While our heads come up with ideas, our hands and fingers are what carry them out. This allows tradespeople to be productive but also means that they are exposed to many risks at the same time. And, because your fingers are invaluable, these assets must be given special protection. This is why Festool has incorporated innovative SawStop AIM technology into its TKS 80, the first portable table saw in Europe. The SawStop AIM technology stops the saw blade in fractions of a second and lowers it into the work surface as soon as the operator's hands or fingers get too close, reducing the risk of extremely serious cutting injuries.
Markus Michalski's job is a cut above. As a kitchen cabinetmaker and furniture maker at the Raumdynamik workshop in the south-western German town of Lichtenwald, the joiner spends every day cutting pieces of wood to size, shortening strips and creating products of the highest quality by making cuts with millimetre precision. He needs to have his wits – and his ten fingers – about him when carrying out his work because these are the assets he uses to make his works of master craftsmanship. Even the slightest lapse of attention or distraction could have dire consequences, with his hands and fingers at particular risk. However, it is tradespeople's thumbs, the most agile and strongest digit when guiding and holding workpieces, which are on the front line and come perilously close to saw blades.
Tool specialist Festool understands this risk and has taken up the challenge. Markus Michalski is enthusiastic about the SawStop AIM technology. "It's a good feeling to know that this solution keeps your fingers intact if something goes wrong," he says. Moreover, the Festool TKS 80 is the first portable table saw in Europe to use this technology. Festool developer Andreas Sdrzallek explains how the system works, "the function is triggered by a capacitive sensor. If this sensor registers contact with human skin, this activates a cartridge that works together with a spring to push an aluminium block into the saw blade – and everything stops."
Maximum protection and precision
The TKS 80 therefore stops in less than five milliseconds thanks to the SawStop AIM technology, which reduces the risk of extremely serious cutting injuries. This technology plays a key role in ensuring even greater safety at the workplace. Prof. Marco Einhaus (PhD), head of the building construction unit at the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the construction sector (BG BAU), emphasises how important occupational health and safety is in skilled trades and construction occupations, "lots of companies are setting good examples with respect to occupational health and safety. But there's still plenty to be done." He adds that safety and cost-effectiveness are often weighed up against each other but are ultimately always compatible with each other. Nevertheless, the Festool TKS 80 is not only synonymous with improved safety but also with maximum precision. "You can use the TKS 80 to make very precise mitre cuts," says Daniel Knoblauch, another joiner at Raumdynamik in Lichtenwald. He continues that this table saw always gives you a good feeling while working, which is why they take it with them to all construction sites.
However, this safety system never means that workers do not need concentrate or pay attention. "The SawStop AIM technology is more of a last resort to protect operators, just in case something does go wrong," Andreas Sdrzallek explains.
For further information about the TKS 80, visit