SawStop
Encyclopedia
SawStop is a table saw
manufacturer headquartered in Tualatin, Oregon
, USA. The company was founded in 2005 to sell table saws that feature a patented automatic braking system that stops the saw within milliseconds if its blade comes in contact with the operator's hand or other body part.
to the blade of the saw. This current is continuously monitored. If the saw detects a change in this current (as would occur if a hand or other body part came into contact with the blade) an automatic braking system is activated, forcing an aluminum brake block into the blade. The saw stops within five milliseconds, and angular momentum
lowers the blade into the table. The operator suffers a small nick instead of an amputation or other more serious injury. The design takes advantage of the difference in "electrical capacitance and conductivity" between wood and flesh.
According to SawStop, there are restrictions and limitations:
Activating the braking system often damages one to two teeth on the blade.
as a finger substitute, in spring 2000, Gass conducted the first test with a real finger on himself: he applied Novocain to his left ring finger
, and after two false starts, he place his finger into the teeth of a whirring saw blade. The blade stopped as designed, and although it "hurt like the dickens and bled a lot," his finger remained intact.
SawStop, at the time consisting of "three guys out of a barn in Wilsonville
", demonstrated a prototype in August 2000, at the International Woodworking Machinery and Furniture Supply Fair, a trade show. A series of meetings followed, where in an attempt to license his invention, Gass "negotiated with major players such as Ryobi
, Delta
, Black & Decker
, Emerson
, and Craftsman
"; he followed up on those negotiations with a February 2001 presentation to the Defense Research Industry (a trade group for attorneys representing the power-tool industry). That presentation immediately preceded one from Dan Lanier, Black & Decker's national coordinating counsel; Lanier's presentation gave Gass the impression he was unlikely to succeed in convincing major power tool manufacturers to license SawStop technology.
In July 2001, SawStop was awarded a safety commendation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) for "developing innovative safety technology for power saws intended to prevent finger amputations and other serious injuries." In 2002 Popular Science
named SawStop's technology one of its "100 Best New Innovations."
In January 2002, SawStop appeared to come close to a licensing agreement with Ryobi
, who agreed to terms that involved no up-front fee and a 3% royalty based on the wholesale price of all saws sold with SawStop's technology; the royalty would grow to 8% if most of the industry also licensed the technology. According to Gass, when a typographical error
in the contract had not been resolved after six months of effort by Gass to get Ryobi to sign the proposed deal, Gass gave up on the effort in mid-2002. Some subsequent licensing negotiations were deadlocked when the manufacturers insisted that Gass should "indemnify them against any lawsuit if SawStop malfunctioned", something Gass wouldn't agree to since he would not be manufacturing the saws."
The failure to license it to Ryobi or another manufacturer prompted SawStop to start its own company; over two years later, the company's first saw was produced by a Taiwanese manufacturing plant in November 2004; by 2005 SawStop had grown to "eight people out of a two-story barn Gass built himself."
Citing statistics that show accidents with table and bench saws resulted in 3000 amputations of one or more fingers, SawStop's technology inspired Representative Kevin Joyce to propose the Illinois General Assembly
's 2005 Electrical Saw Safety Act The number of finger or hand amputations has more recently been estimated to be 4000, costing more than $2 billion a year to treat victims.
In June 2006, the CPSC recommended that the U.S. government begin the rulemaking process that could result in mandatory safety standards for table saws.
SawStop has provoked opposition from the Power Tool Institute (PTI), which represents Black & Decker, Hilti
, Hitachi Koki, Makita
, Metabo
, Bosch
, Techtronic Industries
and WMH Tool Group. In April 2008 they told Congress that SawStop's braking system is:
The PTI objects to the licensing necessary due to the "more than 50 patents" related to SawStop's braking system; such costs "would destroy the market for the cheapest, most popular saws, adding $100 or more to the price of consumer models that typically sell for less than $200." In response, their members developed "new plastic guards to shield table saw users from the dangers of a spinning blade" and began selling models with that feature in 2007; as of May 2011, PTI says "its member companies have received no reports of injuries on [the 750,000] table saws with the new guard design."
Table saw
A table saw or sawbench is a woodworking tool consisting of a circular saw blade, mounted on an arbor, that is driven by an electric motor...
manufacturer headquartered in Tualatin, Oregon
Tualatin, Oregon
Tualatin is a city located primarily in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon. A small portion of the city is also located in neighboring Clackamas County. It is a southwestern suburb in the Portland Metropolitan Area that is located south of Tigard...
