unTreatedwood

I just bought the Rotex 125 after much research and angst. I had a commercial refinishing job where I had to remove finish and stain on a lot of oak and refinish to match new furniture. The sander was unbelievable. My old Milwaukee 6" RO sander finally "bit the dust" and I had to replace it. So while I've been drooling over the domino for a long time, I needed the sander. After figuring out the difference in the various sandpaper types(!!), I ordered enough to get the job done, (50 grit through 180). Best part about it was that there was virtually no dust in my shop when done. That was fabulous. apart from that, it's like having 2 sanders for the price of ..well 2 sanders!! I actually ended up taking off the varnish with an aggressive belt sander, and completing the removal with the Rotex. I also own the TS55, the cross cut table, the early generation drill, mini-vac and saw guides. I do a fair amount of built ins and finish carpentry. I wouldn't be without any of them, while the drill is probably the easiest to be replaced by another manufacturer. For me, 5 stars out of 5.

This is an interesting discussion. However, I do not accept the premise of a couple of assertions here.

First, everyone points to the airbag as the comparative product. I actually have more experience with this device than anyone should have. Two years ago, under extremely icy conditions, while trying to get to a tennis match at West Point, I was driving in NE Pa during winter on their famously BAD roads. I ended up going down a hill in a 4-wheel drive, picking up speed. The front of my car hit and broke off a telephone pole on the opposite side of the street. Now here's the interesting part: even though I hit doing around 40 mph +/-, the air bag never deployed. I never found out why. (Mercifully, I was not hurt!)

But the moral of this story is: I don't know the numbers that caused us to require consumers to have air bags. I am not of the opinion that we should automatically accept the fact that they do what they are supposed to because someone says they do. As I said before, I don't know how prevalent the problems were that airbags were supposed to solve. Before I agree to your premise, I would want to find the answers to those issues/questions.

Then there is the notion that I already have a table saw that works great for me. I've had it for almost 20 years, and I keep my blades sharp. I don't work when I'm tired and while I had one incident with kickback, I never have come close to running my hand into the blade.

Those who "think" that this technology is on a par with airbags for comparison purposes forget: 1) that we don't replace table saws as quickly as we do cars, 2) the cost of the bags were not as restrictive as the sawstop technology, (yeah i know, "what's the cost of the accident?", some will ask) and are far more as a multiple per unit than airbags; 3)everything we do has some level of risk. That is why we get paid what we do. There IS risk, period. We live in a world where we think we can eliminate risk. Carpenters work with risk with almost every tool we use. If this is as effective as it advertises, then it will become the tour de force, competing with the best. If it competed on a price basis with other saws without the technology pricewise, or close, I would put it on my short list if and when I needed/wanted to buy another one. But just because you or anyone else thinks I can't be safe unless I have what you consider the state of art table saw, I'm going to tell you, that unless you are paying for it, I retain the right to make my own decisions, right or wrong!! That is what freedom is. It really IS doing what you want when you want in your shop. There is NO situation where I would condone you or anyone else having more right to tell me what I should be using in my shop. I have monetary risk, production risk, financial risk, as well as physical risk. As a businessman/carpenter, I get paid to deliver an excellent product while balancing all those risks. You can't possibly be able to tell me what's best.

Most the magazines I get monthly and quarterly publish articles that discuss best practices, or favorite practices. I read and decide to adopt a procedure, or ...not. I want the freedom to do the same with this technology. After all, who's to say that if you can tell me I have to have this thing, you won't tell me I have to have the next "thing" as well. No thanks. We call that a slippery slope, and I don't work on steep roofs any more!! Thanks, though.

Rob,
We are all living in a world where virtually everything we do is now or will be dictated to us by some agency or czar somewhere in Washington D.C.. This is really a philosophical discussion about freedom. You tend toward those who are willing to give up freedom for safety or security. Could it be because it might help you and your peers to sell more magazines? Probably not, but you have some reason that allows you to give up another piece of your freedom. The notion that some person, in an office somewhere, who probably has NEVER even run a table saw is going to tell us that we now need to have Saw stop is diametrically opposed to freedom of choice. IF, and that is a BIG if, this product DOES provide more safety, and it is THAT effective and solves a problem widespread in our industry, then it really represents progress. (I could take time here to discuss the normal acceptance curve of a new product as it relates to television, cell phone, etc., but I dont have time.)

I am fighting for the right to pick that saw on my own, period. Our industry is going to experience a huge hit with this Cap and Tax legislation passed by the house last week, telling us what we can and do with respect to energy, whereby we are all going to adopt CA energy codes, subject to EPA penalties. I don't want any more rules and regs.

I strongly reject the concept that progress includes something that needs legislation to make it work to be accepted. IF this fills a true need, it will be around for a long time. But if it doesn't, why should I be forced to buy one? No one has answered that question satisfactorily, yet, including the guy who attempted to apply statistics and probability to the issue.

In my mind, the point is NOT whether it works on a finger, or hand or whatever gets into the saw. There have been enough testimonies about its credibility that I had no doubt that the sawstop technology was valid and working. This is an issue of another regulator or genius toolmaker or legislator telling us what we need to do to do our business. I reject the whole ploy. the guy who invented this is an attorney by trade. He knows what he needs to do to get this placed and be assured he is pulling every stop to get this done. I resent the fact that someone can stand there thousands of miles away from where I run my table saw and have for 30+ years, and tell me what I have to do. I, for one, have had enough of people telling me what I have to do. I am very happy it's out there, especially for schools and teaching shops. But I sense those who would REQUIRE this technology, as is happening in so many other walks of like, would only be happy when their solution is the one mandated by the new power tool zsar. Yuck.