Thread: Holy crap cool tool

I would not want to be the test subject for this saw thats for sure.


http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=E3mzhvMgrLE&NR=1

Pretty cool as an additional safety item...but wonder how it would do if the wood you were cutting/ripping was wet? I just ripped a really damp/treated 2x4 & really wonder how this would work as I felt moisture "splatters" from the wood.

No comment on the weiner...

Great idea but I have the same concern as shooter, wet wood and what if you are wearing gloves.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Pretty cool as an additional safety item...but wonder how it would do if the wood you were cutting/ripping was wet? I just ripped a really damp/treated 2x4 & really wonder how this would work as I felt moisture "splatters" from the wood.

No comment on the weiner...

It has a bypass mode which will override the safety feature. In this mode you can also do tests to see what will trigger the brake.

So yes, you can use it to cut metal in bypass mode. If you were concerned about overly-wet lumber then you could put it in bypass and test it to see if the brake would have triggered (I believe it uses red/green lighting for feedback). If you were wearing leather gloves then my guess is that the leather would shred but the saw would stop as soon as it hit fingers. If you had chainmail then it would probably stop as soon as it touched the glove.

EDIT: Here's the FAQ for any woodworkers interested.

Am I the only person who tensed up while watching the video???


Kids...don't try this at home

Watching this was simultaneously intriguing and terrifying. Pretty cool technology though!

I actually know the company who developed this application. They developed it to demonstrate their high frequency realtime programming platform ( LabVIEW for fpga).

The demo is cool but there are downsides.
First of all, it will indeed trigger on moisture spots, which can be a pita. Sure you can disable the system, but then what is the point? Second, it works by ramming a metal bar in the teeth of the saw so that the saw pulls itself down. This will damage the sawblade, and potentially the motor in the long run. False positives have a significant impact. Thirdly, IIRC they still make you agree to a license agreement, stating that they are not liable if you would saw off your fingers because it failed. And 4thly: since you can disable it, it will probably end up like all other safety features: permanently disabled after a couple of false positives.