Charles Treichel Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 It seems that about half the shops I have visited have at times removed the blade guard from their table saw. I sympathize with them because the guard is often a clumbsy thing to deal with and frequently gets in the way. I am guilty of this myself so I thought I would toy around with devising a more "user friendly" guard that could stay in place. The guard is made from a piece of 1/4 plexy and mounted from the ceiling of my shop on an adjustable mechanism to keep it in close proximity to the top of the blade. The back flap is made from a piece of converor belt and is mounted to the fence. For a cross cut the flap can be lifted when inserting the stock, if necessary. For ripping it can be removed and the saw positioned so that a pushing aid can move the stock through the blade with the plexy offering some protection from the blade. I am not making any blanket recommendations on duplicating this until I gain some experience testing it under different conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 I don't see a splitter and that is just as important as a guard. The only time I will operate a table saw without a splitter is when doing a Dado cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Doug (WA) Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 Ashamed to admit it, but the guard for my saw sits on top of a cupboard in my shop. I have no splitter. The guard, to me was worthless, but i would like to install some type of splitter. The problem being, when I'm not working on a project that requires the table saw, I don't think about it. When I am, I don't want to stop and take the time to do something about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Treichel Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 I've had too many problems with splitters and factory supplied guards, but the best bet if you are not confident of what you are doing is to use one and put up with the inconvenience. The only time I have ever had an "accident" with any of my tools (including chainsaws) is when I attemped to cut a tiny board with the blade up only about 1/4". It resulted in a nick to my middle finger. I use a variety of pushers to keep my hands away from danger. I have also demonstrated to myself and others the hazards of kickbacks and flying boards. I think this makes a lasting impression on novices learning the use of these powerful tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 A spliter will save your butt (of finger) and prevent a lot of kickbacks regardless of your confidence or skill level. You can can't predict which piece of wood is going to pinch the blade and go flying. It will also help, not always stop, the cut off from drifting into the bade which I have had happen. I agree with the factory guards being a pain. I cut mine up and saved and reshaped the spliter Latter I add a a very old Unisaw overhead guard. It's the only guard I have found I care for because it just lifts out of the way. But I have seen to many accidents that could have been prevented by a spliter and except for dado's or none through cuts it's not in the way. I wish there was a way to add riving knife to my Unisaw.. That has to be best safety invention in 50 years for the table saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAR Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 The best saw guard is a respectful and possibly fearful operator. Most of the issues associated with saw problems, are related to an operator not paying attention, while using it. I know a surprising number of half finger craftsmen and all will tell you, they plain screwed up. Complacency is the biggest problem. Never get comfortable with these machines. Always respect what they can do to human flesh and your fear, will force you to develop safe operation procedures. Much like successful epoxy use, once safe, reliable result procedures are established, stick to them religiously, so you always have success, with fingers intact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokeyhydro Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Yes, I would rathe have a guard in place w/splitter and those toothy things that grab the wood if it tries to kick back. But my guard is parked so I can violate table saw rules = rip from the outside of the board. Right, got to rip a gazillion 1/4" thick WRC strips. Am I going to reset the rip fence each time and hope I get the exact 1/4" measure? Noooo way. I set the fence at 1/4" and rip away. This precludes the use of the guard since at 1/4" it won't fit betwixt the fence & blade. I do set up a feather board, easy to reset every couple passes, and that has some grab power for kickbacks. And I gear up, sturdy gloves, safety goggles, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hagan Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 I haven't found a guard yet that I like, but I haven't used the more expensive ones. Charles, I like your idea, but I would be concerned about things flying back into your face if something catches and "explodes" on the saw. I had a piece of red oak shatter a factory guard one time, and I determined that the flying plastic was probably more dangerous than the flying wood. I use sleds for cross-cutting, and don't cut large panels on my table saw (I cut ply with a circular saw first). The problems I have had are usually with panels; get them out of alignment a bit and they can be airborne. And ripping, of course; I had an offcut move into the blade - after the cut but the saw was still running - and shoot the offcut back and through drywall and then stucco. It would have impaled me if I was on that side of the blade. I shut the saw off after every cut now. There's always a tendency to grab at something flying, but loose wood on a table saw is like a grenade and the only defensive measure is to get away from it. Somewhere I have a report on saw injuries, and I seem to remember that ripping was the most dangerous activity followed by trying to control wood that is starting to fly. I also assume a stance that is counter-intuitive at first, but you get used to it. Slightly sideways, with one foot foward, and all your weight on the rear foot. If something happens, you'll tend to fall backwards instead of forwards into the blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted March 29, 2013 Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 I scrapped the fingers and just used the spliter section. I hate those fingers. Frank, I don't know if you ever saw photos of my thumb but it was caused by a small peice getting into the blade. Mangled my thumb. Glad to see safety being discussed. Most people don't understand tablesaws and all the ways they can hurt you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Treichel Posted March 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2013 I believe the key to safety is understanding the tools and their potential for danger. That is why I like to show novices what can happen with flying boards, etc. and the importance of keeping body parts out of harms way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hagan Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 Jeff, I think I do remember seeing the damage to your thumb a few years back. I'll have to see if I can find the table saw injury study again; it had a second type of injury other than cutting that was very common, and I've forgotten what they called it exactly, but it had to do with crushing of fingers due to impact with flying wood. I remember being surprised at the number of that type of injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 That would be interesting to see. I was moving my hand across the front of the table to turn off the saw when a small cutoff get into the blade and was launched at me. I just happened to have my hand in the wrong place at the right time. The flying cutoff glanced off my thumb and messed it up bad. The only mistake I made was sled I was using allowed the cut off to get behind the blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hagan Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 Here are the two documents ... I think they are both using stats from one study. One is a 2011 proposal for new safety standards bought about by the guy that created SawStop who couldn't sell his invention to the saw manufacturers, so he tried to force them to adopt it through regulation. The word I was trying to think of for injuries caused by flying wood is "avulsion" ... tearing or separation of a body part from the body. powersaw.pdf tablesaw-2011.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudzu Posted March 30, 2013 Report Share Posted March 30, 2013 The word I was trying to think of for injuries caused by flying wood is "avulsion" ... tearing or separation of a body part from the body. That description makes me cringe but that is what I had. Never found the piece of wood or the part of the thumb it took with it either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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