, USA. The company was founded in 2005 to sell table saws that feature a patented automatic braking system that stops the saw within milliseconds if its blade comes in contact with the operator's hand or other body part.
How it works
SawStop's saws applies a small amount of electric currentElectric current
Electric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium.This charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire...
to the blade of the saw. This current is continuously monitored. If the saw detects a change in this current (as would occur if a hand or other body part came into contact with the blade) an automatic braking system is activated, forcing an aluminum brake block into the blade. The saw stops within five milliseconds, and angular momentum
Angular momentum
In physics, angular momentum, moment of momentum, or rotational momentum is a conserved vector quantity that can be used to describe the overall state of a physical system...
lowers the blade into the table. The operator suffers a small nick instead of an amputation or other more serious injury. The design takes advantage of the difference in "electrical capacitance and conductivity" between wood and flesh.
According to SawStop, there are restrictions and limitations:
- The braking system must be deactivated when cutting very green or wet timber.
- Non-conductive blades or blades with non-conductive hubs or teeth cannot be used.
- The braking system is designed to work with kerfs from 3/32″ to 3/16″; using thinner or thicker kerfs limits the saw's ability to stop the blade after accidental contact, likely resulting in more serious injury.
- It is impractical to retrofit into existing table saws.
Activating the braking system often damages one to two teeth on the blade.
History
Steve Gass, an amateur woodworker with a doctorate in physics who worked as a patent attorney, came up with the idea for SawStop's braking system in 1999. It took Gass two weeks to do the design, and a third week to build a prototype based on a "$200 secondhand table saw." After numerous tests using a hot dogHot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
as a finger substitute, in spring 2000, Gass conducted the first test with a real finger on himself: he applied Novocain to his left ring finger
Ring finger
The ring finger is the fourth digit of the human hand, and the second most ulnar finger, located between the middle finger and the little finger. It is also called digitus medicinalis, the fourth finger, digitus annularis, digitus quartus, or digitus IV in anatomy.- Etymology :According to László A...
, and after two false starts, he place his finger into the teeth of a whirring saw blade. The blade stopped as designed, and although it "hurt like the dickens and bled a lot," his finger remained intact.
SawStop, at the time consisting of "three guys out of a barn in Wilsonville
Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A portion of the northern section of the city is in Washington County. Originally founded as Boones Landing due to the Boones Ferry which crossed the Willamette River at the location, the community became Wilsonville in...
", demonstrated a prototype in August 2000, at the International Woodworking Machinery and Furniture Supply Fair, a trade show. A series of meetings followed, where in an attempt to license his invention, Gass "negotiated with major players such as Ryobi
Ryobi
Ryobi Limited is a manufacturer of components for the automobile, electronics, and telecommunications industries. They also create printing equipment, power tools and builders' hardware....
, Delta
Delta Machinery
Delta Power Equipment Corp. designs, manufactures and distributes power woodworking tools under the Delta Machinery brand.-History:Delta traces its roots to the Delta Specialty Company founded by Herbert Tautz in 1919 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
, Black & Decker
Black & Decker
Black & Decker Corporation is a corporation based in Towson, Maryland, United States, that designs and imports power tools and accessories, hardware and home improvement products, and technology based fastening systems...
, Emerson
Emerson Electric Company
Emerson Electric Company is a major multinational corporation headquartered in Ferguson, Missouri, United States. This Fortune 500 company manufactures products and provides engineering services for a wide range of industrial, commercial, and consumer markets.Emerson is one of the largest...
, and Craftsman
Craftsman (tools)
Craftsman is a line of tools and lawn and garden equipment controlled by Sears Holdings Corporation; the brand is owned by KCD IP, LLC, a special purpose entity created by Sears Holdings for securitization purposes....
"; he followed up on those negotiations with a February 2001 presentation to the Defense Research Industry (a trade group for attorneys representing the power-tool industry). That presentation immediately preceded one from Dan Lanier, Black & Decker's national coordinating counsel; Lanier's presentation gave Gass the impression he was unlikely to succeed in convincing major power tool manufacturers to license SawStop technology.
In July 2001, SawStop was awarded a safety commendation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is an independent agency of the United States government created in 1972 through the Consumer Product Safety Act to protect "against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products." The CPSC is an independent agency that does...
