After a lot of civil discussions, I realize that this is a new toy for Hive13 that has important safety features to replace a saw that was sadly stripped of its safety features. We’ve talked about replacing this for a long time and this vote is well thought out. Kevin has a terrific reputation for following through so I am confident it won’t just be a pile of parts a year from now.
Having said that I will be disheartened if the safety features of this saw are casually set aside because they are deemed icky or inconvenient. I also don’t believe that anyone should be grandfathered in or opt-out of becoming certified to use this new tool regardless of their tenure or expert wood workmanship. If you get within 5 feet of the thing, please get certified. I don’t understand the fierce dislike of RFID controls to verify certification but I’m not going to fight that battle. We can go on the honor system.
In about 2 weeks we should have 80 people lined up to get certified and we need to be ready to give them a structured, first-class lesson. I will be in that line and I will also help with the process in whatever way I can. This would be a terrific opportunity to try out our idea of having a primer/refresher video as part of the certification process. Again, I will help make this happen if there is interest.
I am totally against the RFID certification requirement on machines. You would have to have classes every week to stay up to date with membership. Some one would have to stay up to date on the certification data base. The way things change around here that doesn’t happen. I have been certified on several things in the Hive in the past. So much has change in the recent past that some people would argue that I’m not qualified to enter the Hive. I’m with Dave B.
From a practical and safety standpoint I think it makes good sense to get the SawStop. I’m trying to understand how it fits into our overall budget. I can’t find any current financial info (admittedly I don’t know where to look) and I believe we have an upcoming vote on kitchen supplies that could be up to $10,000. I just want to get a sense of how this purchase fits into the overall finances.
The finance website is updated monthly. The day-to-day finances are up to date and easily readable in these spreadsheets: Votes and Warden/MRO budget. Both are easily found on the wiki, under the Finances section on the main page.
There have been a few attempts to make forward looking budgets, the most recent in the #finance channel on slack. There is also one I made about a year ago linked here on the mailing list if you search for it.
I wasn’t trying to single you out, I was trying simply to clarify for everyone that this vote is not in any way linked to RFID tool locks. I apologize if that was not clear.
I feel we need a new table saw.
One without disabled or removed (standard) safety features.
The last time I used ours, I had to use a mallet to adjust the angle by lightly tapping on the the knob.
There are other issues that have been brought up and they are mostly valid.
For me, I would vote yes on a new table saw… period.
Now, since I’ve convinced myself we need a new saw, it is easy to justify the additional money for a SawStop.
Thanks everyone for the good conversation and the votes. This vote stays open till Tuesday the 7th. There has been so much conversation interleaved with the votes, I wanted to try and summarize the current state of the votes. As of right now, I believe these are the votes that have been cast:
Kevin M. - Yes
Drew W. - Yes
Tim Y. - Yes
Dave S. - Yes
Dave B. - Yes
John S. - Yes
Will B. - No
Rob W. - Yes
John C. - Yes
Dave L. - No
Vicente G. - Yes
Kayla L. - Yes
Paul V. - Yes
Scott H. - Yes
Please, let me know if I have miss-read anyone’s votes. If your name isn’t listed, it’s because I couldn’t tell what your vote was from your message, or I just missed it.
This vote closes at tonight’s meeting, if you have any last minute questions, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer. Jim posted this month’s financial reports in the #finance channel on slack yesterday, for those who were curious about financial impacts.
If you care to vote, but won’t be at tonight’s meeting, now’s your chance to get your vote in.