[jchw]

Yeah, see, I actually just simply don't know what the breakdown of the 30,000 incidents per year is. I would've guessed a large number of those incidents were from hobbyists and not professionals, and I would guess that the mistakes hobbyists make are different in origin from the mistakes professionals make, even if they have common threads. If it so happens that it's actually mostly professionals losing fingers, then I'm barking up the wrong tree with this.

[inferiorhuman]

I'd wager the opposite. A hobbyist will typically have a healthy fear of a table saw because one of the first things someone learns about a table saw is that it will fuck you up without a moment's notice.

A pro in a hurry? Not so much. It's the pro that's gonna remove the safety guard and riving knife, be invested in expensive blades they don't want to replace if the cartridge goes off accidentally, etc., etc.

[bluGill]

The pro knows the safety stuff too, but they get into a groove (we call it the zone in programming) and start to take shortcuts to go faster without noticing their fingers are getting closer and closer to the blade.

The hobbyist doesn't enough to get into a groove and so won't have that happen. However the hobbyist is doing many different cuts and so doesn't always remember how to do each safely.

[harrall]

I’ve also seen many hobbyists do cuts on table saws that seem to encourage danger and then they stand right in the way too. Then they complain that “no one could have predicted this.”

The worst one I’ve seen is someone cutting circles on a table saw (already normally a no) with their hand behind the blade on the side that pulls you in instead of cutting (the kickback side). And it pulls his fingers right into the blade. (Saved by SawStop though.)

Heathy fear does not mean they know how the saw works at all. So I’d say both sides are apt to lose fingers.

[inferiorhuman]

Perhaps it's a bathtub curve, but dollars to donuts you'll have an easier time convincing a newbie to not do dangerous shit than someone more experienced. Beyond just doing stupid shit (plunge cuts, circles, arguably dados, whatever) there's professional pressure. Take a look at the whole stone countertop industry (very) slowly coming to terms with silicosis.

Either way I think Sawstop is great. As a hobbyist I wish it were cheaper. Although to be fair a big part of the cost is that Sawstop doesn't sell low end saws — that's nothing to do with the safety tech.