Apparatus for high voltage power line maintenance and repair. In some embodiments, a power tool has a housing which encloses an electrical load and a control electronics circuit using a first shield as a layer of conductive material which is open at a battery pack receiving slot of the housing configured to receive a removable battery pack. A removable boot surrounds the removeable battery pack and has a second shield as a layer of conductive material which combines with the first shield to form a combined shield that nominally encloses the power tool and the boot. An insulative hot stick supports the power tool at a distal end and a user interface at a proximal end. The user interface includes a communication circuit that communicates with the control electronics circuit via a non-conductive communication link that extends along the hot stick to selectively activate the electrical load.

A power tool assembly includes a drop arm assembly movable along a drop path between a first drop arm assembly position whereat a portion of a shaping device supported by the drop arm assembly extends above a workpiece support surface and a second drop arm assembly position whereat the portion of the shaping device does not extend above the workpiece support surface, an actuator housing configured to house a first actuating device at an active location at which a force from the first actuating device is transferred to the drop arm assembly, the actuator housing including a slit configured to position a second actuating device at an inactive location, and a control system configured such that when the first actuating device is housed, the control system controls the first actuating device to transfer the force to the drop arm assembly when an unsafe condition is sensed.

A jigsaw that includes a housing assembly, a shoe member and an indicator. The housing assembly has a housing, a motor and transmission assembly received in the housing, an output member reciprocatingly driven by the motor and transmission assembly, and a trigger coupled to the housing and configured to control operation of the motor and transmission assembly. The housing defines a window. The shoe member is pivotally coupled to the housing. The indicator is pivotally disposed in the housing. A portion of the indicator is visible through the window. Movement of the indicator is responsive to movement of the shoe member such that a rotational position of the indicator is indicative of a position of the shoe member relative to the housing assembly.

A cutting apparatus for cutting a workpiece includes a chuck table having a holding surface for holding the workpiece thereon, a cutting unit having a spindle with a cutting blade mounted on a distal end thereof for cutting the workpiece held on the holding surface, an image capturing unit for capturing an image of an outer circumferential portion of the cutting blade mounted on the cutting unit, and a determining section for determining the orientation of the cutting blade. The outer circumferential portion of the cutting blade includes a plurality of protrusions each having a first surface for scraping swarf off from the workpiece when the cutting blade cuts the workpiece and a second surface connected to the first surface. The determining section determines the orientation of the cutting blade mounted on the cutting unit, according to an image captured of the protrusions by the image capturing unit.

A blade-height optimization indicator for a table saw determines based on the rotational position of one or more blade guards of the table saw as they are displaced by a workpiece being cut whether the blade-height of the table saw is optimized relative to the thickness of the workpiece and provides a visual GO/NO-GO indication depending on whether the blade-height is determined to be optimized.

A method of wood shingle classification and sawing using machine vision comprises the steps of taking an image of a wood slab in a wood block and identifying a defect in that slab; comparing an image of this defect to images of confirmed defects in a database of confirmed defects to find a match of the defect in these images. If a match is not found, sawing a shingle from the slab and classifying the shingle while making abstraction of the defect. In a second aspect, when images of two consecutive shingles are identical, a third and subsequent shingles can be sawn from a block without taking images thereof. In another aspect, the comparing of images is done by an artificial intelligence system that is trained on a database of images that are associable to the subjectivity of experienced shingle sawyers.

An oscillating blade including a shank having a tool mounting end and a blade end, the shank defining a longitudinal shank axis extending from an oscillation axis of the tool mounting end, the longitudinal shank axis defining a longitudinal direction. The oscillating blade also includes a first shank extension extending from the blade end in a first lateral direction and having a first cutting edge directed in a first cutting direction, and a second shank extension extending from the blade end in a second lateral direction and having a second cutting edge directed in a second cutting direction. The oscillating blade also includes a shaving edge disposed on the blade end. The first shank extension is spaced from the second shank extension in the longitudinal direction, and the shaving edge is at least partially disposed between the first shank extension and the second shank extension in the longitudinal direction.

A miter saw is provided. The miter saw includes a table for supporting a workpiece; a fence located on the table; and a beveling arm for supporting a saw blade, the fence operatively connected to the arm to move the fence when the blade is beveled so that the blade does not contact the fence when the blade is moved toward the table. A method of locating a workpiece near a saw blade is provided. The method may include moving an adjustable section of fence near a path the saw blade will travel by beveling the saw blade; and moving a workpiece to contact the fence near the saw blade path.

The invention relates to a method for determining material dimensions of a longitudinal profiled section (2) during a sawing process, in which a saw blade (3) is advanced, the longitudinal profiled section (2) being machined by said saw blade (3) along a saw groove during this time; advancement position data of said saw blade (3) along the advancement path (s) being determined and, during this sawing operation, additional measurement data being determined from the group of sawing force (F.sub.s) or another variable which corresponds to the sawing force (F.sub.s). The invention is characterised in that an actual profile is determined from the advancement position data and said additional measurement data.

A safety system is provided for a machine tool which has a frame and a tool. The safety system has a clamping device and a motion device. The clamping device is movable by the motion device from a working position, in which the tool is extended and can be used for working, to a safety position, in which the tool is retracted. The motion device has a first magnetic means connected to or arranged on the tool and a second magnetic means connected to or arranged on the frame, such that movement of the tool by the motion device from the working position to the safety position can be triggered and/or at least partially performed by magnetic force.