Table Saws and Safety

New flesh-sensing feature is excellent, but expensive

We found the best reviews of table saws in Fine Woodworking, Popular Woodworking, Workbench magazine and Tools of the Trade Online. Consumer Reports tests a few portable table saws, but provides less detail and doesn't evaluate them for safety. Portable table saws do remain the most popular type, but attention is returning to hybrid table saws, which provide larger capacity, better dust control and precision for making furniture, yet run on an ordinary 20-amp circuit. The best cabinet table saws run with even less vibration (and thus more accuracy), and the top-ranking SawStop cabinet saw (*est. $3,470) even comes with a blade brake that stops the saw when it senses human flesh.

The big news this year is that the same well-tested cut-preventing technology used in the SawStop cabinet saw is finally available in the long-awaited SawStop contractor saw (*est. $1,600), which is also the first contractor saw to come with a true riving knife to prevent kickback (which occurs when the wood is lifted off the table by the rotating blade and kicked back toward the user). The SawStop saws also get high marks for blade guards with good visibility and ease of use - important because experts say that inconvenient blade guards just get tossed aside. A study by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) finds that only about a third of the nearly 30,000 major table saw accidents each year are caused by kickback; most involve contact with the blade (cuts or amputations) - and most happen to hobbyists and homeowners rather than professionals. So far, over 400 owners have reported that SawStop saved their fingers.

Reviews still compare table saws for power, precision and ease of use, but safety issues are getting more and more attention. This is partly because of the SawStop technology and partly because of new safety standards the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) requires for certification. As of Jan. 1, 2008, brand-new table saws must include riving knives, not just splitters (which only work when the blade guard is on), in order to earn UL certification. It isn't till Jan. 31, 2010, however, that existing table saw models must be redesigned to include a riving knife. Expert reviews note that a convenient blade guard - with good visibility and tool-free removal and replacement for certain cuts - is another crucial safety feature. So is an on-off switch that's easy to reach with your knee or hip in an emergency.

Other manufacturers are now reportedly working on their own version of flesh-sensor technology. Meanwhile, a few table saws now come equipped with riving knives, which reviews say are much safer than the splitters and pawls found on most table saws. It's easiest to find a cabinet saw with a riving knife, but reviews also praise the Bosch portable table saws for coming with them, and say the latest models, the Bosch 4001-09 (*est. $600) and Bosch 4001DG-09 (*est. $680), also have excellent blade guards. Among hybrid table saws, the new Steel City 35900 (*est. $1,250) and granite-topped 35900G (*est. $1,350) models stand out for the same reasons. The new Grizzly G0661 (*est. $725) contractor saw has a riving knife, but reviews find Grizzly blade guards inconvenient and thus less safe.