[Woodworkers] Sawstop vs Bosch

[Dave Heitstuman via Woodworkers]

Ben Reese wondered

Also, am I correct that before Sawstop saws the system was developed and was to go on a name brand saw like Jet or Delta but never happened because it was thought that it was too cost prohibitive?

What is the old saying, rumors are like asses everyone has one…..
As I recall the rumor mill had it that Mr Gass (a lawyer) invented the technology and tried to sell it to the big manufactures.  When they wouldn’t bite he lobbied to get the technology standard on all saws.  When that failed he developed the Sawstop.
The rumor mill had several reasons for the big manufacturers not wanting to buy into the technology.
One was added cost, paying Gass for the technology, adding it to their costs etc.
The second one was that if they retrofitted existing saws with the technology would they be admitting that there was a design flaw within their saws, which opened them up for lawsuits?
I don’t recall the exact timing but Delta was about to or had just released the “New Unisaw”.  Powermatic had released the PM2000, (it was only a couple of years old as I recall).  It would have been tough to redevelop new saws before they had ever recovered the costs of what they had just released.

As for the Sawstop, I have heard it is a beautifully designed saw.  A joy to use even.  Maybe with the safety factor that was the single best thing that could have happened?
And don’t get me wrong, I get the safety factor.  But I still say it is all about respect for the tool and what I was taught at a very young age about using the tablesaw.
The funny thing is every cabinet maker I know with missing or shortened digits lost them on jointer, not a table saw (and I know several).  So I still say the jointer is the most dangerous tool in my shop.

2Dave

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