Opinions Solicited

[Fawteen]

Watched a video on shop tips this morning and one of the recommendations was running your table saw via a foot switch.

Personally, I think this is a bad idea and safety hazard. Inadvertently stepping ON the switch and starting the saw, or foot slipping OFF the switch in the middle of a rip cut.

I would NEVER do such a thing and I'm the furthest thing from a Safety Nazi.

What does the hive mind think?

 

[greenmech]

Watched a video on shop tips this morning and one of the recommendations was running your table saw via a foot switch.

Personally, I think this is a bad idea and safety hazard. Inadvertently stepping ON the switch and starting the saw, or foot slipping OFF the switch in the middle of a rip cut.

I would NEVER do such a thing and I'm the furthest thing from a Safety Nazi.

What does the hive mind think?

Wouldn't work good for ripping a 12 foot board I would think. Ron MN

 

[40Mule]

Watched a video on shop tips this morning and one of the recommendations was running your table saw via a foot switch.

Personally, I think this is a bad idea and safety hazard. Inadvertently stepping ON the switch and starting the saw, or foot slipping OFF the switch in the middle of a rip cut.

I would NEVER do such a thing and I'm the furthest thing from a Safety Nazi.

What does the hive mind think?

Why did they need it? The reasoning?

 

[SkipperII]

#1, I hate table saws. I think the foot switch would be ok, if you had a positive disconnect switch in line, for when it is not being used.

 

[Fawteen]

Wouldn't work good for ripping a 12 foot board I would think. Ron MN

Exactly. Or a 4x8 sheet of plywood.

 

[Fawteen]

Why did they need it? The reasoning?

No clue. Content mostly I suspect. None of his other ideas were earth-shattering, but I've been around shop work longer than he's been alive...

 

[Fawteen]

#1, I hate table saws. I think the foot switch would be ok, if you had a positive disconnect switch in line, for when it is not being used.

While I don't HATE them (unlike radial arm saws which I refuse to use or have in my shop) I do tend to be extra attentive when using mine. Couple of close calls over the years.

 

[SkipperII]

While I don't HATE them (unlike radial arm saws which I refuse to use or have in my shop) I do tend to be extra attentive when using mine. Couple of close calls over the years.


View attachment 155319

Me too!!

 

[Square Eye]

I really like my SawStop. I bought it because I have 5 grandkids close, and wanted the added safety. I got a little careless and verified that it works as advertised. Only in bright light and under close scrutiny could I see where the blade hit me.

I would think a foot switch for a tablesaw would be a real inconvenience most of the time, and unworkable with larger pieces.

I’ve never had occasion to use a radial arm saw, so no opinion on them.

 

[504]

I don’t know, trying to find that stop switch when both hands are full could be a good thing.

 

[chvet73]

As a retired shop teacher who taught woodworking among other subjects, I don’t like it. Doesn’t sound as safe as a permanently mounted switch. What if you bumped it and then needed it and it wasn’t where you thought it should be.

 

[Stan Coryell]

A foot switch is a bad idea. If that blade slows down in a heavy cut? A recipe for kickbacks, if you ask me.

 

[John Garner]

A foot-operated power switch for a power saw of any sort might be reasonable as a 1) "dead man" switch that opens the power circuit unless the pedal is fully depressed, 2) the switch is mechanically guarded to minimize the potential of unintended closure, and 3) is in series with a conventional on/off switch.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

I don’t know it seems like it would be more positionable off to the side so you could be farther from the line of fire if a kickback happened. But either way you are using the switch after whatever event occurred requiring the “panic stop” I mean if I was bleeding out yet conscious enough to want to turn the saw off I’m probably getting away from the saw as a reflex maybe yanking the cord on the way past headed to the ER to shut it off so it’s likely an unnecessary feature

 

[ss55]

Watched a video on shop tips this morning and one of the recommendations was running your table saw via a foot switch.

Personally, I think this is a bad idea and safety hazard. Inadvertently stepping ON the switch and starting the saw, or foot slipping OFF the switch in the middle of a rip cut.

I would NEVER do such a thing and I'm the furthest thing from a Safety Nazi.

What does the hive mind think?

For me a foot switch is ideally suited to control a scroll saw. Sitting on a comfortable stool I can have both hands free to maneuver the work piece through the blade. Not so much for a table saw.

https://www.amazon.com/POWERTEC-71754-Safety-Paddle-Switch/dp/B0BM4GGB2X?ref_=ast_bl_cpl_dp&th=1

On a table saw I prefer having the switch at knee level on the miter gauge side of the blade where I can bump the large paddle with my knee to cut power to the saw without having to reach across the path of the blade like on some of the old Craftsman table saws. Whenever possible I keep the table saw on a separate electrical circuit from the lights in the rare case I pop a circuit breaker while using the saw. Magnetic switch contacts are now a must for me too.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

Does not sound practical at all for a table saw . The need to shift around the saw to stabilise the material almost precludes its use entirely.
I have one on my pedestal drill though . A dead man's foot switch , power is cut when I lift my foot off it . The drill's on off switch acts as an isolator when not in use .

 

[wh]

No on foot switch. Extremely careful around my table saw. Wish I had one of those that stops before it will cut you.

 

[Eric in IL]

When I worked as a toolmaker, the shop had two Leland-Gifford drill presses. They had foot switches and were not dead man type switches. They were handy for lining up a center punched mark with a non spinning bit, then just step on the switch to drill while holding the work with one hand and the drill press handle with the other.

I don't recall the foot switches ever causing an accident in the fifteen years I worked there.

The jury is still out on what I would think of a foot switch on a table saw though.

 

[Fawteen]

I built a stand for my Milwaukee porta-band and run it with a foot switch (Modified after this picture was taken). Handiest thing ever.

 

[Stephen Newell]

Watched a video on shop tips this morning and one of the recommendations was running your table saw via a foot switch.

Personally, I think this is a bad idea and safety hazard. Inadvertently stepping ON the switch and starting the saw, or foot slipping OFF the switch in the middle of a rip cut.

I would NEVER do such a thing and I'm the furthest thing from a Safety Nazi.

What does the hive mind think?

I've been running tablesaws for more than 50 years and the foot switch is the most numskull idea I've heard of. I know today they go overboard with the sawstop and the magnetic switches but if a person really needs these things in a home shop they need to find another hobby. Originally the magnetic switch was a industrial item that seems reasonable. If you trip a breaker someone else might be changing the blade while you are going across a large building to the breaker box to re-set the breaker. One person working alone in their garage shouldn't have that problem.