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?

Can see where a "safety" switch of sort, kind of like a wrist strap to the ignition on a boat or jet ski kills the power should the operator fall off might have value.

Since without it you have to manually operate the power to the saw, and getting it off in an emergency might be difficult.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Can see where a "safety" switch of sort, kind of like a wrist strap to the ignition on a boat or jet ski kills the power should the operator fall off might have value.

Since without it you have to manually operate the power to the saw, and getting it off in an emergency might be difficult.

Different scenario, but yes a "deadman" switch would be a logical addition.

I don't like the idea. My switch is under the table where it can't be accidentally bumped.

Without looking it up, I think the idea is to have two hands on the wheel so to speak. If something starts going wrong mid-cut, you turn the saw off with the footswitch without removing a hand from the material being cut.

Since I don't usually don't do the Hokey Pokey while running my table saw, I wouldn't be worried about accidentally turning the saw on. I also keep the plastic clip out of the switch when I'm not using my saw.

Maybe look at it this way: you have another option after you've cut off your hands!

Mine is under the table. To turn it on you have to lift a cover. You can turn it off by hitting the cover, or lifting the cover and turning it off.

Seems like it might encourage you to be in an awkward position with your weight not distributed evenly.

No! Hell no!

That’s a good way to cut a lot of flesh. Any on switch should be in a fixed position, difficult to turn on and easy to turn off.

3650 RPM with a 30 tooth rip blade is over 1800 teeth per second passing a given point. 180 teeth can drag across a limb in 1/10 of a second. Nobody can move that fast. Unless you’re using a Sawstop saw you will lose digits/cut bone. Anybody using a foot pedal like a sewing machine pedal to turn on a saw needs to have their head examined.

My Sawstop brake claims to activate in roughly 5 milliseconds. So that same 30 tooth blade will run approximately 1 tooth past your finger before it stops turning. With a fine tooth crosscut blade 2 to 3 teeth will cut flesh. I have two friends missing fingers from table saw accidents.

trapper189 is right about both hands on the material.
The foot switches I have seen require the toe to be inserted first and then the foot can press down for power to the tool. Takes a very deliberate act to turn it on.

Rockler sells a nice on/off switch. The off is very large about the size of your palm.

We have a big shear in our shop, I was using it one day and I am measuring where I want it cut. I inadvertently hit the foot pedal and sheared my tape measure. The foot pedal had a safety flap to stop a foot from entering it from the front. Its open on both sides though and that's where I stepped on it. Luckily it was just the tape measure.

Most table saws, including mine have an 'off' paddle that is easy to simply bump with your thigh when needed. Keeps both hands above the table. To each his own, but I find this preferable to any added shutoff gizmo.

I was injured in 1984 by a power tool with a foot switch. I was tightening the upright drill chuck. The shop had chained the key to the motor frame so it would always be a the drill press. I was twisting the key to tighten the chuck on a bit and leaned forward into the foot switch. The jewelry style flat chain wrapped my middle finger around the check. My instant reaction was to back away off the switch and to quickly remove the left middle finger from under the chain. In so doing my left arm moved not unlike Mike Tyson with a left hook to the chin. The drill press ended up about six feet away, flat on the floor, and unable to get up before the ten count. The lab staff was amazed that I threw a drill press that far.

So yes, a foot switch is unnecessary and hazardous.

In the 70s I worked in a metal fab shop in Wichita (they were like Starbucks, two in ever corner...).

Almost all press, shear and such machines were foot operated, and the number of people missing fingers and hands was too common.

Smart group here that say "no" to foot controls.

Anything that makes you focus on the tasking, and mindful of safety is the right thing.

(and "peice pay" as an incentive, heavily influenced workplace injuries in the era)

Foot switch controller's have there place but on a table saw isn’t one i would used one on.

I have a variable voltage pedal i use on anything i need or want to convert to foot pedal switch.
Works well on using it with a table scroll saw where blade changes or pulling the blade from hole to hole is needed. It just save so much time and energy.

I have a very ancient Walker Turner table saw, without a blade guard, roving knife, etc. that are supplied with a modern new saw. Have had a few incidents like kickbacks that help keep me focused on where my hands are in relation to the spinning blade. I could see trying to operate a foot switch while having my workpiece and hands still proximity to the blade causing the operator not to focus on shutting the saw off and have the workpiece and hands clear of the blade at the same time.

My career was in metals manufacturing. My first summer job in metal fab, was at a forming and fab plant for bus frames. Lots of flywheel punch presses. One day, I sense something going on across the shop floor; see someone running off, but at their machine station, a glove still hanging in the top die in the press. This was 50+ years ago, no guards or interlocks/barriers. Anything can divert your attention. Throughout my work life saw plenty of old and a few younger hands with missing digits.

No investment you can make better than paying attention:

• to your tools,
  
• to your wife,
  
• to your money.

In general, I’m not a big fan of “safety improvements”. I tend to think folks should realize dangerous tools are dangerous and they should use extreme care around them.

Beyond that, two kinds of foot switches come to mind: 1) An on/off switch that one would operate with their foot. This would seem insane to me for all the reasons mentioned above.

2) A “deadman” safety switch. There is a separate, norman on/off switch that one operates with their hand, but this normally open switch doesn’t allow the saw to run when turned unless the pedal is depressed. I can understand the logic, kinda like the rod that you have to keep depressed or your lawnmower shuts off. I just think it is another complication that may create more problems than it solves.

YMMV.

^^^ #2 was what I was thinking of; wired in series with the main on/off switch. I don’t see how taking your foot off a switch is anymore focus reducing than taking a hand off the material and fumbling around for a switch.

IMO a foot-operated table saw is a bad idea.

I have a table saw. It's probably the scariest thing I own. That fear is healthy...it discourages complacency, and is probably largely responsible for the fact that I still have all my fingers.