New table saw can tell the difference between wood and hands

May 7, 2007 Table saws are involved in more than 60,000 accidents every year in the United States alone - an accident every nine minutes, costing US$2 billion before you consider the pain and disruption. Now a small Oregon company is changing woodworking professionals’ jobs with a table saw that only cuts wood – not fingers. The company has invented a table saw that immediately retracts the blade when it touches a finger, making woodworking safer and eliminating painful and very costly medical procedures. When the blade touches a finger (or something else that conducts electrical current), the current drops and engages a brake. As the blade’s teeth sink into the brake, the momentum forces the blade to drop below the table. The entire process takes only three milliseconds, which is a fraction of the time it takes to blink your eye.

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