Flesh Sensing Brake Technology (FSBT) is currently available on the product
called Sawstop. That’s all well and good. When the brake engages, it utilizes a
replaceable cartridge that I believe costs around $80 to replace. So, let’s say
that you have a table top saw that costs you $150 and it is mandated that you
install FSBT on it. Currently, a FSBT retro-fit package doesn’t exist, so if a
law is made that you cannot use your table top saw unless it has FSBT – you’ve
just been legislated out of a table saw. So, OK… someone (be it Sawstop or
another company) designs and starts selling a new table top saw that has FSBT
included. The first thing that happens, the initial cost of this saw goes up to
accommodate the new FSBT. But for the discussion’s sake, let’s just say that
some REAL - cheap manufacturer out there finds a way to still sell a small saw with
FSBT for $150…and then your brake fires…and it costs you $80 to replace the
cartridge… that would be over half of the price of a new saw. Now, seriously,
how many times are you going to do that before you throw the thing away?
Alright, back on target…So Mr. Gass is ‘helping’ the Consumer Product
Safety Commission decide whether to adopt new product rules that require FSBT
on some table saws. He hasn’t made a secret of his efforts. This is well-known
in the industry. It still smells a bit unseemly, but to each his own, I
suppose. Please don’t misunderstand, I believe the FSBT invention is right on
par with automotive airbags or seatbelts. It IS a game-changer, but if Mr.
Gass’s motives for working with the CPSC were as pure as he would have us
believe, it seems to me that he would donate the patents to the open market and
anyone could use them…for free. Will we see that from him? Do NOT hold your
breath. I believe I’ve read articles that have him saying how this invention
was so badly needed and such a great contribution to society, and in the next
breath refuse to release it so that everyone could be safer. Sadly, the
ultimate loser will be the consumer. How? Good question. As already alluded to,
if FSBT is required, the cost of ALL saws will go up. Not good. There are some
small benchtop saws wherein FSBT is totally impractical. The motor design, or
the ‘guts’ of the saw, may very well not be ‘beefy’ enough to handle the sudden
explosion of a FSB…and let me tell you, it is fast, loud and hard when it goes
off. It has to be in order to bring a saw blade that is turning around 4000RPM
to a dead stop in milliseconds.
Till next time….
Send your questions or comments to:
Toolsmartz@bellsouth.net and
we’ll see what we can do to help you. _______________________________________________________________
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