Shark Guard

[Robert Chapman]

Who has used the Shark Guard blade guard and splitter on their TS? Good product? Problems? Recommendations? I'm seriously looking at one for my Steel City 10" hybrid.

[frank shic]

excellent product just takes forever for him to build it and ship it. the splitter is easily inserted and removed with a simple flick of a lever and the dust port will virtually eliminate all the dust coming from above the blade. you'll still need to either hook up a hose to the bottom of your table saw or sweep up the rest of the dust. air quality has improved so much that i don't even use my air filter anymore!

[Dave Lewis]

I would agree with Frank. The dust collection is good and the machining is nice.

Just be prepared to wait.

[John Durscher]

I have a shark guard. I really like it. It really is worth the wait.

John

[Bob Hallowell]

It took 3 months for mine, but well worth the wait.

Bob

[jim sauterer]

put my name on the waiting list yesterday.he e-mailed and told me when he was ready to build mine he would let me know.think it was 1 to 12 weeks.

[RickT Harding]

Another happy shark guard user here. Have it on a Delta contractor saw. Mucho better than the stock garbage.

[frank shic]

lee's product is so good it makes you wonder why none of the other table saw manufacturers haven't tried to buy the design off of him. oh wait, they cost $134 +$15 for the mega mouth option (trust me, you WANT this)...:eek:

[Sue Wise]

I have on my Grizzly cabinet saw. I love it.

-Sue

[Roy Hill]

I have one on my Griz 1023 and love it. I bought the 4" dust port and have it connected to a 6 " hose. It will pull the insert right out to the saw if I open the blast gate wide open. One of the best investments I have ever made.

Roy Hill

[James Hart]

+1. I have it on a PM66. Much better than the stock guard in every way.

Worth the wait.

Jim

[Randal Stevenson]

I have a BT3100 but don't use it as I have gone to the EZ Smart. I loaned mine to my neighbor (same saw) and he asked how much, as "your not getting it back". I found a used one on another forum, as I didn't want to wait, since my table saw is going out to a relatives farm. (they would rather my EZ, but they can buy that)

[Bob Slater]

I found Lee very helpful in helping me figure out how to adapt his design to my old General TS. Sent several Emails back and forth and came up with a low cost option.

[Rod Sheridan]

Who has used the Shark Guard blade guard and splitter on their TS? Good product? Problems? Recommendations? I'm seriously looking at one for my Steel City 10" hybrid.


It's a great guard/dust hood except for one short coming. It has to be removed for non through cuts such as dadoes, rebates, and grooves.

If you're not going to be making any non through cuts, buy one, otherwise purchase an overarm guard such as the Excalibur, and install a removable splitter such as the Merlin.

Regards, Rod

[Larry Fox]

I am anxiously awaiting mine so I am happy to hear all these positives. If it helps, I placed my order on 10/15 and it still has not arrived but when I emailed him in Jan (around the 15th) he said he was working on it.

[Byron Trantham]

I use one on my Unisaw. I had a Biesemeyer splitter installed before I bought the Shark Guard. When I told him that, he said if I could wait a bit he was designing one that would snap into that holder I waited and boy was it worth the wait. Like the Biesemeyer splitter it just snaps in an out. No pain no strain!:D Oh yea and it collects dust like crazy.

[Danny Thompson]

Rod and others,

Is a blade guard that important during non-through cuts? Why?

[John Thompson]

Lee Styrone is a class act from the quality workman-ship to the way he conducts business when initially making contact and into the future if you encounter any problem which you most likely won't. The design is just too good to that problems can arise.

Sarge...

[Rod Sheridan]

Rod and others,

Is a blade guard that important during non-through cuts? Why?

Hi Danny, I'm not sure how to answer that except;

- on through or non through cuts with no guards, the blade is exposed

- many non through cuts use a dado head, dadoes have a bad habit of snagging a finger and gulping as much of your hand into the cutter as they can

So, yes, since I wouldn't use a saw with an exposed blade for through cuts, I wouldn't use it for non through cuts either.

I don't know how my fingers could tell the difference on intended use of the cutter?

Regards, Rod.

[David Keller NC]

"Rod and others,

Is a blade guard that important during non-through cuts? Why?"

Just as a note, Marc Adam's school doesn't allow non-through cuts on a table saw. They consider them unsafe (at least according to the safety articles he wrote for Popular Woodworking), and so students are directed to other tools for these cuts (routers, bandsaws, etc..).

And in Europe, many saws are made so that you cannot use a dado head - also considered unsafe.

[Rod Sheridan]

"Rod and others,

Is a blade guard that important during non-through cuts? Why?"

Just as a note, Marc Adam's school doesn't allow non-through cuts on a table saw. They consider them unsafe (at least according to the safety articles he wrote for Popular Woodworking), and so students are directed to other tools for these cuts (routers, bandsaws, etc..).

And in Europe, many saws are made so that you cannot use a dado head - also considered unsafe.

Hi David, good comment, that's why I now cut tenons on the shaper as opposed to the table saw, I couldn't design a guard for a tenon jig that I liked.

(Of course I could cut them with a dado cutter in conjunction with an over arm guard).

My FIL is a retired cabinet maker who was educated and apprenticed in England. He is critical of the tablesaw as the "do all" machine, which seems to be how it's promoted in North America.

I own a shaper in my hobby shop due partly to my industrial experience, and partly to his comments about using the correct tool for the correct job.

I now cut all my rebates, and most of my grooves on the shaper, it has the correct guards and a power feeder to keep my fingers safe.

Once you've used a rebate cutter with scoring and hogging blades, you'll never go back to the squirrel chewed look of the stacked dado.

Many Euro saws accept that type of dado cutter, and the cut quality is astounding.

Regards, Rod.

[Jim Eller]

The best thing about it is.................I use it.

Can't say that about original equipment one.

Jim

[Jack Ellis]

I have a Shark Guard for my BT3100 and I'm about to order another one for my Jet 10X. It's an excellent product and the manufacturer stands behind it like few others do. In my case, a 12 week wait is no problem - it'll be longer than that before I can install the DC it will be connected to.

[Al Willits]

I have one on my Delta Hybrid, biggest thing is it works, which is more than I can say for the original guard, not what I'd call a good design or quality and after a piece fell off it while cutting I tossed it.

Now I use the Shark, and it works well.

Ya, be nice to have a tool for every project, unfortunately I don't have a unlimited woodworking budget so I have to make do, dado's on the table saw can be safe if you pay attention, and I'm not so sure the router is all that much safer, I wonder which of the two have done more unplanned
surgeries in the wood shop??

Either way, I have the Shark and its a lot better than the stock one...a lot.

al

[Adam Slutsky]

I have one on my small delta TS350 and have been using it for about a year. My favorite part is the dust collection port. Between the regular dust collection and the shark guard dust port little escapes. It is well made and I would recommend it.