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Mike Kelly
02-21-2005, 12:25 PM
Ken, Keith, Aaron. If you deem this worthy, you can place in "Article and Reviews" if you want to.


Excalibur Guard Installation on a Delta Unisaw with Unifence and Delta Mobile Base.

Loosen the Unifence and slide it to the left to allow space for drilling bracket holes behind fence. See Figure 1.

The first items to construct are the Brace and Upper Brace on the far right side of the saw’s table. I used 2-inch angle iron from Home Depot for all of the attachments. These cuts can be made with a hacksaw or an abrasive cut-off saw if you have one. File the edges smooth to protect yourself on all cut offs.

Measure the inside dimension from the Unifence mount to the rear table mount and cut a piece for the Upper Brace. Look at Figure 2., and buy two right angle brackets also from HD. Stanley makes them. Look at the Figure 3. picture and note that the two holes drilled through the front attachment bar for the Unifence have to be countersunk. Use flat head screws for these two. I think they were 3/8” x about 1” hardware with lock washers under all nuts.

Measure the dimension across the bottom of the mobile base and cut a lower Brace the same size. Doesn’t really have to span the whole length. I drilled two mounting holes and bolted this to the mobile base.

Look at Figure 4., and mark a pencil line 1 inch closer to the rear of the saw than what the Excalibur instructions tell you. (I made mine to their specs, 8 inches, and it is too close to the front of the saw. It works OK, but it would be better 1-inch farther rearward.) Note the awl in the picture is pointing to the line. Use 7 inches from the rear edge of your table. (Step 2 of their instructions minus one more inch.)
Look at Figure 1., and Figure 5., and see that I had a clamp holding the arm in place while I marked the foot position. Make sure everything is vertically straight and plumb at this point. Drill two mounting holes for the Excalibur Lower Column Assembly to mount to. Bolt it to the side.

Construct the Excalibur Foot, Figure 6., from 2 pieces of angle iron, drill a mounting hole through both and bolt to the lower brace.

Next construct the Excalibur Foot Adjust bolt, Figure 7., out of allthread, 4 nuts, and four washers. Drill a mounting hole through the Excalibur leg and the lower Brace and Mobile Base. You may have to drill the holes through the leg first, mark the bracket where the hole comes out and then drill through the Brace and Mobile Base. Mount the allthread with the nuts and washers, put a level on the top and adjust until you have it where you want it, tighten the nuts and you have a more solid mount than their Mickey Mouse bracket affair, plus you don’t have to work around their brackets which I think would eliminate your lower table area.

I took mine apart after I built it and spray painted it flat black with Rustoleum and reinstalled. Looks like it belonged there all along.

Good luck.

I will add Figure 6 & 7 as a response.

Mike Kelly
02-21-2005, 12:26 PM
Here is Figure 6 & 7 for above task.

Allan Johanson
02-21-2005, 12:41 PM
Wow....nice job. I also realized how lame those two metal straps are and how they don't do much to stop the heavy Excalibur from leaning. Here's how I attached mine:

- 2x4 under the extension with bolts running through it to hold the Excalibur
- The Excalibur "foot" fits in a mortise in a 4x4 that is fastened on the mobile base.

It's rock solid now. I'm pleased.

Cheers,

Allan

P.S. I hope the pics appear...I don't see them on the preview post function.

Jeff Sudmeier
02-21-2005, 12:52 PM
That sure seems to be worthy of an article to me! It looks to be a great addition to any saw. I have had my eye out for a used one for some time. At some point I suppose that I will have to break down and buy one used :)

Mike Kelly
02-21-2005, 12:58 PM
I forgot to include a final shot. I peeled their label off and put a flag on it to show who worked on it last!

Mike Kelly
02-21-2005, 1:01 PM
Wow....nice job. I also realized how lame those two metal straps are and how they don't do much to stop the heavy Excalibur from leaning. Here's how I attached mine:

- 2x4 under the extension with bolts running through it to hold the Excalibur
- The Excalibur "foot" fits in a mortise in a 4x4 that is fastened on the mobile base.

It's rock solid now. I'm pleased.

Cheers,

Allan

Thanks Allan. Yours is real simple. Fewer trips to HD for sure!

Allan Johanson
02-21-2005, 1:11 PM
Thanks Mike. But mine is an ugly hack job. Yours is far cooler. I'll make a better one because of you now. :D

Cheers,

Allan

Jim Becker
02-21-2005, 1:28 PM
Good article! My installation isn't quite as elegant, but it also anchors the foot so that I could bag the angled supports, leaving the space under the extension table free for a storage cabinet. (An old copier base at present)

http://sawsndust.com/images/excallibur/excalibur-1.jpg

http://sawsndust.com/images/excallibur/excalibur-3.jpg

Kevin Mello
10-25-2009, 7:10 AM
I searched high and low to find articles on installation modifications for the Excalibur Blade Guard and came across this thread. Since I have a right-tilt Unisaw, Mike Kelly's design deals with the same issues that I have and is the BEST I could come up with. Thanks for posting this, Mike, even if I am getting to read it 4 years late!!! :eek:

I figured I would post this as a thank you and to keep the thread alive in case it was soon to meet it's demise by the archive machine. :D

...Looks like I'll be heading out the HD to pickup some angle iron.

Mike Kelly
10-25-2009, 8:42 PM
Kevin, it is still working just fine. I had forgotten I had posted this. It is still useful I guess. Good luck with it.

Kevin Mello
10-27-2009, 9:00 AM
Thanks again, Mike. I followed your (excellent) plan to a T with the exception of the threaded rod you bolted to the foot. Rather than doing that, I bolted another piece of angle iron to the U-channel you have under yours to form an end cap which prevents the leg from kicking-out when the boom is extended.

Like you, I didn't install the angle brackets that run from the leg to the underside of the extension table. I don't think it is necessary, but if I notice undue stress on the leg later, I can always install them.

Between running out to HD and all the angle iron cutting I had to do, the whole job took me the better part of a day, but it is VERY sturdy.

My only issue now is that the suction at the blade guard could be stronger. I read somewhere else (that I can't find now) that someone discovered a (defect) restriction in the tube, so I looked for one in mine and discovered that they have a plate welded to the end of the 3" pipe in order for it to run on a track inside the 4" pipe. Rather than having an opening close to the 3" O.D. of the pipe, the plate has a hole about 2" in diameter. - I'm hesitant to cut a bigger hole because I don't want to affect the structural integrity of the pipe assembly, but I really think that the opening can/should be larger. - I'm going to ask General if this is an appropriate modification before I breakout my hole saw. :D

Mike Kelly
10-27-2009, 9:36 AM
I guess I never looked inside the pipe. 2" would be pretty restrictive for most dust collection systems. Mine seems to pick up most of the dust and chips if the dust foot is resting on the material. Not as good when I have to lift it for cut off sled.

The threaded rod on the foot was for adjusting the overarm to make it level. I have never touched it after setting it, so if you get it right the first time you are good forever I think.

It took me a whole day and at least two trips to HD to create also. Show us a picture when you are done!

Kevin Mello
10-31-2009, 2:45 PM
Hi Mike,
Here are the pics. I would have sent them sooner, but my camera battery was dead when I went to take them the other night.

You can see where I modified the foot bracket. Other than that, the design is all yours.

Thanks again for posting it!

Mike Kelly
10-31-2009, 3:11 PM
Looks real good Kevin. Yours is the newer style with the tube more firmly mounted at the table level it looks like, so the foot adjustment I did isn't necessary. Should last forever!