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Image: screenshot via Discovery Channel/Youtube
Image: screenshot via Discovery Channel/Youtube
- Trump said people of color 'just set a record for new jobs.' Data show the unemployment rate for Black Americans has barely changed in the last month.
- Trump pledged to permanently scrap the payroll taxes used to fund Social Security and Medicare if he wins re-election
- TikTok and Twitter are starting to talk about a possible combination, WSJ reports
- Shopify's CEO says Amazon isn't a competitor, but Amazon's CEO says it is. Here's what experts say the real relationship is. (AMZN, SHOP)
LOSING A FINGER to a table saw sounds like a living nightmare, but it happens nearly all the time.
So inventor and amateur woodworker Steve Gass came up with a safety mechanism that can distinguish flesh from wood, stopping the saw blade within one-hundreth of a second when it senses that a finger may be in harms way.
Gass’ system, called the SawStop, can be installed into table saws or other woodworking equipment. It works by sending an electrical current through the blade into the material that is being sliced.
Dry wood does not conduct electricity, but the human body does. Once the machine detects a conductive surface, the blade immediately stops (You can deactivate the system to cut conductive materials, like aluminum).
The one drawback is that the safety system, when deployed, completely destroys the machine. Still, there’s no price tag you can place on holding onto all of your digits.
Gass is so confident in his system that he was even willing to stick his own finger into the saw to prove that it works. The daring experiment starts around the 3:50 mark in the video below:
via John Presciutti/Youtube
- Robert Ferris
How to patent an invention>
Column: ‘You need passion to be an inventor’>
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