Table saw blade guards

I never installed mine 20 years ago when I bought my saw for all the reasons you listed.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture ,maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

I don’t even remember how to put mine on

-- Ron, Missouri

i don’t even know where mine ( 3 different saws ) are ,
although i saved them ,
in case i ever sell one .
when i buy a new saw ,
whether chop or table saw ,
it’s the first thing to go !

-- david ,new mexico ,allheart

I was in the same position when I owned my Craftsman saw. I took the blade guard off right after I bought it for all the same reasons that you described. It was a serious compromise of the saw’s safety features as you say. But with my new saw it takes only a few seconds to remove or replace the blade guard with a riving knife so I use it all the time, unless I am doing a cut that precludes use of the blade guard.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I have never used mine

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

mine has been collecting dust for 4 yrs

-- Gary, DeKalb Texas

I don’t have them on mine, and I have an over head one for one of my saw’s. I’m with you, I think they can be, and I stress “can,” be more dangerous in place then without them. My advice, for what it’s worth, and what I tell the people who come into the shop to work, is to do what you feel comfortable with. If you’re comfortable and feel safe with the guards in place, then use them, if you’re not comfortable with them in place then don’t use them. However, I feel I should mention that the best blade guard/splitter system I’ve seen on a table saw is the one that’s on the new Delta Unisaw. If I owned one of those saws, I’d really consider at least keeping the splitter in place.

-- "At its best, life is completely unpredictable." - Christopher Walken

Ditto for all the reasons mentioned above. I’ve tried (usually once) with each blade guard on each new saw, then promptly remove them. Besides getting in the way, visibility and jamming etc, the concern I have is that the saw blade guards do nothing to prevent the most common type of accident. Say you are neglecting to use push sticks, and you slip or the piece is fired out. What happens? Your hands might slide on the top towards the blade. blade guards will just lift out of the way and let your hand slide right into the blade. Worse yet they might actually hold you down towards the saw if you try to pull up. The only safety options that I’ve seen that look useful are splitters and that SawStop.

I keep blades adjusted as low as possible, I usually adjust the blade to have 3 teeth showing above the material thickness. Also I keep my hands at least 10 inches from the blade, always have push sticks handy, and never take my focus off the cutting path until the blade is fully stopped. When not in use I drop the blade below the table height.

-- You know.... I think that old wood needs to be furniture.

I use mind only cause it is very fast to put on and take off For a while I was not using… When I started out back in shop class there was not to splitter or gaurd on the shop saw either I just think it is when and who taugh you into the wood working sceen….I know there is going to be people saing you HAVE to use it…well if you feel more conterable then dont use is…Now I actly like using mind as it some what helps me with ripping boards….for cross cutting well i usally have to remore it most of the time…but i also have a decated chop saw for that

-- christoper Blanchard, Michigan

Tried it at least once on each saw, and then stored it in a safe place. My current saw has a riving knife that I do like using and leave on all the time.

-- Mike

I’m saving mine for the wake.
Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I think they all suck for all the reasons you listed. Used one 32 years ago and had a kickback and cut 2 fingers off and had them reattached.

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

It’s a personal choice with pros and cons, like wearing a motorcycle helmet.

As long as you have some sort of splitter or riving knife setup, I don’t think it is that big a deal. But if some of you guys are ditching the stock blade guard with the built in splitter, and operating the saw with no protection against a board closing up against the blade, I personally think you are playing with fire.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Since my TS is mostly dedicated for ripping, I leave mine on all the time. I feel more comfortable with having the anti-kickback pawls and splitter engaged during a cut.

My old craftsman blade guard was a huge pain, compared to this new saw that has a fairly easy on/off thumbscrew and the lead edge beveled splitter travels up and down with the blade and holds good alignment with it. I can also see my cut easily, which promotes leaving it on.

I don’t build furniture at this point so I use my router for dado, and rabbets. Crosscutting I have a RAS. I like having machines pretty much dedicated to a task, so that it saves on set-up time.

To paraphrase Blazing Saddles: Blade guards? We don’t need no stinkin blade guards!

-- I'm a lumberjock and I'm ok, I sleep all night and I work all day!

My saw has a riving knife which I use almost all the time. the guard – - – no it gets in the way

-- Sharp tools and thin whispy shavings make woodworking a joy.

