When used with proper precautions, power tools are perfectly safe. But if horror stories about lost digits in shop class make you nervous about working with wood, a German power tool maker called Mafell has created a self-propelled circular saw that keeps your hands and fingers well clear while it cuts.
Spotted by Core77 at Holz-Handwerk, an annual tool trade show held in Nuremberg, Germany, the PSS 3100 SE Mobiles Plattensäge-System, or Mobile Panel Saw System, is designed for hacking up sheets of plywood or other panels up to 10 feet in length, and as thick as 1.77-inches.
The operator simply has to place the highly portable PSS 3100 SE on the panel, set the RPM and cutting depth based on the material, and align it so that the blade removes exactly as much material as needed. At the push of a button, the circular saw then races down the track all by itself, slicing as it goes, while the operator’s fingers, hands, and limbs are kept safe and well clear of the action.
[Core77]