# Sawstop Injury - you should check this



## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

I didn't know this could happen.
 
If I owned a SS I would be a bit concerned.


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

Yeah, the hot dog shows I have seen show the dog not even getting a slice in it, even though they put the side of the dog against the blade.

My best guess and speculation is that possibly the tip of his thumb had a nice callous on it, and did not have the moisture in the skin that the unit needs to see, (like a touch screen), to make it fire in time. But that is just a guess.


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## YesHaveSome (Sep 10, 2017)

He was using a blade SawStop says not to use because it can't be stopped as quickly.


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

The injury is minor compared to what it could have been if mechanism hadn't fired.


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## MinnesotaSteve (Dec 17, 2015)

I believe he touched the blade with his fingernail, which is non-conductive and didn't register until it cut into it.

Something to be mindful of, but at least he didn't lose his finger.


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## JollyGreen67 (Nov 1, 2010)

interesting - BAM ?


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## YesHaveSome (Sep 10, 2017)

> I believe he touched the blade with his fingernail, which is non-conductive and didn t register until it cut into it.
> 
> Something to be mindful of, but at least he didn t lose his finger.
> 
> - MinnesotaSteve


Even if it cut his fingernail first it should have stopped when it hit the skin. Again though, he was using a blade that SawStop says not to use. That blade was actually bad from two perspectives 1) it had shoulders 2) it was painted. SawStop says to only use blades without shoulders and that are bare metal.


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## bbasiaga (Dec 8, 2012)

I saw this video. I could not bring myself to watch the injury part itself. That stuff grosses me out.

I believe from his description that his thumb was saved from amputation. Sounds like there was more tissue damage than usual, owing perhaps to the painted blade and the slower to stop design features of the teeth, but a save none the less.

I did some math once in one of those threads on how deep a cut could be depending on how fast youjr hand was moving and given their 5ms stop time. It was pretty small at fast feed rates. I want to say in the 32nds of an inch range. BUT, his hand was not feeding the board. He was reaching forward, and your hand in that case would be moving MUCH faster than one smoothly feeding a board through. So that would deepen the cut. Add in the slower response tikme of the pai need blade and worse still. .
So someone needs to volunteer to thbrow a hot dog at top speed in to their sawstop and see what it looks like. My tool budget is blown for the month so I will have to pass. ....

Brian


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

> That blade was actually bad from two perspectives 1) it had shoulders 2) it was painted. SawStop says to only use blades without shoulders and that are bare metal.
> 
> - YesHaveSome


It wasn't painted besides that the manual does not say anything about painted blades.

It does say not to use blades with anti-kickback (depth limiting) shoulders, tho. That was probably the issue.


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## Kazooman (Jan 20, 2013)

I was surprised at how far the blade was from the edge of the riving knife. The blade does not appear to be the diameter that is intended for the saw. I am amazed that he was apparently able to crank the brake cartridge up enough to get close enough so the sensor mechanism would allow him to start the saw. It is the momentum of the blade digging into the aluminum face of the cartridge that sends the blade below the surface of the table. The smaller diameter blade would have much less momentum than a full ten inch blade. Combine that with the anti-kickback blade and the braking mechanism was impaired. It still saved him from cutting his thumb clean off.


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## BikerDad (Jul 16, 2008)

He said "1-2cm deep" in the video, but I doubt that's the case. 1-2cm LONG. Had it been that deep, it would definitely have been into the bone, which I'm pretty sure he would have mentioned, given that he did mention the nail damage.

Looks like he dodged a bullet there, and he makes some very good points about paying attention to BOTH hands. Very glad that he didn't suffer more injury.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

I think it was His Mistake …... BUT! $300.00 Bucks & ..... OUCH!



















I also think He Was VERY Lucky He didn't Completely lose His Thumb!!

Rick


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## bonesbr549 (Jan 1, 2010)

Wow so much went wrong there, but he is honest and thanks to him for sharring. Eyes never off that blade ever!

