Debunking the SawStop Myth

hi I'm James Hamilton from stumpy nubs woodworking journal and I'd be using saw sap saws for years because they're great saws and they won't cut off my fingers but SawStop isn't a sponsor I'm not getting paid to make this video and I have no expectation to be paid in the future I'm making this video for another reason to respond to countless online debates that I've seen and to dispel what I call SawStop myths now let me explain what I mean by myths you can Google saw stop and find countless I mean thousands of arguments across social media and forums about everything from the price to the politics of the inventor that's all opinion everybody has one and that's perfectly fine but if you're gonna make an informed decision you need to know what's opinion and what's exaggeration or intercept internet nonsense myths so let's go through six of the most common ones that I hear in almost every one of these arguments the first and probably the most common is that SawStop folks cheat when they do their demos by cutting that hot dog really slow so that they won't do much damage this baffles me because I've seen dozens and dozens and dozens of these demos at woodworking shows every time they've jammed that hot dog into the blade as hard as they could much faster than you would ever do with your hand unless you're karate chop the top of the blade here a guy even does it with a glove on to dispel another myth that a glove will disrupt the sensor I've never seen a hot dog need anything more than a band-aid the second myth I hear is that the cartridges just go off on their own willy-nilly now I'm not saying it can't happen I'm sure at least one person will comment below this video and say it happened to them but I've had two saw stops for five years I've hung out in SawStop booths where I don't get paid I just hang out there because I meet fans it's a good place for them to find me and I've talked to thousands of SawStop users I know pros who use their saws for hours and hours day after day year after year I have never met a single person who has reported a false activation so if it does happen and theoretically it's possible any machine could fail it is exceedingly rare that brings us to our next myth that trusting your fingers to a computer in a dusty workshop is a bad idea now I just said any machine could fail and electronic certainly can but a soft stop cannot cut you even if it does malfunction because it can't start if the brake system is malfunctioning it's literally impossible they designed it that way because you can bet they would get their pantsuit off if anyone ever did lose a finger due to a malfunctioning saw chop saw and they'd be all over the internet if that lawsuit happened it has never happened the fourth myth is that you can't cut pressure-treated lumber with the saw stop because the moisture will set it off now I don't work with pressure-treated lumber but let's use some common sense there are literally tens of thousands of jobsite saws being used by contractors across the country made by SawStop and they would all be useless if you couldn't cut pressure-treated lumber with them again I'm not saying it couldn't theoretically happen but the board would have to be so wet that water is flying off the blade into your face for it to happen and who uses lumber that wet if you're worried about it I mean you're cutting pressure-treated lumber that's just really wet and heavy there's a way to deactivate the system make a little test cut and it'll tell you if the wood would have triggered the cartridge so there's no reason to ever set off a saw stop with wet wood the fifth myth is that you can't cut reclaimed lumber or anything that might have a nail in it with the saw stop now I don't recommend cutting nails with any table saw but it happened sometimes I've cut through plenty of those Brad nails it to come from pneumatic mailers I even once hit a framing nail I have never triggered the break cartridge because a nail embedded in wood isn't grounded and it has to be grounded to set off the system that's how it works it senses the drop in voltage because your hand touches the blade and it grounds through your body so you'd have to be holding on to the nail itself not the board for it to set it off one time I heard on the internet of a guy setting it off with a little Brad nail that he wasn't touching and what they figured happened is a piece of that nail somehow got into behind the blade into the tiny gap between it and the brake cartridge and that created a grounding effect that may be true but that would be in a rare situation finally I hear folks claim that if one of these rare occurrences does trigger the saw it's going to cost you a bundle because it not only destroys the 60 or so dollar cartridge but the blade too and so that makes it way too expensive to buy a sauce now I'm going to disagree with SawStop on this one because they say that you have to replace that blade I totally disagree sure if you're using a cheap thin kerf $8.00 blade you may warp it but don't throw your hundred dollar blade in the trash send it to the manufacturer for sharpening an inspection they'll repair any damaged teeth and you'll be back to work again that's what I say now what SawStop says but SawStop has to cover their butts of lawyers so I'll stop really has nothing to do with this video anyway this is just me giving the facts free from the internet nonsense perpetuated by folks who just like to debate and to repeat things that they've heard on the Internet I'm quite sure some of those folks will show up in the comments below and based on conversations I've seen in the past I'll probably have to delete some of those comments there may even be a handful who have honestly experienced one of these freak occurrences and I won't delete theirs but don't believe them if they try to portray it as something that's even close to being common it's not I've been using my saw for years I know tons of people that have been using them even more than I have none of us even give a thought to the break except knowing that it's there to save our fingers if we ever need it if you get what you pay for then why are bandsaw blades so inexpensive as saw blade calm seriously they're as good as any I've use they come in any size you need and they cost quite a bit less than anything comparable at the woodworking retailers try them for yourself at the link below this video you'll see wait don't go yet if you're new here please subscribe and remember to ring the bell I would really appreciate that give us a thumbs up or better yet leave us a comment I always read them and be sure to check out the latest issue of stumpy nubs or woodworking journal it's always packed with tips tricks and tutorials designed to make you a better woodworker

Channel: Stumpy Nubs

Views: 743,449

Rating: 4.8786073 out of 5

Keywords: woodworking, stumpy nubs, tips, workbench, table saw, scroll saw, drill press, quick tip, band saw, bandsaw, lumber, hack, hand plane, sharpening, tormek, worksharp, diamond stone, water stone, wood turning, bowls, lathe, sawstop, saw stop, ics, cabinet saw, safety, injury

Id: NV6Jhw0hhBI

Length: 6min 31sec (391 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 06 2019