In doing a major clean-out the other day I just found mine after several years of it not being on my Delta contractors saw. I have a good 12” miter saw so I mostly do ripping.

I’m considering putting it back on. I sort of see it like people who don’t wear helmets on motorcycles. It’s just a matter of time.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

I have an overhead guard built into an overhead extractor tube but I very seldom use it either .Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Go to this thread….
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=76081&page=2

on post #17 there are two links to Photobucket…click on them to see the “result”...

To know the “reason” for the “result” please read post #19…

BTW, it’s his brand new table saw operated the first time and as I know, it has a Riving knife and a very good blade guard…but he decided to remove them maybe, as a result of a thread like this one….

Well, as Kelly Mehler said, “95% of the American woodworkers do not use the blade guard”...

Wow, 60,000 accidents a year…Steve nows what he is doing…

It’s not the first time (nor the last I believe) that we can see on the Internet (on deferent forums) the “Who is using the guard” thread and I really don’t know what is the purpose of threads like this…If one wants to use the guard – just use it, and if not, I think that it’s not so appropriate to announce it so the young generation will “learn” the “correct way of using a table saw”...

I think that the more experienced woodworkers have to give a good example to the beginners…

Just because one is not using the blade guard for the “last 30 years” and have all his fingers, doesn’t mean that everybody will do the same because we are not the same “Operating System”...just like not everybody can be an F-16 pilot or Astronaut…

And if you’ll take into consideration that, when getting older, the reactions and instincts are a little bit different…

Have a safe work
niki

Blade guards are a pain and I don’t use one but having ridden a motorcycle for over 20 years I do wear a helmet realizing in doing so that all it will accomplish in a real accident is to keep all the parts of my head in one place where they can find them (-;

Play safely but have fun.

-- Les B, Oregon

I use a shop-made overarm / dust collecting guard whenever possible and shop-made splitters installed in shop-made zero clearance inserts when ripping. If I need to bevel rip at an angle I haven’t done yet, I grab a blank insert and splitter stock and make a custom insert on the spot.

Most of my crosscuts are done with sleds, defeating the over-guard. With my sleds it’s really obvious were the cut will be and my fingers won’t, so I’m not worried.

The over-guard works fine on rips down to ~ 1-3/4” wide. Narrower than that, and the guard goes up and out of the way, the blade goes down to 1 tooth above the work, and thick, cheap, sacrificial push blocks (NOT sticks!) come into use that travel right over the blade.

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

I haven’t used the one that came with the saw for at least 20 years. I use push sticks and keep my paws back and stand to the side out of the line of fire. I would put it on if I were going to do a lot of ripping.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

I gues I’m odd-man-out.

I have a Penn State Industries overhead guard with dust collection and use it as often as I can.
Of course, there are situations in which it impossible to use, but even on sled cuts i bring it as low as I can.
It protects my vision and picks up at least some of the sawdust.
I’ve lived 76 years and wish to keep on doing so.
Having something happen to my face because I didn’t use the guard would be nasty.

Besides, what’s my hurry?

Its not like I have to be somewhere else soon.

I have the luxury of taking my time, and I do.

d

-- If a man says something in the forest and there's no woman to hear it, is he still wrong?

Thanks for all the great posts guys.

I did not start this thread to say that one should or should not use it. I just was curious. As for teaching the younger generation of woodworkers, I would rather not lie to them. I don’t use it. I am very very careful with my wood working. I keep fingers WELL away from the blade, stand to the side when cutting, don’t push toward the blade with my hands, set the blade just above the piece and use push sticks all the time. To anyone wanting to work or working in a shop now a days- Safety is your number one concern! Never do something that feels even remotely dangerous. Find a way to make a jig or use something other than your hands to get near the blade. In my opinion we have really come a long way in the last 50 years. I am still a youngster really but I’ve seen a lot of the machines and things that were used in the industrial revolution. Talk about dangerous! Safety is my #1 concern but I am still a free man and I choose to do it this way. Interestingly, bringing this up and talking about it will make me 10 times more careful then next time I touch a saw.

I took my blade guard and cut off the big clear plastic cover that goes over the blade section. I now use the splitter and the anti kick back when I think about it. It still does not stay on all the time because It is constantly in the way. If I had the money I would buy a saw that is easier to change out so that I would use it like some of you are saying.

