Did you hear the one about the state that tried to make pi equal to 3.2 -by law? It's not a joke. It happened in Indiana in 1897.
It can't be done, but you don't have to be a math whiz to be a state legislator. Besides, Goodwin had his reasons for pushing the bill to redefine pi. Read all about that strange episode at mental_floss. Link
The story of the “Indiana pi bill” starts with Edward J. Goodwin, a Solitude, Indiana, physician who spent his free time dabbling in mathematics. Goodwin’s pet obsession was an old problem known as squaring the circle. Since ancient times, mathematicians had theorized that there must be some way to calculate the area of circle using only a compass and a straightedge. Mathematicians thought that with the help of these tools, they could construct a square that had the exact same area as the circle. Then all one would need to do to find the area of the circle was calculate the area of the square, a simple task.
It can't be done, but you don't have to be a math whiz to be a state legislator. Besides, Goodwin had his reasons for pushing the bill to redefine pi. Read all about that strange episode at mental_floss. Link
Comments (4)
This is the same company that tried to sell the motor brake control on its own merits and couldn't -- no user or saw manufacturer wanted it! So now they're trying to pass laws through Congress making this a mandatory requirement, and they're the only supplier. Talk about forcing a monopoly down every saw manufacturer's throat. If they can't sell it as an option based on performance...
I hate childproofing the world on the whole and Sawstop won't stop all the injuries: pieces can still bind and kick, debris can still be launched into eyes, flesh, carbide teeth can still fly, etc. But if this wasn't approx. an additional $1000 more (a comparable Unisaw runs about $1900) I wouldn't mind having one. I hate the legal bullshit the inventor is perpetrating; why can't he just 'make the saw-sell the saw'?
I still have questions though: Why wouldn't UL issue a certification? I've seen the UL stamp on some of the sketchiest stuff in the universe.
And does this gizmo work when your hand is making contact with the conductive metal table as well? Would it prematurely trip if I was pushing a particularly wet piece of wood through? If I had to reset and buy a new blade every time I pushed a green piece of stock through, that saw would be on the truck in about 5 minutes.
Too bad the inventor/jackass has effectively blocked much of the approval process by virtue of his avalanche of patents.
Haven't I read somewhere that most digit-severing accidents happen on chopsaws, not on table saws? Maybe I'm wrong.
Sure, but you could still drill the kids in safety: just don't tell them it's a safety saw and you'll always have it as a fallback.
I dunno, if my finger were nicked like that hot dog was, I think that would be enough to make me very careful. Ouch!
use goggles, gloves to prevent debris in your hands, no lose or hanging clothes, tie up your hair, use a bandana or similar f you feel like, and hold on the 'sides' of the piecde your cutting, so you would have distance to the blade. I'm at a mechanical line, so I know this...