Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE MY TABLESAW, and mine isn’t going anywhere any time soon! I use it on just about every project. It also has a flame paint job and as a result, it is probably the coolest tool in my shop. But given the current state of things, it would certainly be an interesting exercise to think about how we might otherwise accomplish some common tablesaw tasks. And before you knuckle-dragging Neanderthals (said with love) start throwing rocks at me, I do realize there are hand tool equivalents for every tablesaw task. I can also ride my bike to New Jersey and back but I’d rather take a plane – RIMSHOT! So what I’m really looking for are alternative methods that are just as fast, just as clean, and just as easy as their tablesaw equivalent (and that doesn’t exclude hand tool methods). So I’ll throw out some ideas below as a discussion starting point, but what I really want is to hear from you guys. What tasks would you find hard to do without your tablesaw? Or maybe you have some obvious solutions that might benefit others. Share ‘em with us!

Rips

Nothing rips a board quite as easily and cleanly as a tablesaw. And nothing in the shop can launch a board into outer space with as much gusto as a tablesaw! Consequently, this is something I already use my bandsaw for. Far too often while ripping long boards, I notice the board cupping in on itself. If it weren’t for my riving knife, I certainly would have experienced numerous kickback events. At the bandsaw, the cutting force is applied downward into the table surface, so even if the wood warps and pinches the blade, it will NOT fly in your belly or face. The safety benefits here are unquestionable. But what about cut quality? Most bandsaw blades will leave a rough edge. The blade may also drift during the cut drawing your workpiece away from the fence. Any thoughts on how we might overcome these two issues? For sheetgoods, look no further than the circular saw. Outfitted with a good quality blade and a nice clamping tool guide, you can make some seriously high quality rips in plywood. You could also take it to the next level and pick up a tracksaw!

Cross-Cuts

Whether you use a miter gauge or a cross-cut sled, the tablesaw is incredibly well-suited for cross-cuts. But what else could we use? For smaller boards (and if you don’t have a lot of cuts to make), a hand saw seems like a perfectly reasonable alternative. You might need to clean up the edge afterwards, but if you own a decent hand saw you probably also own a hand plane and a shooting board. Of course the miter saw is a good alternative for cross-cutting narrower boards too. A circular saw and a track or other guide could certainly be used for wider boards. If you don’t mind a rougher cut, you could also use a jigsaw. And while the bandsaw will work in some cases, I have never been a fan of using it for cross-cuts……maybe it’s just me.

Dados

The only reasonable substitute I can come up with for dados is the router. Even in a fully outfitted shop that includes a tablesaw, the router may very well be the preferred dado-maker. But when you are making cabinets and you have a bunch of dados and grooves to batch out, is there anything faster than a dado stack in the tablesaw? I am really curious to hear your thoughts on dados and grooves.

Tenons

The tablesaw is my go-to tool for tenons. Even as the proud owner of a Festool Domino, I still tend to make my tenons with a dado stack and a miter gauge. So one obvious alternative here would be the various “joinery systems” like the Leigh FMT, the DowelMax, and the Festool Domino. These are most definitely a “pricey” alternative but they work quite well once you live within their ecosystems. A more basic alternative might be to simply use the router table.

Miters/Bevels

For miters, which are essentially just angled cross-cuts, the miter saw is a perfectly reasonable alternative. That is, assuming you have a good quality blade and a well-calibrated saw. Bevels, or angled rip cuts, are a little trickier. We might be able to use the bandsaw with the table tilted at an angle, but we would still have all the same ripping concerns mentioned above. Additionally, we have the challenge of fighting gravity due to the tilted table. A circular saw and a guide can be used to cut a long bevel too, but on narrower workpieces this can be a precarious affair.

I am really interested to hear your thoughts on these common tablesaw tasks. What alternative solutions can you come up with and could you actually live without your tablesaw?

Further Reading

Are Tablesaws “Essential”? – Adam Cherubini
GWOT – Global War on Tablesaws
A Year Without a Tablesaw – OldWolf Workshop
Can You Live Without a Tablesaw – WTO Forum

The clip is very interesting as it brings attention to the whole SawStop debacle. Pretty wild that the story hit mainstream media. But the real reason for me posting this is to give Peter a shout out. I think he did great and it was cool seeing his shop on a cable channel. And as tempting as it will be to get into a big SawStop debate, let’s not. :) I hear the dead horse whispering, “No mas! No mas!”

Honestly, this is just another chapter in the saga of SawStop and I am sure most of you are sick of hearing about it. But one of the things that bugs me the most about this situation is the lack of competitive alternatives to SawStop technology. Well, thanks to a link from Jim in the WTO Forum, a potential competitor was brought to my attention and its called Whirlwind. Here’s how it works, according to the website:

“If an operator contacts the proximity sensors in the electronic fence, this triggers the emergency stop. Our latest prototype can stop a typical bench-top saw motor, without damage, in about 1/8 of a second.”

