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Thread: Bad accident leads to my new Sawstop

  1. #1

    Bad accident leads to my new Sawstop

    I got a call from a fellow wedding photographer's wife this morning. I don't know him, but she's calling every local photographer looking for someone to cover her husband's upcoming weddings.

    Apparently he works during the week doing some kind of work building high-end kitchens. I didn't get (nor did I want) the gory details, but apparently someone dropped or knocked over some plywood or sheetrock or something, hitting him in the back, forcing his hand into a spinning tablesaw blade. His index and middle fingers were completely severed, the thumb mostly, and the outlook for saving them is bleak. And a photographer who can't grasp or manipulate a camera isn't too effective.

    So, even though I think the Sawstop isn't that much better a saw than my Grizzly, I'm picking up my new PCS in the morning. I realized that losing a single wedding would cost me more than the Sawstop would.

  2. #2
    This is an interesting story, Cliff - rarely does anyone consider that, if they work around others, their safety is not solely in their own control. You could be the safest TS user in the world, but if someone wacks you with a 2x4 while you're using it...

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Ya' know Cliff, I said something along those lines a few months ago and you'd have thought I personally insulted everyone on this forum. I've spent a lifetime around saws and haven't lost a finger. I'm just lucky. Sawstop is a great investment, especially when using hired help.
    Phil in Big D
    The only difference between a taxidermist and the taxman, is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. Mark Twain

  4. #4
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    Yikes!! That's a really crappy way to have an accident....but, I guess there is always a chance of it happening. My brother had a TS accident on the jobsite because someone plugged in back in while he was changing the blade on it. A few surgeries and PT later it's a 'lot' better, but still not 100%. There were a lot of factors to my decision to go with a SS, and that was definitely one of them. Another was a coworker of mine that had a TS accident all on his own (he didn't have "help"). He was very good, very experience, but now can only count to 8.5 using his fingers.

    You'll have to let us know how the SS compares against your Grizz.

    Edit - just realized you mentioned a PCS. Hope you like it!
    Last edited by JohnT Fitzgerald; 01-15-2010 at 3:29 PM.
    I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger....then it hit me.

  5. #5
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    Having spent several years running a wedding photography studio (turned that back into a hobby recently and am happier for it!), I can't believe you didn't jump on a SS sooner, Cliff!

    Besides, you need more fingers nowadays with all the buttons they're putting on them picture-taking-thingies.

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    I work alone in a rural area 30 miles from the nearest hospital so that alone was enough to convince me to buy a Sawstop.

    Sorry to hear about your friends accident.
    Hardware - Shopbot PRSstandard 48x96 with PC router.
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Victor Robinson View Post
    you need more fingers nowadays with all the buttons they're putting on them picture-taking-thingies
    You got that right. We shoot with Nikon D3s. I counted once, there are over thirty different buttons, knobs, sliders, and other adjustments, not to mention the dozens of choices in the menu system.

  8. #8
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    Okay, let's hear from all the people that don't need a Saw Stop because "they know how to work safely".

    Richard
    Richard

  9. #9
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    As an auto mechanic I didn't know what I would ever do if I lost a finger or more than likely a couple fingers. I had thought about SS over and over but couldn't justify the expense. I went into a tool store one day and got to chatting with an old timer. He had just purchased a ICS saw and showed me his hand that was all bandaged up. He went on to saw he had been wood working for 40 years and never had an accident. A couple of weeks prior he was changing the alternator on his car and needed a prying device to tighten the belt. He went to his table saw to cut a piece of lumber quick. He had gloves on never took them off, some how they got caught on the wood and sucked his hand into the blade. He said you know it just took that one split second stupid choice and he lost 2 1/2 fingers. 2 weeks later I heard about the PCS saw and I bought one. I still think it is a no brainer if can remotly afford it. With young ones growing up and being young myself I feel much better having this saw.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Richard Wolf View Post
    Okay, let's hear from all the people that don't need a Saw Stop because "they know how to work safely".

    Richard

    My first thought too, but......let's keep this about one woodworker's choice in his tools....too many threads already exist on the SS/ant-SS argument.
    I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger....then it hit me.

  11. #11
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    This is a great post. Like someone said, you can be the safest woodworker in the world and still get nailed by something like this. I may have to rethink the Sawstop.

  12. #12
    My opinion is that you have to look at the extra cost of a SawStop as insurance cost. You hope you never need the fire insurance on your home, but you buy it because if you do have a fire, the loss is catastrophic. Same with your fingers.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  13. #13
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    Now this thread makes me more of a believer in saw stop. You do never know when something beyond your control will take your hand. This thread made me think of the large stacks of sheet goods that lean against the wall behind me when I use the table saw, and if something happened that caused one to tip . . . i.e. a warped sheet, and a draft. I have been watching the videos of the ICS, and looks like a great machine. I can only dream now, and pray nothing happens between now and the day I can afford a SS.

  14. #14
    Join Date
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    Congrats on your purchase. Let us know how it compares to your Grizz.

    Sorry to hear about your friends accident.
    Last edited by Glenn Clabo; 01-16-2010 at 5:07 AM.

  15. #15
    Join Date
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    This is one reoccurring argument that I will never understand.

    Each person has his or her own level of risk aversion. If somebody wants to buy a sawstop because he/she is more risk averse than you are, who on earth cares?

    People almost take it personally! I don't get it at all.

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