You misunderstood. I said my blade would not yield - and I know that. Therefore I respect it. My point was the failure of a system, like the SawStop. What if I trusted it, and it failed?
- RichTaylor
What misunderstanding, you specifically said this "You are sacrificing your safety to technology. "
Just as ppg677 said, you are not less safe having a safety feature. And, as with air bags, with a SawStop you are not less safe if it doesn't work, than if you didn't have it at all. Though just like air bags, you want to make sure all your safety features are functioning properly. After all, that's one of the reason people buy SawStop saws.
Having a SawStop, I can assure you, I do not even think about the safety feature while using the saw. I do not take additional risks. Even if I were to factor that in while using it, the expense of a replacement cartridge and blade is reason enough not get sloppy.
To the OP, I think the problem may be the blade. It doesn't look like a SawStop blade. While it could be a reflection of the red insert, It looks like a red Fraud or Diablo blade. The red paint doesn't conduct electricity.
As a general rule, you don't use coated blades with a SawStop. Though check with them for details. I do use some red Fraud blades, but I remove the paint around the arbor hole so the large washers, that go on each side of the blade, make contact with metal on the blade and not paint.
It's probably not so much that you are pushing on the blade to get it to blink, as much as when you push, your finger flattens out and make a much better contact (more surface area). Though pushing could also make some sort of change at the blade to arbor contact point.
But the issue isn't really the connection from you finger to the blade, rather the blade to the arbor. Since, it appears you are touching the bare blade tooth. Though I think even some blades have clear coating. So perhaps there is something coating the blade tooth that is insulating it. This of course would only apply if this were a brand spanking new blade, since any cutting would quickly wear off a coating on the blade tooth.
If nothing else, put the SawStop blade on (if that's not what you are using) and redo your test. If it works as expected, then you have probably shown that it is the blade and almost certainly a coating on the blade that is the issue.