NEVER REACH over a spinning blade! It takes two seconds to turn it off and with the paddle design you don't even have to look away from the blade, and I'm a lefty.

GRippr's are you friend and control both sidess. I use two of them!

Finally the average cost of an amputation is 250k and a changed life. I'd say that sawstop has paid for itself in spades!


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

I'd be more concerned if I didn't own a Sawstop.

No safety feature is perfect, but I'll bet in a majority of cases it helps a great deal.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

I'm an ER doctor and regularly see hand injuries from powertools. The type of injury I see from the mechanism he described, ie. end of thumb going into the blade, typically results in a complete shattering of the bone in the end of the thumb. Those are the ones that end up with the hand surgeon. He has a relatively minor injury, which will heal up quickly, which I think is thanks to the SS safety mechanism.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

> I m an ER doctor and regularly see hand injuries from powertools. The type of injury I see from the mechanism he described, ie. end of thumb going into the blade, typically results in a complete shattering of the bone in the end of the thumb. Those are the ones that end up with the hand surgeon. He has a relatively minor injury, which will heal up quickly, which I think is thanks to the SS safety mechanism.
> 
> - Manitario


You're absolutely Correct Charles! (A Fellow Ontarian I see.)


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## clin (Sep 3, 2015)

Saw that a few days back and noted one YouTube comment about the shoulders on the blade, as a few have already mentioned in this thread. I think that may be exactly why his injury was more than just a minor nick. Though as ugly as it was, I think it was just a small number of stitches and as you can see a pretty small bandage.

I certainly believe it would have been much worse and according to Manitario, he typically sees much worse damage in the ER. Of course, no way to know how bad it otherwise would have been. But think, if just a fraction of a saw blade rotation and 1 or 2 mS of contact can do that much damage, what happens with a blade that doesn't stop.

And you don't need to imagine, there's plenty of YouTube vids showing damage, and they all aren't tied to SawStop marketing.

There are other dangerous tools, routers, circular saw, jointers, drill presses, etc. But at least if you have a SawStop, it's one less way you can accidentally cut off body parts.


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## HarveyM (Nov 11, 2012)

Just an FYI- The Sawstop manual says not to use ' lacquered or coated' blades because they're non-conductive. 
It's a pity that he didn't (apparently) read the manual….


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## Kelster58 (Dec 2, 2016)

Wow, glad you are okay….Thanks for sharing


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## msinc (Jan 8, 2017)

I watched this idiot for six and a half minutes before I turned it off….he talked for a full six and a half minutes and said nothing. Not a word about how the god almighty, flawless, must have sawstop inflicted an injury. I was under the impression that this could not happen. At this point however, because this guy is such a moron and I could not stand to listen to 6 more minutes of zero, I hesitate to assign blame with the saw. Six and a half minutes of my life I cannot get back….I know I am going to order a sawstop now. Maybe someone who wasted the entire 12 minutes to watch this video could go ahead and just simply post in one sentence how Mr. Moron got cut with a sawstop??? I don't really care at this point, but it might save some other forum member the 12 minutes.


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## mel52 (Sep 4, 2017)

Ouch !!!!!!!!


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## ArtMann (Mar 1, 2016)

The injury was caused by carbide tips hitting his fingernail and ultimately his flesh. The carbide and steel plate were conductive. Whether the sides of the blade, which he did not touch,was painted or not is irrelevant in this case. I think the response may have been delayed a little due to first fingernail contact. In spite of the fact that I hate the unethical business practices of this company, I will give them credit for a legitimate save.


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

> The injury was caused by carbide tips hitting his fingernail and ultimately his flesh. The carbide and steel plate were conductive. Whether the sides of the blade, which he did not touch,was painted or not is irrelevant in this case. I think the response may have been delayed a little due to first fingernail contact. In spite of the fact that I hate the unethical business practices of this company, I will give them credit for a legitimate save.
> 
> - ArtMann


Ditto. But it probably wouldn't have happened if he was cutting alder.


