PROFESSOR NOTE

Smiling Dog’s post here is extraordinarily good.
Before you publish your own Safer Saws post, you would be wise to read both this post and your beloved professor’s feedback.

1. Manufacturers: “the mechanism for stopping the blade is much different between the two saws” This is an effort at claiming that the safety devices on the saws are different. This is an Analogy claim, as it claims that only the mechanism for stopping the blade is different and nothing else. Although the point of Bosch’s version is to not destroy the blade the technology is exactly the same and definitely violates the patent as the means of stopping the saw is the byproduct of the sensor that tells the mechanism to stop.
2. Customers: In a quick video demo we see, without any words, a factual claim that shows that this product works undeniably and in one of the worst case scenarios you will get a scratch that barely bleeds. The customer can easily see this video and say to themselves as an active user that this is the safest and best invention on the market for this product and is well worth the money and may even make it easier for others to explore using the tool with no prior experience.
3. Industry Spokespeople:  “a fan of your fingers” is an evaluative claim that performs the simple task of getting you to say “yes I do happen to be a fan of keeping them,” and so you now feel that if you’re in the market (or maybe just want the benefit of not losing a finger) for a SawStop saw. This implies that other saws will lead to you losing your fingers if you don’t own this version of the product.
4. Consumer Safety Advocates: “The closest parallel we can find to a story like this is that of a seatbelt” This is an evaluative claim that aims to inform the reader that in terms of saw blades this is the safest you can get for right now. The only evidence is the continued lack of injury using the SawStop over other table saws/blades and the immediate violation of a patent when trying to replicate the idea of the saw stop by Bosch.
5. Injured Plaintiffs: “Saws Cut Off 4,000 Fingers a Year.” and the industries refuse to create new and more safety measures. This is a numerical claim that provides the reader with the estimated preventable injuries caused by a product that has been made safer by other producers. All of those people probably wish they had a SawStop the day it happened, as long as they value their finger that is.
6. Personal Injury Lawyers: “for more than a decade” this tells the audience the technology to prevent you from losing a finger has existed for a very long time, people having lost a cumulative of a few 10 thousand fingers to a preventable situation as a result of profiting by the big corporations. This is an ethical claim as though the device works near perfect now it’s obvious that it would still take time to develop, but regardless of it the company with the money and means to produce it have refused to do it, costing their consumers their fingers over a $60 replacement blade.
7. Government Officials: “Power tool industry too powerful to regulate.” Despite the obvious good of not having people cut off their fingers the government cannot alter the large corporation’s production or now hazardous product. This is an evaluative claim because although it is a universal good not to lose a finger the industry is too strong to change their stubborn ideals so hastily. This statement also implies that it is up to the consumer to make the change because if the company won’t change then the people have to stop buying their products and start buying from other companies safe products.
8. News Reporters: “Bosch has officially entered the limb-saving table saw market.” This is a result of Bosch releasing his own version of the SawStop that was withheld due to a patent conflict with their competitor. This is an evaluative claim as the reporter says that Bosch has officially entered, implying he wasn’t in it or didn’t care about it before. And the limb-saving table saw market isn’t a real market and is simply meant to persuade you into buying the product or boosting your image of Bosch in your head and making you want to buy the product more.