The site features a number of videos but you won’t get to see a great deal of detail. There are, however, a number of intriguing things about this system. First, the brake is triggered BEFORE you touch the blade, which means no stitches and no bandaids. It passes the “hot dog test” without so much as a scratch on the wiener! Second, the braking mechanism does not destroy your blade and doesn’t seem to require replaceable parts. Third, the system incorporates what looks to be flawless dust collection. Not sure how this part works but they seem to push it as a feature.

From what the inventors say, it looks as though they are trying to market the technology directly to tool companies via licensing agreements. Now I won’t pretend to know how well this product works or how realistic it is to think it could effectively be added to current saws at a low cost, but it certainly is intriguing. And it has me thinking about the big picture.

Forgive me for speculating here, but could SawStop’s efforts to force its way into your shop potentially back-fire on them? Right now, they seem to be enjoying a successful run. In fact, I know MANY of you are satisfied SawStop owners. But with increased pressure from not only the marketplace but also the government (potentially), I have to imagine the big tool manufacturers are thinking long and hard about alternative flesh-detecting technologies. And should a competing technology become available as an add-on for every make and model saw on the market, what would happen to SawStop?? We know they make a high quality saw, but would that be enough to survive in an entire market FULL of high quality flesh-detecting saws that have nothing to do with SawStop technology? I don’t know the answer, but the old saying “Be careful what you wish for!” comes to mind.

So what do you folks think about Whirlwind? Could SawStop be shooting itself in the foot by trying to do more than simply sell a great product? With the little info we have, its hard to make a real judgement call here. But do you think an alternative technology is on its way? Could something like that spell the end of a tool company many folks have grown to love? I welcome your opinions, but I do ask that we keep the anti-SawStop and anti-government stuff to a minimum.

Man Wins $1.5M In First of its Kind Saw Case
by: Jenn Abelson

A Boston jury has awarded $1.5 million to a Malden man who injured his fingers on a saw while installing oak wood flooring several years ago in a first of its kind case that claimed the standard design of American table saws is defective.

Carlos Osorio accused One World Technologies Inc., maker of Ryobi saws, of negligence for failing to include a flesh detection technology that would prevent most serious injuries, according to a copy of the complaint filed in 2006 in US District Court in Boston.

After five surgeries and years of rehabilitation, two of Osorio’s fingers are permanently disfigured and unusable, and he has suffered numbness and loss of feeling in three other fingers.

“Hopefully, this means the industry is finally going to recognize that catastrophic injuries could be averted and they need to make this technology standard so people don’t have these senseless injuries.” said Richard J. Sullivan, one of the lawyers representing Osorio.

One World Technologies said it had been advised of the verdict.

“We are evaluating the results with our lawyers, and evaluating how to proceed.” said Jason Swanson, a spokesman for One World Technologies.

“Notwithstanding the outcome of this trial and any possible appeal, we remain confident that the saw which was the subject of this lawsuit was well-designed and manufactured with all due consideration for the needs and safety of the consumer.”

Osorio’s case is one of more than 50 lawsuits pending throughout the United States against the major table saw manufacturers for failure to adopt the technology, which would stop a power saw blade almost instantly upon contact with human flesh.

During Osorio’s trial, an expert witness for the defense acknowledged that if the saw had the flesh detection technology, it would have created a 1/8-inch deep cut on one finger, Osorio’s lawyers said. Instead, Osorio suffered near-amputation of one finger and severe lacerations on four other fingers.

Now if you ask me, this is the very definition of a frivolous lawsuit. You guys know I am big on safety. I even created Woodworker’s Safety Week to raise awareness. But if you were a friend of mine and you cut your fingers on a standard tablesaw and tried to sue the company because they didin’t use “flesh-detecting technology”, I would probably smack you upside the head. And on the ironic side of things is the fact that they guy was using a relatively inexpensive Ryobi tablesaw that most likely cost $200-$250, right? Guess how much that saw would cost if it had “flesh-detecting technology”? Given the way SawStop works, and assuming that’s what we’re talking about here, could that Ryobi saw in its current form even handle the impact of a SawStop break in action? Regardless, if all saws were required to have this technology, I would imagine that the $250 tablesaw would be a thing of the past. And whoever bought this saw in the first place, would most likely be shopping on Craigslist to find an old saw in his price range, instead of one of these new-fangled ones with the safety device.

One other question I have that wasn’t answered by the article: was he even using the stock guard? While I admit those guards aren’t the most user-friendly, they DO stop you from putting your fingers into the blade.

Oh and by the way, this is probably a great time to mention a new product we will have in our store very soon. Its called the Wood Whisperer Fun Suit. Now you can throw yourself on top of a spinning blade without a care in the world! (Thanks for the photoshop work Bill!)

So let’s hear your thoughts on this. Its a hot one!