Question about the Shark Guard and other OA BCs

[crandall bishops]

I am looking to get a guard with the best dust collection abilities possible. The Shark Guard looks the best, as it seems to be universally loved, and I am in a small space and the Shark guard seems less space intensive than the boom types.

I am using my table saw to cut pre-finished samples, and I am concerned with the guard rubbing across the surface of what I am cutting. Can the Shark Guard be made to operate (safely) without rubbing the piece being cut?

If not, could a piece of soft felty/velvety tape, or the like, be used to cover the contact area, and prevent any scuffing?

Otherwise, what is the best boom type? The Excalibur seems to have been, but I don't see anyone selling it. Is the Exactor now the best. By best, for me, I mean dust collection first, followed by not getting in the way. And by not getting in the way, I use my saw only to cut larger sheets into 8.5" x 11" samples.

Thanks for the input.

[Jim Becker]

Crandall, Welcome to SMC!

The Excalibur is indeed available, but distribution is a bit slow right now as General inegrates the products into their line. (They recently bought out the company that created and marketed the Excalibur products)

I was unfamiliar with the SharkGuard until recently when many folks started posting about it. It's quite impressive and meets what I consider some important requirements:

1) Easy to take on and off
2) Use the/a splitter with or without the guard

[Alan Greene]

Crandall, Welcome to SMC. I just received my Shark Guard yesterday and finished the installation today. There are some pictures of the installation in this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=52154. PM me if you have any questions after looking at this. Lee who makes the Shark is great to work with and will answer any questions you have. Let me know if you need the web site.:)

[Dave Malen]

Crandal,
I have the exactor. My take - Pros - easy to push out of the way, works with my biesmeyer splitter, can be lowered just above the stock Con - dust collection sucks - :D (not so good)
Dave

[Chris Dodge]

Crandal,
I have the exactor. My take - Pros - easy to push out of the way, works with my biesmeyer splitter, can be lowered just above the stock Con - dust collection sucks - :D (not so good)
Dave

Dave,
Are you saying the Exaktor still left a lot of wood chips and dust around? I am going to be purchasing one soon and was sold on the Exaktor until your comment. What kind of Dust Collector do you have?

[Tom Bowdich]

I have the new Excalibur sold by General. The new model is made in Taiwan.

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Overall, I really like it, but did have to make some adjustments during the installation. First, I had to shorten the extension table. The arm is about 3" short of reaching the blade with the standard length extension table in place.

58280

The bracket that attaches to the end of the extension table requires a 3" skirt on the table. I had to extend the skirt on my Unisaw table to accomodate it. I also needed to attach the under-table braces - it seemed to flex too much without them.

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Also, when I put the arm on the mounting pin and swung it into position, it swung past the point where it was perpindicular to the blade - I had to put shims in the mounting bracket to get the alignment right.

Other than that, the quality seems good. Oh yeah - one more thing - probably related to coming from Taiwan - all of the mounting bolts and nuts are metric...

Regarding keeping the guard from marking the material you're cutting - the Excalibur guard can be locked in position above the thickness of the material, so it wouldn't touch it but would still provide good dust collection above the blade.

[JayStPeter]

Dave,
Are you saying the Exaktor still left a lot of wood chips and dust around? I am going to be purchasing one soon and was sold on the Exaktor until your comment. What kind of Dust Collector do you have?

I have an older Excalibur that is what became the Exaktor (same model number). I have a 2HP Commericial Oneida. I would guess the guard catches 25% of the dust off the blade. It does keep the dust from flying up and becoming airborne, so it is probably a help for fine dust. But, there are plenty of chips that wind up shooting back. It really doesn't seem to change how much dust winds up on the floor in front of the saw.
I will probably upgrade to a shark guard. I find the whole overhead guard thing annoying.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I plan on a Shark guard down the road.....I don't really have the room and with the Incra installed, I will have too long an arm for the overhead guard. A ceiling mount won't work as I thought it would. The Shark comes highly recommended.

[Roy McQuay]

I keep reading about Shark guard here but couldn't find a place to purchase. I even did the google thing to no avail. Can someone please post where it can be purchased ? Thanks

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I have an Excalibur over arm guard on a General cabinet saw and am pleased with it. It can be set to float up and down over the workpiece, or set at a fixed height above the table.

I normally let it float.

Dust collection is good if the workpiece is larger that the guard's footprint, otherwise some does escape.

I also have a Merlin splitter installed............Regards, Rod.

[crandall bishops]

Roy,

If you google "Shark Guard", the first thing on the list is the place to buy it. (I am a new memeber, and I am not sure if the forum permits the posting of product URLs, so I won't)

[Chris Merriam]

the sharkguard address is leestyron.com.

I have a sharkguard for my dewalt 746 and have been very happy with it. Got the superwide 4in port on it and it sucks all the dust off the table top. Haven't noticed any dust shoot out on the floor.

Takes 2 seconds to remove the guard. Takes another 20 to remove the splitter. It comes with 3 different height splitters. Changing splitters takes a little more time, maybe 2 minutes.

I have my 4in flex hose connected to a 4in metal 90 degree adjustable elbow from the borg. That elbow slips right inside my overhead 4in pvc pipe. I don't bother sealing the joint so I can slip the guard right in and out without messing with the flex connection. Just unhook the guard, pull the elbow out, and I'm all set.

[Roy McQuay]

Roy,

If you google "Shark Guard", the first thing on the list is the place to buy it. (I am a new memeber, and I am not sure if the forum permits the posting of product URLs, so I won't)Thanks, I thought that was an info site only.

[Dave Malen]

is a 2hp jet spliced on to an Oneida cyclone. I have 5 inch diameter pipe running 20 feet to my table saw. Exactor says you need 850 cfm for effective dust collection. I doubt I have that. The problem with the exactor is the size of the tube. - its about 2.5 inches - not big enough. Yes you'll get dust on your table. I'd go for the shark guard with the 4 inch tube.

Dave

[Dave Malen]

Maybe exactor has redisigned their system since I bought mine about 5 years ago.

Dave

[Chris Dodge]

is a 2hp jet spliced on to an Oneida cyclone. I have 5 inch diameter pipe running 20 feet to my table saw. Exactor says you need 850 cfm for effective dust collection. I doubt I have that. The problem with the exactor is the size of the tube. - its about 2.5 inches - not big enough. Yes you'll get dust on your table. I'd go for the shark guard with the 4 inch tube.

Dave

I bought a Shark Guard with the 4 inch hose connection last night. Since I am moving this weekend and will have the opportunity to build a new shop in my basement I will be able to run a DC hose directly over my tablesaw to accomodate the Shark Guard. Thanks for the info guys!

[Mike Goetzke]

I am using my table saw to cut pre-finished samples, and I am concerned with the guard rubbing across the surface of what I am cutting. Can the Shark Guard be made to operate (safely) without rubbing the piece being cut?

If not, could a piece of soft felty/velvety tape, or the like, be used to cover the contact area, and prevent any scuffing?


Thanks for the input.

The Shark really doesn't apply much downward pressure since it just pivots at the back of the blade at the splitter. I see no reason you couldn't apply a soft material to it.

Mike