Overhead blade guard, Shark

[Alan Greene]

Hello All,
I am considering the purchasing the "Shark" overhead guard, splitter and Paul's with the 4" vacuum, http://www.leestyron.com/sharkcrman.php. I have looked at the Excalibur, Brett and this one seems to be the best overall, from a safety standpoint, even though it does not come with a boom. Does anyone have any input on this? All help will be appreciated.

Thanks

[Mark Carlson]

Hi Alan,

I have the Shark Guard on a General 650. Only the 2 1/2in port was available at that time. I'd like to get the 4in model at some point when I get better dust collection. I went with the Shark over the over models because it didn't have a boom arm. For me it was easier to drop a line from the ceiling and the boom systems would have gotten in the way of my router mounted in the right extension table. The Shark comes with 3 sized spitters that are easily removed. The blade guard is also easily taken on and off. I think I might have got the first General 650 version because it didnt quite fit and Lee was great about fixing the issue and sending me new splitters. I would buy this system again for what ever table saw I was using.

If you do a search you will find a lot of threads on the Shark Guard. I cant remember a bad review.

I attached a picture of my guard.

~mark

[Alan Greene]

Mark,
Thanks for the advice. I did the search on the Shark Guard and found only good reviews as you said. The set-up you have is along the lines that I have been thinking about. I did ask Lee about running the DC Hose in an e-mail tonight. I am going to go ahead and get the shark ordered.:)

[frank shic]

Alan, I bought the sharkguard several months ago and I think that it's one of the best accesories that you can purchase for your table saw - right up there with a sliding table! The 4" port works really well but the suction is so great that sometimes small offcuts will get sucked up partway and block the blade. Try to mount the connecting dust hose as vertical as possible. I've got mine stretched across the right side of the table saw with approximately 1 foot clearance. As a result, the blade guard bends to the right just enough to block the cut unless I push it slightly back towards the left. Someday when iI get some more hose, I'll run it straight up towards the rafters and then make the detour back towards the dust collector. It's also really easy to remove the bladeguard once you get the hang of fiddling with the twist levers. The last drawback is that it can take several weeks since Lee's business is doing so well!

[Mike Ward]

Hi Mark,

I see you have the MastR Sliding table on your saw, with a Shark guard and dc. I've been wondering about that myself. I.e. when you move the MastRSlide up to the nose of the Shark, does it rise up over your extension facing? or do you always withdraw your fence to the left of the Shark and let the board being cut hang out so only it goes under the Shark? Just wondering.
Mike Ward

[JayStPeter]

I have an excalibur and will probably replace it with a shark to get rid of the boom arm.

[Mark Carlson]

Hi Mark,

I see you have the MastR Sliding table on your saw, with a Shark guard and dc. I've been wondering about that myself. I.e. when you move the MastRSlide up to the nose of the Shark, does it rise up over your extension facing? or do you always withdraw your fence to the left of the Shark and let the board being cut hang out so only it goes under the Shark? Just wondering.
Mike Ward

Mike,

The fence slides right under the rounded front of the shark guard. Its hard to see in the picture but that piece of MDF has a notch in it from the saw blade. This was a big issue for me because I wanted to use the blade guard when cross cutting.

~mark

["Gary Smith"]

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e98/oaksmith/Finished%20Shop/IMG_0475.jpg

[David Cramer]

Thanks for posting this. I want to do the same thing eventually and come down from the ceiling to collect the dust. Is there a huge difference between using a 2.5 inch hole on top versus a 4 inch hole. I have a fein vacuum that I want to attach to the top of the Shark. That baby really sucks and I figured I wouldn't have to go with a bigger hole on top because of it. Am I wrong on thinking this way? Just curious, but I am buying a Shark regardless.

Dave

[Mike Goetzke]

Thanks for posting this. I want to do the same thing eventually and come down from the ceiling to collect the dust. Is there a huge difference between using a 2.5 inch hole on top versus a 4 inch hole. I have a fein vacuum that I want to attach to the top of the Shark. That baby really sucks and I figured I wouldn't have to go with a bigger hole on top because of it. Am I wrong on thinking this way? Just curious, but I am buying a Shark regardless.

Dave

David - I have had both a 2-1/2" and 4" (BigGulp) ports. My short experience is that 2-1/2" is probably good enough. Plus a 2-1/2" hose is much lighter/flexible than a 4" so it is less sensitive to overhead hose location. The 4" is so powerful I'm thinking of gating it down a little or adding a coarse screen because it sometimes wants to suck up thin cut-offs. Either one is a good choice.

[Steve Milito]

Do all of these overhead guards need to be removed when cutting a dado?

[David Cramer]

Thanks Mike! That's what I was thinking and hoping, but have yet to put it to a test. With your advice and real world experience, the 2.5 inch is what I'll go with for sure. That Fein Vacuum should pull in a lot of the escaping dust from the top of the blade. Thanks for your post.

Dave