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## JollyGreen67 (Nov 1, 2010)

Doesn't matter what kind of day someone has in regards to an accident with a power tool, but to call a fellow LJ mean words because of their incident is not nice.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

> " Doesn t matter what kind of day someone has in regards to an accident with a power tool, but to call a fellow LJ mean words because of their incident is not nice."
> 
> - Jimbo4


*Point Of Clarification:*

If you're referring to the guy in the YouTube Video were I "Cutout" the above Pictures, to the best of my Knowledge, he is NOT a Member of LJ's.

I DO agree in Principle with your Comment However!

Rick


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## Nubsnstubs (Aug 30, 2013)

If you have a 40 tooth blade spinning at 3450 RPM, the equates to 138,000 cuts per minute. Divide by 60 seconds = 2300 cuts per second. How many cuts would there be in a millisecond? ............. Jerry (in Tucson)


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

> If you have a 40 tooth blade spinning at 3450 RPM, the equates to 138,000 cuts per minute. Divide by 60 seconds = 2300 cuts per second. How many cuts would there be in a millisecond? ............. Jerry (in Tucson)
> 
> - Nubsnstubs


OH NO! You Just Blew My Brain All To Pieces Jerry. That's like How Long Is A Nano-Second!


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## 000 (Dec 9, 2015)

2.3 cuts per millisecond, or 1 tooth travels 1.806 inches per millisecond.
Maybe?


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## jklingel (Mar 26, 2015)

first, i think the saw stop saved a thumb. losing a bit of flesh is relatively minor. he is doing a great service by mentioning his error and not blaming anyone else; commendable! no one is perfect. that said, i don't like how high is blade is, either. i keep mine just barely above the wood i'm cutting. that may or may not have helped here, but i'd still keep that blade lower.


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## Fthis (Feb 11, 2018)

I would simply suggest keeping body parts out of the rotating blade no matter what saw you're using. But hey, that's just me.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

> I would simply suggest keeping body parts out of the rotating blade no matter what saw you re using. But hey, that s just me.
> 
> - Fthis


Now there's a good dose of "Common Sense" brought to you by Mr.* "Fthis"* ???


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## DanielP (Mar 21, 2013)

> I watched this idiot for six and a half minutes before I turned it off….he talked for a full six and a half minutes and said nothing. Not a word about how the god almighty, flawless, must have sawstop inflicted an injury. I was under the impression that this could not happen. At this point however, because this guy is such a moron and I could not stand to listen to 6 more minutes of zero, I hesitate to assign blame with the saw. Six and a half minutes of my life I cannot get back….I know I am going to order a sawstop now. Maybe someone who wasted the entire 12 minutes to watch this video could go ahead and just simply post in one sentence how Mr. Moron got cut with a sawstop??? I don t really care at this point, but it might save some other forum member the 12 minutes.
> 
> Same as you. Couldn't stand listening to the guy. Never saw what happened.


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## Magnum (Feb 5, 2010)

> I watched this idiot for six and a half minutes before I turned it off….he talked for a full six and a half minutes and said nothing. Not a word about how the god almighty, flawless, must have sawstop inflicted an injury. I was under the impression that this could not happen. At this point however, because this guy is such a moron and I could not stand to listen to 6 more minutes of zero, I hesitate to assign blame with the saw. Six and a half minutes of my life I cannot get back….I know I am going to order a sawstop now. Maybe someone who wasted the entire 12 minutes to watch this video could go ahead and just simply post in one sentence how Mr. Moron got cut with a sawstop??? I don t really care at this point, but it might save some other forum member the 12 minutes.
> 
> Same as you. Couldn t stand listening to the guy. Never saw what happened.
> 
> - Dan


I agree! BLAH! BLAH BLAH! Sounds more like a Saw Stop Commercial, plus the Add Ons as shown in the Links below the Video.

They don't actually show it happening, just posted a couple of Pictures. Now they've even changed them!

This is the New One! Brace Yourself this is Really Gory!










Good Lord!!!

Rick


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