Abstract: A pneumatic cylinder associated with a table saw includes a housing, a charge, and a piston assembly. The housing defines a cavity and is supported by a frame of a table saw. The charge is located within the cavity. The piston assembly is located within the cavity and includes an attachment structure engaged to the housing and a piston head releaseably connected to the attachment structure and in response to activation of the charge the piston head is configured to (i) disconnect from the attachment structure, and (ii) move away from the attachment structure. A swing arm of the table saw is configured to move from a raised position to a lowered position in response to movement of the piston head.

Abstract: A table saw in one embodiment a swing arm movable along a swing arm path between a first swing arm position adjacent a latch hold mechanism and a second swing arm position spaced apart from the latch hold mechanism, a blade supported by the swing arm, a charge coupling plate mounted in close proximity to the blade so as to form a capacitor, an actuating device configured to transfer a force to the swing arm when the swing arm is maintained at the first swing arm position resulting in a bias on the latch hold mechanism, and a control system configured to control the actuating device to transfer the force to the swing arm in response to a sensed change in capacitance of the capacitor.