The brake system got my attention, but the variety of features and build quality got my purchase.

Being careful is exactly the opposite of what I did. This router kickback was the result of me doing two things wrong. So the accident was completely preventable in the first place. The actual injury was caused by the wood itself, not the blade. So even if there were some sort of break mechanism, the same accident would have occurred. Remember that SawStop does not prevent kickback, which I would guess is really the #1 tablesaw-related cause of injury.

So while I would never discourage someone from purchasing a SawStop, I still feel the same way, in general, about my personal choice of tablesaw. When a more affordable option exists as an add on for existing saws, I would certainly consider it.

Just curious — it seems that in the past you both seemed to acknowledge the effectiveness of the SawStop in terms of injury prevention in case of contacting the blade with your hand, but questioned whether it was needed or worth the money given teh application of other safety techniques like featherboards, holddowns, “being careful” (whatever that is), and relying on reaction time to pull your hand out of the way in case of a nick. Given Marc’s recent experience with the router table, I was wondering if either of you might be rethinking the SawStop.

P.S. I’m really glad it wasn’t worse!

When you guys started talking about perfectly flat router surfaces and then about the need for perfection in the machining and alignment of power tools, it reminded me of a time I found myself at Woodcraft.

You see, I had just bought my used Powermatic 66, about ten years old, in need of TLC. I also had some money in my pocket, burning a hole . . . so I wanted to get some “stuff” to help me with tuning up my saw and giving it that TLC it needed. I had a WWII Blade and a few other things in my basket, and the bill was adding up quickly. Then, I remembered I might just need a dial indicator . . . but $150 or so, that was a steep price I thought for something I might use once in a while, but that would otherwise just sit in a drawer most of the time. So I started thinking . . . trying to justify the need to have this super-precision on my saw . . .

I came to the conclusion that, sure, I could tune my table saw to an accuracy of a few thousands of a inch, that would be nice. But then again, I thought, what are the odds that anyone could hold an empty hand still to 1/1000″, let alone push a board into a blade for several feet and maintain that kind of accuracy? Heck, the change in humidity between the start of the cut and the end of the cut would negate that kind of accuracy. That led me to the conclusion that a dial indicator was more than I really needed – somewhat the same conclusion that Marc reached in an episode of WW where he was tuning up his TS. So, I opted to forego the indicator . . . I don’t think my work has suffered a bit as a result.

Didn’t get to hear all of the podcast so I’m not sure if you mentioned this in response to Roberto but Grizzly makes a model of their 1023 cabinet saw with a router table insert as part of the extension wing. I think it goes for around $1000. I’ve never used Grizzly but I know many people swear by that model.