Hi does anyone here have....

[Bart Leetch]

The Delta 34-976 Deluxe Uniguard Blade Guard. I am more interested in the functionality of being able to flip up one side or the other or both of the guard if need be than dust collection.
I have had the Exaktor for several years but never really been happy with it.

[Roland Chung]

I had that blade guard, but I just replaced it with the Exactor for it's dust collection:eek:. Originally, I was only going to buy the guard and try to adapt it to the arm of the Uniguard, but I thought that it might take longer to try and make things fit so I bought the whole unit.

Now that I have had a chance to use both, there is no clear winner. I do miss the way that I could flip up one side of the Uniguard when ripping narrow stock, but I don't miss the pile of sawdust streaming onto my apron from the front of the Uniguard. The Exactor is not perfect, but it picks up probably 95% of the sawdust that used to spray out of the Uniguard.

There was an article in one of the woodworking mags (several years ago) that showed how to retrofit the Uniguard with a small dust collection port - but I have not been able to find it. If you really don't need the dust collection, I found the Uniguard to be a well engineered and sturdy unit.

RC

[tod evans]

bart, i`ve tried just about every blade guard on the market and hate them all! i don`t use one on any saw.....02 tod

[Jim Becker]

Bart, I had a UniGuard a few years ago and sold it in favor of the Excalibur. The UniGuard had two faults...it's mounting system is "fixed" and cannot be easily moved out of the way in the situation where you need to move something tall over the table saw or need to surface for other things...like extra assembly space. It also has zero provisions for dust collection...it's only a guard. I solved that by building a replacement guard head out of Lexan which was quite effective, but issue number one caused me to liquidate it. I like the Excalibur because it has none of these issues...it comes completely off the saw if need be in a minute or two and has excellent dust collection. The same would apply to several other commercial guards as well as many of the shop-built designs that I have seen. (The "narrow stock" feature of the UniGuard really didn't come into play with me)

[Tim Shetler]

bart, i`ve tried just about every blade guard on the market and hate them all! i don`t use one on any saw.....02 tod

I have made a living in the woodshop for about 30 years now. I have to agree with Tod. I hate any guard on any saw. Personally, I believe that they are a safety hazard. I was raised to respect the machines and thier capability. Guards tend to cause people to let thier "guard" down. I like to see exactly what I am doing and where I am cutting.

[Bart Leetch]

I guess I am more worried about the powers that be because my shop is used part of the time for work & the other part of the time for hobby. I think I'll keep this guard system & see if I can build a new Lexon guard that will be narrower & more adjustable to the situation.

Thanks for your help.