Silly SawStop Question (ref. Upgraded DC Blade-Guard)

[Rich Seifert]

Good morning all. I've had my SS 1.75HP 36" Professional Cabinet Saw with the Mobile Base and upgraded fence system for about 4 years and I love it (except for the annoyance with the upgraded blade guard dust collection that others have expressed disappointment with). That said, I haven't been using it as designed. I used it for a very short time with the "metal rods" contraption, but never understood the purpose of the metal rods and v-shaped plastic tip. It has worked perfectly with out the additional "bling" ... so my question to you all is, "What am I missing?" :-)

[Cliff Polubinsky]

It's used as a guide. If your wood passes under the tip it will pass under the back of the splitter where the dust hood is attached. If it won't pass under the v tip it will hang up on the back of the splitter.

Cliff

[Keith Hankins]

It's used as a guide. If your wood passes under the tip it will pass under the back of the splitter where the dust hood is attached. If it won't pass under the v tip it will hang up on the back of the splitter.

Cliff

+1. If it fits it will split (pardon the pun). I have the ICS and had similar issues with the DC. I made changes and now it works like a charm. Biggest thing was replacing the 90 degree connection point to the main dust port. Moved it back and made it a sweep and all issues resolved. Love it now.

Here is a flickr album, on how i did mine with automatic blast gates.


https://flic.kr/s/aHsjUBtYEe

[glenn bradley]

Yep, Cliff's got it. If you routinely run your blade quite high, you've probably never run into your pawl's connection points. If you run low, the rods and "V" tell you all is well before you get into the cut.

[Cliff Polubinsky]

Keith,

That's an interesting mod. I'll have to give that a try. Did it really improve the suction a lot?

Cliff

[Keith Hankins]

Keith,

That's an interesting mod. I'll have to give that a try. Did it really improve the suction a lot?

Cliff

Yes it did improve it. I cut the hose down to take all the extra out. Go for gentle sweeps where possible. I knew as soon as I looked at that stock part that was 90 to the main dust port it would kill the suction on it. by eliminating that 90 and doing the sweep, it was noticeable. In one of the pics it showed me connecting it up under the table. That created drag so i got rid of it. I had put it up high so I could reach the blast gate without bending over.

Once I got the grngates (highly recommend) not needed anymore so I put it back on the floor with a strait run to the DC. Mine is a 2hp unit, I've had for over 20 years. I've learned over the years make the runs as short as possible and no sharp bends will help.

My final shop (and i'm planning it now) will have all the DC in the floor.

good luck and enjoy the SS, I know it's been the best saw I ever used.

Take care. Cheers.

[Rich Seifert]

It's used as a guide. If your wood passes under the tip it will pass under the back of the splitter where the dust hood is attached. If it won't pass under the v tip it will hang up on the back of the splitter. Cliff

Well I'll be darned! I run it low ... usually the blade is about 1/4" above the top of the wood's surface ... and I have hung-up on the back of the overhead dust collector. Thanks for answering! - Rich