Gotta add something here:
last year I was using a somewhat dull chisel to do some work on a dado. It slipped out of the piece and sliced across my thumb cutting the tendon and lots of nerves. It was really bad and still to this day I can’t feel parts of my thumb. I am lucky, I guess ,to still have a thumb. If this happened long ago I might still have lost it to infection. Point is I had my hand in front of the work as I was pushing and that is why I caught my thumb. Should I never use chisels? I can’t put a guard on those. I did change the way that I use chisels though. If I had been taught the correct way to chisel from the get go this may not have happened. Never put any part of you body in front of where your pushing.
You could still very easily slide your hand under a table saw guard or fall under it having a false sense of security from the guard. Lots of people start using table saws with out instruction. Your don’t have to have a license to buy them in fact you don’t even have to be a certain age. Education and knowledge is the most important safety feature.

-- LAS

I haven’t used the stock guard since day one. Same reasons mentioned. I built an overarm guard (posted in my projects a while back) and used it where possible.

I read an article about Euro saws vs. American counterparts and was shocked. The Euro versions have higher standards required to sell them. While I forget the exact specs, the removal or installing of the guard had to be able to be done in a matter of 10-15 seconds. Same for splitters. I assume they believe any longer and it will not be used. The throat plates must have nearly zero clearance as well. The stop switch has to be of the knee bump style. I found it funny that the same manufacturers develop both the safer one’s and the one’s we buy here. Saving a buck I suppose.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

I use a Brett Gaurd whenever I can and find it a great tool and guard. The one that came with my General TS is junk and hangs on the wall collecting dust. I believe in guards and use them when ever possible. I made my own splitter that is 5” tall to replace the little one that comes with the Brett and it has pevented counts blunders by me of wood being flung back into me.

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

I dont use mine either. The splitter is very important, but I find the blade guard is more trouble than its worth.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

I did not use the splitter, pawls or blade guard on my old saw (a HF special) because of the reasons originally mentioned. I did have one kickback incident that shot a board thru the garage wall, but since I don’t stand directly behind the blade, I was not injured, but could have been if I wasn’t paying attention.

On my new Rigid, I do use them and plan on leaving them on, so far they have worked great, though I have only made about 10 cuts on the TS.

I agree with Don B., one should never be in a hurry when using tools, the last time I was in a hurry, I shoved a chisel in my hand. I take things much slower now.

Be safer, there’s no reason not to.

-- "You get what you inspect, not what you expect"

I agree with USCJeff that in the EC safety laws are much more stringent, and yes the same manufacturers of tools that we get here (US versions) can be less safe or darn right dangerous. I understand why so many people remove safety devices, it is not that they are stupid or evil, it is simply because the safety devices are awkward or prevent required use of the tool. In short, some of the safety devices put on US marketed tools are bloody awful and poorly designed. If safety devices were of a good design that would not impare the tool user then you can expect users to leave them on. So why don’t WE have safety standards like the EU?
Theory: Losing body parts or digits in the US is good for the health care industry, while the Europeans want less preventable accidents.
BTW I have not removed my safety device off my table saw, and although many do as a preference I agree with niki that we don’t need to broadcast that to future woodworkers, we need to have safety rules/devices changed.
And for you master Skywalker01, taking off the guard could mean that The Force will be With You – unexpectedly

-- Roger, Rep. of Texas

I plan on making a Sharkguard or something similar for my saw, pain to use or not, soon. I’ve had too many close calls, and am grateful I still have to use of my thumb and middle finger. It’s may very well hang from the ceiling on a flexible arm, is what I am thinking.

I say keep it, pain or not. Aren’t your fingers worth a little extra trouble?

-- Beer, Beer, Thank God for Beer. It's my way of keeping my mind fresh and clear...

The problem with Craftsman saws is having to have it out of the way to set the fence at both ends.

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

I should complete my thought.

The overhead guard I have is attached to the ceiling, so the guard floats above the table. If I need it to get out of the way I can rotate it up on the arm or I can remove it from the arm completely.

The guard that came with my saw was garbage. When I complained about it they sent an identical replacement which was simply another piece of garbage. I think there is a concensus here, that US blade guards that come with saws are terrible.

When, I wonder, will the manufacturers get the message?

d

-- If a man says something in the forest and there's no woman to hear it, is he still wrong?

What kind of guard do they have in Europe?

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

the guard for my saw found the trash bin before the saw made it out of the box