Hi mainemeatman, I had a article here on the site about a year ago about them. They are very dangerous.
I just found out the other day that Jetplane has one of these in his market
What are the dangers associated with defective saws?
Hobart 5700 Slant Saw
Our firm handled a case involving our client who was an experienced meat cutter. One of the saws that he operated was a model 5700 slant saw manufactured by the Hobart Corporation. During his operation of the machine, the slanted blade unpredictably snatched a piece of meat, rolled in forward and snatched it into the slanted blade with such velocity that our client was unable to remove his hand before some of his fingers were cut off by the saw.
The Hobart Corporation knew as early as 1982 that it was exposing meat cutters to the probability of losing fingers and hands in this saw. In spite of its knowledge of the dangers of the saw, the Hobart Corporation made a conscious decision not to eliminate the known hazard of this dangerous slanted blade. As a result, the Hobart Corporation has been sued over 25 times regarding the model 5700 slanted blade saw. In 3 of the cases that were tried, including this one, juries returned multi-million dollar verdicts because of the horrific conduct exhibited by the Hobart Corporation.
I have used them in a couple different shops the last one was about 2 years ago. I bad accident with one about 10 years ago. I am lucky i was able to keep my two middle fingers. It happened just like in that article. I was cutting a short loin and it flipped and threw my hand into the blade.Another complaint with the hobart slant saw is you got to be careful when you are cleaning it that top wheel can fall of and land on your head. I could use one again if there is one in the shop i end up working it but i don't particularly like them.
-- Edited by fdarn on Saturday 25th of February 2012 05:02:33 PM
-- Edited by fdarn on Saturday 25th of February 2012 05:05:36 PM
The blades were slanted forward to reduce bone-dust and increase productivity- but they also increased the chances of being cut. Does anyone still use these?
I use to use one daily many years ago-liked using them on bone in hips and full loins, but slicing marrow bones-I remember the blade pulling/trapping the bones-didnt enjoy cutting them on the slant saw-along with shin bones
I never cut on one but have seen a couple of them back in the late 80's
Do you remember that dumb chicken cutter they came out with in the early 70's that took so many cutters fingers off ?? Had a round blade you had to cut into.
In the 70's with A&P in Atlanta, we had 31 A&P stores in the Atlanta Division, I think their was around 18 meat cutters got cut by that chicken cutter in a little over a year. they finally took them out after the union raised hell about them, myself I always refuse to use it, hell I could cut them faster with a boneless blade
i got bit by one. was cutting chuckroll, the floormat i was standing on had water underneath it and it slipped on the floor. The knuckle on my ring finger went right into the blade. cut right through most the tendon. the doc stitched it up and it works fine with no pain, got five stitches on the outside. another guy i worked with almost lost his finger tips on both hands. he was cutting a top round and rolled underneath it self. scary stuff.
I apprenticed for 2 years with a slant saw. I'm glad I did because I have a real appreciation and respect for what the saw really does. Slants are great with BI chucks and full rounds but not so great with marrow bones and especially dangerous on shanks. I had a slant saw literally rip a shank out of my hands. If I hadn't reacted quickly my hand would have went right into the blade. One cutter I worked with had his right thumb sucked into the blade and he lost about 3/4" from the tip. I had to go find the nub of his thumb so they could try and reattach it. Not fun. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to use slant saws in retail environments now. I'm not sure though.
Hobart gave some good money for those on trade in to get them out of the markets , probably was because of lawsuits , awful saws and very dangerous have used one .
