If you buy something through our links, ToolGuyd might earn an affiliate commission.
The Bosch Reaxx table saw was a jobsite-style saw with rolling stand, and it featured flesh detection and active injury mitigation technologies.
Its blade brake was new and innovative, with a 2-charge cartridge that rapidly dropped the blade below the table surface.
You cannot buy this table saw today. In this post, we’re going to examine why.
The Reaxx was only available for a short time; it was pulled from the market following a successful infringement lawsuit from SawStop.
Here’s a timeline of events:
2015: Bosch announces Reaxx table saw
2015: SawStop sues Bosch over Reaxx table saw, alleging it infringes on their patented inventions
2016: Bosch launches the Reaxx table saw
2017: Court rules in favor of SawStop, Bosch Reaxx is pulled from market
2017: TTS (Festool parent company) acquires SawStop
Since then, it has been widely believed that SawStop’s infringement lawsuit single-handedly defeated the only competing table saw with flesh detection and injury avoidance tech in the USA.
We recently learned that this isn’t the whole truth.
Bosch, in a November 2023 letter to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), said:
Bosch Power Tools and TTS [SawStop] reached an amicable solution on Aug. 8, 2018, that allows Bosch Power Tools to sell REAXX jobsite table saws in the United States.
Source: Bosch Response to the October 18 Letter (PDF)
Bosch is allowed to sell Reaxx table saws in the US. This contradicts popular beliefs and assumptions.
SawStop’s CEO also brought this up in a recent hearing:
Bosch has actually been able to sell that [Reaxx table saw] product in the United States since 2018. So, [this is] another example of where we are not an obstacle.
These are clear confirmations that Bosch could be selling the Reaxx table saw in the US today.
So why aren’t they?
I found insights in Bosch’s February 2024 comments to the CPSC (PDF).
Bosch says (with paragraph breaks for easier readability):
Although Bosch Power Tools designed and commercialized the REAXX table saw in 2016, due to the patent litigation discussed below, among other things, it has been over 7 years since Bosch Power Tools has produced a table saw with AIM technology.
If the CPSC were to move forward with mandating AIM technology on table saws in the U.S., which Bosch does not believe is necessary or warranted, Bosch Power Tools calculates that it would take up to 6 years to redesign the original Bosch REAXX table saw and make it available in the United States market.
This time would be needed to meet the latest UL 62841-3-1standard,1 and develop updated AIM electronics and mechanical components.
Since the original Bosch REAXX design was completed, there have been changes including numerous environmental factors, such as more powerful cellular signals, which can affect operation of the AIM system.
To ready the next generation of the REAXX table saw for commercial release, many of the components of the Bosch Power Tools AIM system will need to be redesigned or entirely redeveloped.
Back in 2016, I was testing the Bosch Reaxx table saw, and was made aware of the potential for wireless signals to interfere with the flesh detection sensors.
One of Bosch’s official usage guidelines was:
Set the phone to “airplane mode” while operating the saw
At the time (2016), I asked Bosch for more information. They said:
Here’s some additional information about cell phone interaction with the Bosch REAXX Jobsite Table Saw. Cell phones could be one of the ways the Active Response Technology system is experiencing interference during the sensing process.
To avoid interference, our suggestion is to not have a phone in the pocket of the user or on the saw, or to put the phone on airplane mode while operating the saw. We’ve also found that some electrical outlets the saw is plugged into can send unusual voltage spikes that could activate the system; moving to another outlet will typically mitigate the issue. These are infrequent occurrences. Consult the Bosch REAXX owner’s manual for complete tool information.
Bosch’s comment about having to redevelop the Reaxx table saw for the modern US market seems valid.
Bosch has an entire business centered around sensor tech (Bosch Sensortec). Even if they can’t develop their own flesh detection sensors, they have multiple consumer product development teams, such as in the home appliance industry, that must be familiar with flesh-contact sensors.
Also in Bosch’s comments to the CPSC, they said:
Bosch Power Tools also relied on specialists from Bosch’s other divisions, including engineers from the automotive divisions to resolve technical challenges beyond the capabilities of the power tool division.
I’m sure that flesh detection is a problem they could sort out, it’s just a matter of time and money.
I reached out to Bosch last week, asking:
Why has the Reaxx saw remained off the market if there are no IP/patent obstacles preventing it from being available and sold today?
They replied:
It was a decision by Bosch based on numerous technical and business factors. Bosch Power Tools designed and commercialized the REAXX table saw in 2016. Due to the patent litigation among other things, it has been over 7 years since Bosch Power Tools has produced a table saw with AIM technology.
Since the original Bosch REAXX design was completed, there have been changes including numerous environmental factors, such as more powerful cellular signals, which can affect operation of the AIM system. Also, the voluntary table saw safety standard has changed from UL 987 standard to the UL 62841-3-1 standard.
I followed up with:
Are the claims accurate, that Bosch has been licensing IP from SawStop since 2018, removing the threat of litigation from being an obstacle to a present-day Bosch table saw with AIM tech?
They said:
yes, SawStop and Bosch entered into a settlement and license agreement in 2018
This was followed by a repeat of their original answer.
We know why the Bosch Reaxx isn’t available today. Bosch’s comments to the CPSC and answers to my own questions both indicate that their flesh detection sensor tech would need to be redeveloped for modern “environmental factors,” mainly more powerful cellular signals.
Here’s my takeaway from all of this, and please chime in if you disagree:
Bosch could have relaunched the Reaxx table saw in 2018, following their settlement with SawStop, but decided not to.
It is possible that Bosch made the same assessment in 2018, that the saw’s safety tech is too susceptible to cellular interference to be relaunched as-is.
SawStop has been blamed for suing the Bosch Reaxx table saw off the market.
Bosch confirmed that the threat of litigation is not an obstacle to Reaxx AIM tech development.
It seems to me that either Bosch is not working on redeveloping AIM tech, or they are and Reaxx 2.0 is not completed yet.
Whichever proves to be true, it seems clear that, with a licensing agreement in place and other obstacles in the way, SawStop is not the reason why you cannot buy a Bosch Reaxx table saw today.
