Inventor's Attempt at Saw Safety Cuts Against Industry's Grain

"He wants to force his device on the industry at an unreasonable price," said Art Herold , a Washington attorney for the institute. Herold said it would be improper for the agency to mandate a standard because "it would become a promoter and silent partner" in Gass's technology.

Gass was undeterred. He began making SawStop saws himself, selling them for about $4,000 each. (Typical saws range from $100 to about $3,000.) Gass said he got kudos from high school officials who bought saws and were grateful they could send kids home "with their thumbs."

SawStop received some negative reviews in the trade press, yet Gass has also won honors such as the Popular Mechanics 2006 Breakthrough Award for safety earlier this month.

He also unexpectedly found an influential lobbyist. Last year, James Fuller , who had been chief of staff to CPSC Chairman Harold Stratton , heard about Gass's invention from a colleague at Public Strategies , an Austin-based public relations firm he had joined.

Fuller offered his services, free of charge. He was impressed by the technology for a simple reason: It might have stopped his brother from losing four fingers in a power-saw accident.

Fuller is a Republican, not inclined to push regulation. But he recalled thinking his old agency should take a closer look. "You sometimes have to step in to foster these innovations because the industry doesn't have the incentive to do it," he said.

Fuller got an audience for Gass with his former boss on May 30. The inventor showed Stratton and other CPSC officials how the safety device worked by using a hot dog as a stand-in for a finger. When the hot dog hit the saw he had brought into the agency offices, it received not much more than a nick.

A month later, the CPSC staff recommended the petition be granted. On July 11, the commission voted, 2 to 1, to start the process of making a new rule, a job that can take years.

Fuller and Gass said they felt vindicated, although the rejoicing ended four days later when Stratton resigned from the agency. One of the remaining commissioners, Nancy A. Nord , wanted to defer action on the petition and instead look at voluntary efforts being made by the industry.

Nord is now acting chairman of the commission. Fuller arranged an audience with her on Sept. 6, but Gass said it was a hard sell.

Herold of the Power Tool Institute said the result the CPSC is seeking may already have been accomplished because the industry has a new awareness of the need to improve the product.

Julie Vallese , CPSC spokeswoman, said the saw-safety standard idea isn't dead but that the agency's "decision-making procedures" don't allow the rulemaking to advance with what amounts to a deadlocked commission.

Gass is keeping busy. He is developing less expensive models of his saws and is involved on the legal front. He has testified as an expert in one lawsuit against a manufacturer over injuries and is consulting with plaintiffs' lawyers in other cases.

Cindy Skrzycki is a regulatory columnist for Bloomberg News.