(CPSC) for "developing innovative safety technology for power saws intended to prevent finger amputations and other serious injuries." In 2002 Popular Science
Popular Science
Popular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
named SawStop's technology one of its "100 Best New Innovations."
In January 2002, SawStop appeared to come close to a licensing agreement with Ryobi
Ryobi
Ryobi Limited is a manufacturer of components for the automobile, electronics, and telecommunications industries. They also create printing equipment, power tools and builders' hardware....
, who agreed to terms that involved no up-front fee and a 3% royalty based on the wholesale price of all saws sold with SawStop's technology; the royalty would grow to 8% if most of the industry also licensed the technology. According to Gass, when a typographical error
Typographical error
A typographical error is a mistake made in, originally, the manual type-setting of printed material, or more recently, the typing process. The term includes errors due to mechanical failure or slips of the hand or finger, but usually excludes errors of ignorance, such as spelling errors...
in the contract had not been resolved after six months of effort by Gass to get Ryobi to sign the proposed deal, Gass gave up on the effort in mid-2002. Some subsequent licensing negotiations were deadlocked when the manufacturers insisted that Gass should "indemnify them against any lawsuit if SawStop malfunctioned", something Gass wouldn't agree to since he would not be manufacturing the saws."
The failure to license it to Ryobi or another manufacturer prompted SawStop to start its own company; over two years later, the company's first saw was produced by a Taiwanese manufacturing plant in November 2004; by 2005 SawStop had grown to "eight people out of a two-story barn Gass built himself."
Citing statistics that show accidents with table and bench saws resulted in 3000 amputations of one or more fingers, SawStop's technology inspired Representative Kevin Joyce to propose the Illinois General Assembly
Illinois General Assembly
The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois and comprises the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Illinois has 59 legislative districts, with two...
's 2005 Electrical Saw Safety Act The number of finger or hand amputations has more recently been estimated to be 4000, costing more than $2 billion a year to treat victims.
In June 2006, the CPSC recommended that the U.S. government begin the rulemaking process that could result in mandatory safety standards for table saws.
SawStop has provoked opposition from the Power Tool Institute (PTI), which represents Black & Decker, Hilti
Hilti
Hilti Corporation, Hilti Aktiengesellschaft or Hilti AG also known as Hilti Group develops, manufactures, and markets products for the construction and building maintenance industries, primarily to the professional end-user...
, Hitachi Koki, Makita
Makita
Makita Corporation is a Japanese power tool company founded in 1915, and based in Anjō, Japan. Makita is a manufacturer of professional and consumer power tools, and operates factories in Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, Romania, UK and USA. Annual turnover is equivalent to US$1.8 billion.-...
, Metabo
Metabo
Metabowerke GmbH is a manufacturer of a sizeable range of professional power tools.The company was founded in 1924 by Albrecht Schnizler, Julius Closs and Walter Rauch and is based in Nürtingen, Germany. In 2005 Metabo had 2,400 employees, of which 1460 were employed in Nürtingen...
, Bosch
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
, Techtronic Industries
Techtronic Industries
Techtronic Industries Company Limited , Techtronic or TTI, is one of the world's leading manufacturing and trading company in electrical and electronic products. Its products include Milwaukee, AEG power tools, and Ryobi power tools and accessories, Ryobi and Homelite outdoor products, and Hoover,...
and WMH Tool Group. In April 2008 they told Congress that SawStop's braking system is:
- dangerous because it requires the user to come in contact with the blade before activating;
- unproven, particularly in terms of durability;
- prone to false trips caused by commonly available wet and green wood;
- potentially vulnerable to latent damage that cannot be inspected and may cause a hazard;
- costly to the user because once activated, saw blade and cartridge must be replaced; and
- significantly more expensive, ranging from a minimum of 25 percent and ranging upwards depending on saw type
The PTI objects to the licensing necessary due to the "more than 50 patents" related to SawStop's braking system; such costs "would destroy the market for the cheapest, most popular saws, adding $100 or more to the price of consumer models that typically sell for less than $200." In response, their members developed "new plastic guards to shield table saw users from the dangers of a spinning blade" and began selling models with that feature in 2007; as of May 2011, PTI says "its member companies have received no reports of injuries on [the 750,000] table saws with the new guard design."