Question for Sawstop owners

[Joe Jensen]

Are other owners getting scratches on top of what ever is being cut when they use the blade guard? The scratches are from the anti-kickback pawls. I will try filing them down, just wondering if others have this issue....joe

[David Romasco]

I'm mostly cutting white oak, so I haven't really noticed (yet). Thos anti-kickback pawls LOOK wicked, though.....

[Walt Caza]

Hi Joe,
Yes, my Sawstop blade guard leaves a.k. pawl tracks on top of any
and all softer materials. I cut up some 3/4" plywood for a workshop
first-aid wall cabinet this week, and was disappointed to discover the
parallel-to-the-fence gouges. (deep too!)

I just got my Sawstop cs running this week. It was the first time I
can recall using a blade guard on my own tablesaw in 23 years of
throwing sawdust. I risk taking some heat by admitting that my
immediate response was to remove the guard (and a.k. pawls) and
swap in the buttery riving knife.

I suppose the pawls could be user modified to mark less. The spring
action is quite strong and the teeth surprisingly sharp. Has anyone
tried this?

I am not a gambling man, but I would bet that having used the stock
guard just this one time, trumps the average woodworker who rumour
has it never uses it at all. Only time will tell if I include the guard in
everyday sawing. (braces for safety lectures)

Interested to hear from others about this issue,
Walt

ps this was my cherry post, I shall lurk no more...

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I can't imagine ever using a blade guard in the first place.
I have never used one. Well that's not entirely true. I used oe about thirty some odd years ago just long enough to convince myself that they were worthless and troublesome.

Of course they may be helpful to suck off the chips if you have a DC rigged to it. But other than facilitating the DC, (and I use a broom) I just have no use for them.

[Roy Wall]

I am not a gambling man, but I would bet that having used the stock
guard just this one time, trumps the average woodworker who rumour
has it never uses it at all. Only time will tell if I include the guard in
everyday sawing. (braces for safety lectures)

Interested to hear from others about this issue,
Walt

ps this was my cherry post, I shall lurk no more...

welcome to smc Walt! I was a NON-blade guard guy like many until I got the Sawstop last year.....now the blade guard never comes off unless its a non thru cut....I'm very pleased with the way it operates.

[John Leslie]

Joe,

Pushing some sugar pine through I have experienced the anti-kickback pauls marring the wood as you describe. Swapped out for the riving knife (a 30 second operation) for the rest of my pine rips but I had to steam out the dents for the first few pieces. Not so much for cherry, at least not enough to worry that it did not clean itself up during final sanding anyway. It would be nice if the springs were not quite so strong but I think I am going to live with it, at least for now.

- John

[David Giles]

Kickback pawls? Are those the little things attached to the plastic cover that gets in the way of the Gripper?:) Different techniques for different folks.

[Ben Grunow]

Mines been hanging on the hook since I got the saw. You are in good company here.

[Tom Jones III]

I had the same experience with my PM 66. After posting here and asking about the utility of the anti-kickback pawls I took them off. Note I still use the splitter and blade guard, I only removed the swinging arms that were causing problems.

[Steve Gass]

First, thanks to Michael Dresdner over at Woodworker's Journal eZine for bringing this thread to my attention.

I'm going to start by agreeing that the anti-kickback pawls are a pain. The challenge from a design standpoint is to make a pawl shape that will grip any thickness of wood at any blade height setting. This is much harder with a riving-knife style guard where the anti-kickback pawls go up and down with the blade. We are still working on trying to improve the design of the pawls, but we haven't arrived at an all around satisfactory solution yet.

In the meantime, there isn't much you can do to eliminate the scratching other than remove the pawls. If you file off the point, the pawls might not get a good enough grip on the material to bite in.

Interestingly, there is a new standard for table saw guarding that will be going into effect in the next few years and it actually mandates that anti-kickback pawls be removable independent of the rest of the guard to minimize the chance that a user will remove the entire guard to eliminate a problem with the pawls. Our guard already complies with the new standards, so if your option is no guard or remove the pawls, I would suggest you remove the pawls and at least continue to use the rest of the guard. This change is coming in conjunction with a requirement of riving-knife style spreaders which go up and down with the blades and are much better at minimizing kickback than the typical American-style spreader which is fixed while the blade goes up and down.

Steve Gass, President
SawStop, LLC

[Jay Knepper]

My pawls were history after just a couple of uses.

The guard is so easy to replace that I use it when I can.

[Scott Pearson]

First, thanks to Michael Dresdner over at Woodworker's Journal eZine for bringing this thread to my attention.

I'm going to start by agreeing that the anti-kickback pawls are a pain. The challenge from a design standpoint is to make a pawl shape that will grip any thickness of wood at any blade height setting. This is much harder with a riving-knife style guard where the anti-kickback pawls go up and down with the blade. We are still working on trying to improve the design of the pawls, but we haven't arrived at an all around satisfactory solution yet.

In the meantime, there isn't much you can do to eliminate the scratching other than remove the pawls. If you file off the point, the pawls might not get a good enough grip on the material to bite in.

Interestingly, there is a new standard for table saw guarding that will be going into effect in the next few years and it actually mandates that anti-kickback pawls be removable independent of the rest of the guard to minimize the chance that a user will remove the entire guard to eliminate a problem with the pawls. Our guard already complies with the new standards, so if your option is no guard or remove the pawls, I would suggest you remove the pawls and at least continue to use the rest of the guard. This change is coming in conjunction with a requirement of riving-knife style spreaders which go up and down with the blades and are much better at minimizing kickback than the typical American-style spreader which is fixed while the blade goes up and down.

Steve Gass, President
SawStop, LLC

Just wondering about the riving-knife requirement comment. Could you elaborate on this comment some more?

Are they going to be required on all new TS in the USA, if so when?

Scott

[Bob Swenson]

Wonder what happened to that thing? Have to ask Per:rolleyes:

[Steve Gass]

Scott,

The UL committee that is responsible for developing standards for all power tools revised the standards related to tablesaws as of January 2005. The new standards, which take effect for new designs as of Jan. 2008 and for old designs on Jan. 2014, will required every table saw to include a riving knife style guard system. That is, the spreader will have to go up and down with the blade - similar to the European requirements. The new standard does not allow for the use of European-style hood guards - unfortunately in my personal opinion. They also still require anti-kickback pawls (again unfortunately in my opinion, but I got out-voted).

So in the next decade or so, all new tablesaws will probably be sold with European style riving knife/spreader based guards.

Steve

[Jay Knoll]

Steve

Welcome to the Creek! Thanks for the information.

Jay

[Frank Pellow]

Interestingly, there is a new standard for table saw guarding that will be going into effect in the next few years and it actually mandates that anti-kickback pawls be removable independent of the rest of the guard to minimize the chance that a user will remove the entire guard to eliminate a problem with the pawls. Our guard already complies with the new standards, so if your option is no guard or remove the pawls, I would suggest you remove the pawls and at least continue to use the rest of the guard. This change is coming in conjunction with a requirement of riving-knife style spreaders which go up and down with the blades and are much better at minimizing kickback than the typical American-style spreader which is fixed while the blade goes up and down.

Steve Gass, President
SawStop, LLC
Steve I like these standards.

Do you know if Canada will impose these standards as well?

How long do you expect "the next few years" to be?