Simple Saw Upgrade

Great idea!

-- Jesus is Lord!

looks like a project to me!
Great idea
Also, like the space saving idea.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Great idea Jeff! Another good place to post this is the skills section forum.

-- http://foldingrule.blogspot.com

Thanks, this wasn’t an original idea by the way. I’ve seen this setup in a lot of shops and finally got around to doing it myself.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Having a switch you can hit with your knee is real handy. I use mine all of the time, it allows me to keep my hands on the work until the blade has stopped.

-- Mark, Norfolk, VA

Very True Mark. My Grizzly 1023’s original on/off switch was decent, but not great. The “bump” switch is fool proof. It is easily used from any body position around the saw. No room for error when something is about ot go wrong.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

how did you do the hinge? just screw it into the switch “box”?

I was messing with this last weekend…was trying to avoid screwing into the box – just curious…

-- Mike - Columbus, Ohio

It’s the simple solutions that I like the best because they are often the most useful. Great tip.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

Mike, I actually opened the switch to be sure the screws would not hit something they shouldn’t. Plenty of hollow space within. you could also attach it to the bottom of the fence rail, I suppose.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Great job. I find that I sometimes hit the “on” button when I meant to hit the “stop” button and I wonder why the saw is still running. Looks like a very useful project. I might also look at setting up multiple switches, on the left and right of the saw. My switch is just an on/off connector to a magnetic switch down in the bowels of the saw cabinet.

The on switch pulls in the relay to start the saw. and the stop switch opens the circuit and drops the relay. It should be simple to hook them up so two or more would work.

The on switch is a Normally open switch that closes on press. The stop switch is a normally closed switch that opens on press. At least on my saw. Each button has its own wires to the relay.

I’ll have to crawl under the saw and check it out.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

That would be interesting to see Karson. I’m not sure I’m on board with multiple switches, though. I try as much as possible to position myself in the same orientation to the tool each time. I’ve got nothing to back it up, but it feels safer to be in the same familiar position. On the other hand, monotony creates carelessness.

I’m a big fan of anything that makes my fingers more likely to remain with me! This 10 minute “fix” ranks up there with my favorite safety upgrades. My hands never leave the wood so my push sticks/blocks remain on the wood until the blade stops.

When I posted this project earlier this year, I had forgotten who’s shop I saw this in. I was rewatching a WoodWhisperer podcast and I think I got the idea from Marc’s tablesaw. Very much the same thing.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Good idea.

-- Jiri

I’ve seen this idea in one of those woodworker mags somewhere. Nice to know that it does work. That’s all that matters. Good post Jeff. You might have saved more fingers than your own.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Thanks, I’ve made a slight modification since I posted this last year. The hinge screws were very small and started to fail after months of use. I added some screws with more strength since the hinge will be receiving stress with each use.

-- Jeff, South Carolina