Exaggeration
It’s not that I hate exaggeration; I don’t. Exaggeration is the root of most humor and satire, and I’m a big fan of both. I’ve enjoyed exaggeration millions of times. But when exaggeration incorporates misinformation –- or, more accurately, incomplete information – it conveys a misleading or even false impression. And that can be dangerous.
Take for example your old TV. By now you’ve seen the warnings about the upcoming switch from analog to digital broadcasting. “When the switch happens, your analog TV will stop working!” they scream. Some of these ads show TV screens going dark; or sad, hopeless viewers staring at dead TVs.
It’s not true. Your analog TV won’t stop working; in fact, it’ll work just as well as it always did. If you currently use an analog TV to receive shows broadcast over the air via antenna, when they become digital you won’t receive those shows anymore. But your TV will still work.
Now, you’re thinking that I’m nitpicking, and maybe I am, but those commercials stress the non-fact that “your TV will stop working.” Most don’t mention that if your TV is hooked up to cable you won’t notice a thing when the switch happens. The ads use an alarming tone about your TV not working for one reason: To get you to go buy something, either a converter box or – their real hope – a big, new, expensive TV. OK, nothing dangerous there. Just the old spend-money-you-don’t-have-to ploy we should be used to by now. But when the same exaggeration is applied to woodworking machinery, that’s where the danger comes in.
The SawStop is an ingenious, wonderful invention. Riving knives being added (finally!) to new saws is an incredible thing. I wish I had one or both in my shop. But there’s more than a little exaggeration in some of the promotion of both, and not just by the manufacturers. I’m hearing a lot of exaggeration from the companies, from woodworking publications, and from woodworkers themselves on the various online forums. Both innovations are good; no, they’re excellent at what they do but each device addresses a single safety issue. I’m concerned that some woodworkers will rely on one to manage the rest of their safety practices for them, and neither will do that.
Use a table saw incorrectly or unsafely, and a SawStop device or a riving knife won’t matter, because your table saw – just like your old TV – will work the same as it always did: It Will Hurt You.
And that’s no exaggeration.
Till next time,
A.J.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:25 am
I agree completely. I also have to wonder what happens if someone becomes accustomed to the idea that “this saw can’t hurt me”… and the mechanism fails. Any electro-mechanical device CAN fail. What if you stick your finger in there to impress a friend and it doesn’t work?
Then there’s the issue of replacement parts cost. My saw blades cost $75 to $150 each, the replacement brake pad runs (last time I checked) about $85. Both will be ruined if the device activates.
Safety features are great, but they are no sunbtitute for common sense and proper safety practices.
Oh, and I like the one where they turn the old analog TV into an aquarium.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:24 am
If someone sticks his finger into a spinning saw blade to impress a friend, and it doesn’t work, he’s an idiot.
On the other hand, if he sticks his finger into a spinning saw blade to impress a friend and it DOES work, he’s still an idiot.
A.J.
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Our woodworking lab has 2 SawStops and I admit they are very nice saws. My biggest concern about these saws is the complacency that they can cause. Does the implication that the technology will protect you pass through to other pieces of equipment? Will a student think that they can use other pieces of equipment without regard to the inherant danger? I was hesitant to purchase these saws but, they have performed well and I think they are good tools. Safety instruction happens at all hours of operation and as experienced woodworkers and instructors, my partner and I are constantly reminding the students of the nuances of each piece of equipment or process and the consequences disregarding these nuances can bring.
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I have noticed people worrying that woodworkers will over react to the new safety features. The same could be said for experienced woodworkers. They make the job look easy and maybe even a dangerous operation look reasonable, simply because “it’s easy if you know how.”
Maybe we should only allow beginning students and teachers to use the tools if anyone is watching. The fact of the matter is that SawStop and Riving knives address two of the most common safety liabilities on table saws; kickbacks and fingers that find their way into a close relationship with a fully powered saw blade.
Nothing will ever take the place of using tools properly and with respect for their liabilities. Before power equipment, many of us woodworkers were probably protected from some of the horrible power tool accidents that we now can get caught in. But, there were all sorts of other liabilities with hand tools and low income.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I think both you gentlemen miss the point.
I don’t know of anyone that is claiming “this saw can’t hurt…” me and why would you believe them even if they were? The addition of the brake cartridge and the riving knife DO make the saw safer, but they obviously don’t make it 100% safe. Thinking that other wordworkers may ignore other safety precautions because the saw has those things is akin to thinking woodworkers wouldn’t use a push stick when doing a narrow rip if they were also using a “Ripstrate”. Do airbags in cars lead to less seatbelt use? Use of one does not negate need for the other.
As far as replacement costs go, have you checked the replacement cost for a finger or a thumb?
