned with safety, they’re after profit.
  
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  - Today@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    It’s not, but it’s pretty cheap for potentially life saving technology that you didn’t have to put your own time and money into upfront.
    
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- CptEnder@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Sounds like how Volvo gave the patent for the 3 point seatbelt away too.
  
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BillDaCatt@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
The struggle for people like me is that I currently can’t afford a new saw, and I don’t like the idea that the way Sawstop works is that it ruins the blade in addition to saving your fingers. A cheap trade when it works as intended but not cheap at all when it goes off because you forgot to disable it before cutting some treated lumber.

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inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Not that I don’t want a saw that can prevent a limb loss, it’s just to damn expensive.

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MeDuViNoX@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Like, at least 5$.

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downpunxx@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
sounds like a threat to me, "nice fingers you got there, would be a shame if something were to happen to them"

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- zagaberoo@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  That’s essentially the table saw motto, which is why sawstop is such an amazing piece of technology.
  
  Still for-profit assholes, but they did solve a very real problem that’s always been there.
  
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glitchdx@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Am I wrong for thinking that if you’re at risk of losing a finger to a table saw, you’re using it wrong?

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- QuaternionsRock@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  No, you’re not, but you are wrong if you think anyone is capable of using a tool correctly 100% of the time.
  
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  - guyrocket@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    I suspect none of you own a table saw. As someone who does, some cuts require you to remove guards and safety parts. Even pushing the wood through the blade too quickly can cause kickback and injury. It is very easy to injure yourself when operating a table saw.
    
    I only got injured on a table saw once and it was kickback on a saw I don't own. Not certain, but I think I was not used to the high rotation speed of the blade. Minor injuries but I am very very careful when using my table saw...to the point that I will not use it at all if I think I am too tired.
    
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- silence7@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Problem is that it only takes using it wrong once to lose a finger, and all it takes is a moment of inattention for that to happen.
  
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- guyrocket@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  From the article:
  
  “All it takes” to slice a finger, he said, “is a sneeze or a knot in the wood.”
  
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survivalmachine@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I would pay about $100, considering that’s about my total investment in sleds and featherboards and push sticks. My fingers are never in the path of the blade when it’s moving.

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