By now you've probably heard of the SawStop, a table saw that slams to a halt if your finger comes in contact with the blade, saving you a digit.
Well, here's a video of SawStop inventor Steve Gass running his finger into it to prove it's safe.
I don't care how safe it is, I have way too many hardwired synapses to overcome to force my finger into a rotating table saw blade. This reminds me of the first guy who ever jumped out of a plane with a parachute--I don't know who that guy is, and I'm sure they first tested the parachute out on low cliffs and stuff, but at some point some nutjob was the first guy to throw himself out of an airplane with a sheet strapped to his back. And I think he was f&@#ing crazy.
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I spent all of last year working for a designer fabricating furniture on the SawStop. Fortunately the only time it was ever triggered was when i didn't dry a freshly cleaned saw blade enough. Unfortunately, however, one of the landlords we leased the shop space from removed three of his own digits on his non-sawstop table saw that same year. Just seeing the blood trail from his space to ours as was enough to make me nervous for a couple weeks.
If looking to purchase this saw, safety isn't its only attribute, its also a very precise piece of equipment.