If safety features are great, aren’t more safety features more great?
The saw is simply the safest saw of it’s type there is. So what happens if you use one and the cartridge doesn’t work? Well, then it’s no more unsafe than a Unisaw or Powermatic and you may lose a digit. But when it does work and you don’t get cut badly enough to require surgery that extra cost begins to look pretty darn worth it.
It sounds like you’ve already decided not to buy a Sawstop and your arguments are an attempt to rationalize that choice. There is nothing wrong with you not buying a Sawstop. But there is something wrong with implying that the saw is really no safer than others on the market simply because you believe (with no research to back up that belief) the technology may at some point fail or it will lead woodworkers to become complacent regarding proper safety techniques (again with no research to back up that opinion). If the safety features are on the saw they most likey will work, but if they aren’t on the saw they can never work. I know which odds I prefer.
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Mark and Peter posted their comments while I was composing mine, so I should add that my comments were directed to the first two posters not the second two.
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 am
Tracy…
When you note that the first two posters (one of whom was me) “missed the point,” I suspect you either didn’t get their (our) points or inferred your own meaning from them. SawStop and riving knives make saws safer; there’s no argument there and I’ve said so for years. Neither Doug nor I implied that that they didn’t. You’ve drawn a lot of conclusions from our posts– including that we have already “decided not to buy one.” Can’t speak for Doug, but I neither concluded nor implied that. To the contrary, if you go back and reread my first post, you’ll see the line, “I wish I had one or both in my shop.” With that in mind, I really couldn’t have been rationalizing anything. Not sure how you inferred that I’d decided not to buy one. Although I have no plans to at this time, please don’t make inferences about that. I’d also like a new jointer, a bigger planer, a new car and a new TV. It just happens that I’m in not in the market for any of them (read: can’t afford) at this time, including a SawStop or another new saw with a riving knife. When the time comes that I can afford a new saw, you can bet that I won’t even consider one that does not have a riving knife.
And, yes, statistically the addition of airbags in cars has indeed led to less seatbelt use. The automobile manufacturers, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Triple-A and numerous other automotive groups have confirmed this. That’s why the auto owners’ manuals always specifically caution that airbags are not substitutes for seatbelt use. In the manual for my Saturn VUE, there’s a large, bright yellow CAUTION box with a big exclamation point icon that explains, specifically, that airbags don’t negate the use of seatbelts, five times in the same box. In the next big yellow CAUTION box, it explains this two more times. It explains this yet again in a third yellow CAUTION box. In the regular text that follows in this section, it’s explained three more times. Why do they feel they need to explain this 11 times? Because a heck of a lot of people think that airbags negate the need for seatbelts. These will be the same people who get a SawStop or riving knife and assume they don’t have to worry about other safety precautions.
And finally, I stand by my statement that anyone who sticks their finger into a spinning saw blade to impress a friend is an idiot.
A.J.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
As the owner of a SawStop I have found the opposite to be the case. It’s presence in my shop has made me more aware of tool safety on all my tools that I ever was before i bought it. With the SawStop sitting in the middle of my shop it’s like a large sign reminding me to check for safety first.
January 23rd, 2009 at 4:22 pm
My accolades to Don Bullock. I think he has hit the nail on the head. It is my experience that just a slight increase in safety awareness makes a husge difference. It is as if our safety minds are kept awake and in the game. Wearing my seatbelt reminds me that driving , although very comfortible when not crashing , can be very dangerous.
The words we use in the shop, our attitudes about our profession and even the way we write articles for WoodShop news will affect the state of mind we bring to the job. On the whole,I think woodworkers are a very smart and sensitive group of craftspeople. I think it does more harm to talk about ourselves like we are a bunch of macho boneheads. My comments were obliquely aimed at that very issue. Let’s talk to the innate intelligence in our trade rag.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I love the free enterprise system, common sense, and the American Dream. The fact that we can make intellegent decisions based on information gathered from many venues enables us to be responsible for ourselves. I too love the idea of the Saw Stop feature and am happy it was invented and is available for purchase. No other society in history has been able to invent and produce solutions to problems at the rate ours has. However, my greatest fear is the fear of the ever growing “Nanny State”. As much as I like the Saw Stop, I just don’t want to see it mandated by an over empowered government. Let me make my own decision. As a builder of wooden canoes, I have found that most magazines will not publish photos of one of my canoes unless the paddler is wearing a lifejacket. It’s not that I’m against lifejackets, (PFDs) I’m just against self appointed “politically correct saftey police” mandating that I, a mature American adult, must where one at all times or be labled as irresponsible and shunned. Currently our government does not require me to wear a PFD or own a Saw Stop, but I think we all know that it will just be a matter of time.
P. A. Greene