Thanks - I've never seen a demo of one of these so I wasn't sure how the brake worked (clearly I was too lazy to YouTube it lol)
There are plenty of videos on YouTube, and I am writing those words without ever searching or looking myself. I have heard of dumb people using their body parts to demonstrate. They clamp a board, raise the blade until the tiniest bit protrudes, then touch it with the palm of the hand. So I have been told, but never seen. (I wonder why the world keeps creating ever more foolish fools.)
I have given the "hot dog demo" several times. There isn't much to see. You cut a piece of wood with a hot dog across it. The instant the hot dog reaches the blade, there is a loud bang and the blade is gone. You do not see the blade stop instantly and drop down. It happens much too fast to see. What you see is "spinning blade there" and then "blade not there."
We pass the hot dog around after the demo. Everybody looks, but it is common that nobody can find the spot where the blade contacted the hot dog. We are taught to cut the board/hot dog quickly, and I have seen others do it way too fast for my comfort in an attempt to get a blade mark on the hot dog. I tried using a Sharpie to put a dot on the hot dog where the blade will contact it. Even knowing where to look and cutting the wood faster than I prefer, I still could not find the blade mark after the demo and neither could the audience. I have seen a tiny scratch or nick from others' demos, but even when a mark is there, it can be hard to find. I have yet to see anyone eat the hot dog after a demo. :-o
Resetting the system is relatively quick and easy. Removing the blade/brake combination is the hardest part. Sometimes it takes a little wiggling. You must pull the blade/brake combination
straight off three "shafts" - two for the brake, and also the blade off the arbor at the same time. (Remember to remove the arbor nut first!) After that, you reset the dropped mechanism to its normal "up" position, install a new brake, attach a new blade, (adjust the spacing with the feeler gauge on most SawStop models), and you are ready to run.