HISTORY
WHY THIS MACHINE WAS DEVELOPED

“Necessity is the mother of invention" - or more specifically in this case, “Amputated fingers are an unacceptable risk.”

In 2005, I purchased our first machine from MC Cutter ( www.mccutter.com ). I was a senior project manager for a large electrical contractor and I started developing a small prefab shop in our warehouse. At the time, MC Cutter was the only machine available to process MC cable with any efficiency. In time, we had many of the MC Cutter machines. Little did I know how inherently dangerous the MC Cutter is! We had an employee completely sever a finger using the MC Cutter. Unfortunately, the finger could not be re-attached. Thinking this was a fluke, caused by human error, we kept using the machines.

Two months later, another employee was badly injured - the slitting saw cut half-way through the bone but fortunately the doctor at the ER was able to save the finger. We tried to modify the MC Cutter, and fashioned a guard that would prevent the slitting saw from being lowered if the operator’s hand was in the path of the slitting saw blade, but a real hazard remained. We notified “Bob” at MC Cutter, but he had no answers, and he actually asked me to let him know if I had any ideas on how to make his saws safe.

The most troubling aspect of these experiences were, of course, how the injuries affected our employee’s lives. I felt guilt, and shame, for not anticipating what might happen with the MC Cutter given its irresponsible design and with no guarding or other means to mitigate the obvious hazards. My guilt was not assuaged by the fact that many insurance company safety “experts” that had surveyed our operation, and that had seen the MC Cutter in operation, had voiced no concern about the potential dangers. Obviously, after the second incident, we came to accept that the MC Cutter was just too dangerous and we removed them from our operation.

The financial impact was substantial. The workman’s compensation claims paid by our insurance company exceeded $400,000 and our premiums more than doubled for years to come. We sought compensation from MC Cutter but they had no insurance. Foolishly, we filed suit against against them, but after doing so we learned that they were insolvent; it made no financial sense to pursue litigation.
Incredibly, MC Cutter is still building and selling these saws and have made no efforts to add guarding or otherwise make them safer. Their solution was only to add a written warning on their website
( http://www.mccutter.com/safety.html )

These experiences were the primary reason why this MC Cable Cutter was developed. I decided if I was going to do it, then I would do it right - first and foremost to ensure it was SAFE! And to do everything possible, with cost being a secondary consideration, to build it like a tank to endure years of use in a production environment. It was not easy. It took about 16 months from initial conception to production-ready prototype. We are now on our 3rd production build and each time we incorporate “lessons learned” and make improvements. I am extremely proud of this latest build and firmly believe it is the best solution in the marketplace at a fair price.