Guest
The hotdog test from @sawstop Table Saws is one of those show stoppers at woodworking and tool shows just to show exactly how quickly the table saw blade will drop when it makes contact with skin. While SawStop table saws aren't cheap, they are cheaper than having to buy a new hand, so it's worth the investment if you are on the fence. One of the biggest questions I get whenever I post a video of one of these is why do they use a hot dog and not use their hands if the table saw is so safe? In order to complete the circuit, the spinning table saw blade has to make contact with skin, so a tiny cut will occur from the blade before it stops and drops. I don't know about you, but if I was doing a few dozen demos of this a day, I'd rather not get a ton of cuts as a volunteer in a trade show booth. The second question I get is, what happens if you aren't holding the hot dog when it hits the blade? The circuit can't be completed so you'll get exploded hot dog. If you do have a Sawstop, the one thing to be conscious of when in the woodshop is making sure there's no metal in your lumber of be aware of the moisture in your material as they can all trip the blade stop. For this reason, it's always good to have a spare brake so you're up and running as quickly as you can pull the blade and brake and swap it out. And before you ask, if you need to make dado cuts, you need a separate dado specific SawStop brake to have the saw function.
