MFNC Visits with Roy Underhill and ShopBot

Our friends at ShopBot were host yesterday to legendary woodworker Roy Underhill.  Roy's show, The Woodwright's Shop, has been a staple of PBS programming for 30 years.  Many a Maker has grown up enjoying his wit, talent, and showmanship.

Educational kit-maker Ben Harris of Harris Educational organized the meeting that also included ShopBot, Hines Design Labs, and, of course, Maker Faire North Carolina.  Roy toured the remarkable ShopBot facility and was impressed at the machine's abilities.  We all discussed the remarkable history of Makers in North Carolina especially Thomas Day whose furniture and homes are extraordinary.  After our tour we had lunch at the home of ShopBot founder Ted Hall and then went to Pittsboro to visit Roy Underhill's Woodwright's School for demonstrations of traditional woodcrafting.  We topped off an amazing day at the inimitable gallery/lounge/coffee shop/bar/club Davenport and Winkleperry.

As of this month it has been three years since our small group started planning the first Maker Faire North Carolina.  I am amazed at how far we have come and how many amazing people I have met.  Thanks for making it all possible, North Carolina!

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Existentialist Measuring Tape

Just about any woodworker who has had to make something more than once knows about story sticks.  A story stick is a stick/scrap/leftover piece of wood upon which the woodworker marks dimensions for their creation.  Anything can benefit from a story stick... humidor, rocking chair, dining table, etc.

While some people poke fun at this time-honored technique choosing to lambast the woodworker's lack of modern tools such as CAD it remains, nevertheless, a stalwart feature in many production shops.

Retailer Lee Valley has improved on the technology in what was at first simply an April Fools' joke: Story Tape.  The blank measuring tape.  Brilliant!  Despite its tongue-in-cheek roots, the Story Tape can function as a symbol of the simple pleasures of woodworking.

Tablesaw User Sues (and wins big) for Lack of Flesh-Detection Technology

A Massachusetts man has finally received a judgement against toolmaker Ryobi after a devastating accident involving one of the company's table saws.

Richard Sullivan, a Boston lawyer hired by insurance companies to handle workers' compensation cases, was the first to take on the manufacturers. He watched a CNN video of SawStop's demonstration, and in 2006 filed a complaint on behalf of Carlos Osorio, who mutilated his hand on a Ryobi saw while laying hardwood floors, requiring five surgeries and $384,000 in medical bills.

Last week, Osorio's legal team, which includes national firm Boies, Schiller and Flexner, pointed to SawStop's sales as evidence that the technology is not only mechanically feasible  but financially viable. They asked for $250,000 in damages, but the jury awarded Osorio, now 30, $1.5 million.

The case revolves around the apparent negligence demonstrated by toolmakers choosing not to adopt the SawStop flesh-detection technology.

Carpinello likens flesh-detection technology to airbags, which fueled a similar slew of litigation when they were first installed in cars. Automakers without airbags got sued for not adopting the better safety design. Now, all cars have airbags.

The real winner in this case appears, however, to be SawStop.  SawStop approached all of the major tablesaw manufacturers with their technology asking for a licensing fee... a fairly typical practice.  When met with no-doubt surprising animosity toward the technology by manufacturers, SawStop opted to build their own saws.

I submit to you, though, that if you want a safe car you should buy one with airbags and take defensive driving lessons.  I can't fault the car-maker unless some defect in their design or manufacturing was to blame for an accident.  Likewise, if you want to make sure your fingers are safe, buy a SawStop.

I struggle to see how toolmakers who have essentially used an unmodified design of tablesaw for decades can be blamed for this.

Source articles listed below under "References."

Feel free to opine in the comments.