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by Animats 555 days ago
Yes, they did. They even tried to legislate against SawStop. See "H.R. 8181: Preserving Woodworking Traditions and Blocking Government-Mandated Monopolies Act"[1] Didn't go anywhere.

There is supposedly woodworker opposition.[2] "Many woodworkers argue that the implementation of SawStop technology has disrupted traditional woodworking practices. Some feel that it has altered the craft in a negative way by making it less reliant on skill and attentiveness, instead placing an emphasis on technology to prevent accidents. This shift in focus is seen as a departure from the fundamental principles and values of woodworking." However, no actual woodworkers are quoted, and the author has a tool store, so this is probably astroturf PR. That web site is addressed to people with a semi-religious attitude towards woodworking, not to working carpenters or cabinetmakers.

(Having used circular wood saws, I am all in favor of blade-stop devices.)

[1] https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hr8181/text

[2] https://www.woodworkcenter.com/why-do-woodworkers-hate-the-i...
3 comments
bawolff 555 days ago
> "Many woodworkers argue that the implementation of SawStop technology has disrupted traditional woodworking practices. Some feel that it has altered the craft in a negative way by making it less reliant on skill and attentiveness, instead placing an emphasis on technology to prevent accidents. This shift in focus is seen as a departure from the fundamental principles and values of woodworking."

Wow. This is basically: real men enjoy getting their fingers cut off.

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duskwuff 555 days ago
Ideologically speaking, it's the same sort of people that opposed seat belt laws in the 1980s on the grounds that they'd encourage risky behavior by drivers. (They don't.)
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DannyBee 555 days ago
#2 is becuase woodworkers as a group are fairly conservative.

TTI and friends were very effective at riling them up. I belong to a number of significant woodworking forums/etc, and have watched the manipulation over the years firsthand.

This was mostly in the form of "big daddy government wants to make you pay for more saws because of dumb people", so the take they have there around the craft itself is pretty funny.

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bagels 555 days ago
It's so silly. The saw stop doesn't reduce the amount of skill needed to use it, and you're still free to be as attentive as you like. If they really followed this to its logical conclusion, they'd be using unpowered stone tools to do woodworking.
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