Blade Guards

[Tyler Howell]

All,

I’ve been reading with great horror, incidents of Power Tool vs. Soft Tissue on this and other sights. Kick Back, blow out, and China syndrome.
As a musician, woodworker, accomplished nose picker not to mention wimp when it comes to pain, I want all parts to stay right where they are.

I am interested in over arm blade guards and haven’t been able to fabricate a modal to my satisfaction.

Can there be that much difference between the Penn State TS Guard and the Excaliber Over Arm Blade Guard? Is the Excaliber 2 times better than the Penn State? Any other modals out there?

There is no replacement for safe work practices. I encourage you all to remember these, and not to rush to compete you holiday projects.

Happy Holidays.

Tyler Howell

[John Weber]

Tyler,

I have a Delta Uniguard on my Powermatic and think it is a great guard. At about $260 it's priced a little less then most. A key feature is the Delta splitter that can be installed or easily modified to fit many saws (I modified mine for use on my 66, until upgrading to a Biesemeyer Splitter). The Uniguard is easy to move out of the way for different operations and easy to use most all the time.

John


http://www.weberwoodworking.com/pond/shoptournecorner-l.jpg

[Tyler Howell]

Thanks John. I'll check into the delta.

Nice looking shop.

TJH :)

[Bart Leetch]

I find it very interesting that Penn State used to sell the Exaktor TS guard & now they have their own guard that with a small exception looks very similar the Exaktor guard & sells for less.

[Ron Meadows]

One thing to think about with the delta is that it doesn't have the provision for dust collection like the others.....there's a reason it's cheaper!!

Ron

[Kevin Kelly]

Tyler,

A key feature is the Delta splitter that can be installed or easily modified to fit many saws (I modified mine for use on my 66, until upgrading to a Biesemeyer Splitter). John



John,

I have the uniguard and splitter as well. What made you change the splitter to the bies?

[John Weber]

Kevin,

Mine was heavily modifed to fit my Powermatic, worked great but was a hair high, and bolted in. When I found a deal on a new Biesemeyer on Woodnet for $80 I though it was worth upgrading. Plus I sold the old one on ebay for around $30, so really only a $50 difference. The big advantage is tool free instant install/remove. The only disadvantage was none of my zero clearance throat plates work with the Bisesmeyer. One of these days I need to see if I can rework them. It was the older style Biesemeyer splitter (straight and leans forward), so a new model might have worked better with my CLI.

John







John,

I have the uniguard and splitter as well. What made you change the splitter to the bies?

[John Weber]

Ron,

True, but a couple things I really like that are included are the push stick basket (I thought I'd never use when I bought it) that I love, a light mount (light not included) that I also really having the task lighting right at the blade, and a switch bracket for installing the power switch on the guard itself. I'm not sure this is a good idea, but maybe for some. I know you could add these to any Overhead guard, but they are nice extra's. When you throw in a good splitter (also included) you get a lot for your money.

John


One thing to think about with the delta is that it doesn't have the provision for dust collection like the others.....there's a reason it's cheaper!!

Ron

[Ron Meadows]

I installed the Biesemeyer snap in splitter, I had to buy it since it didn't come with the Excalibur guard. Biggest reason that I installed it was for dust collection.....I actually find it a little cumbersome to see what the cut is doing with it installed, but I now have no dust flying around the shop from my TS.....guess it's all a game of tradeoffs.

Ron

[John Miliunas]

Another vote for the Excalibur overhead guard. Just finished my DC system installation and, in conjunction with a modified port on the saw (went from 4" to 6"), the dust extraction is nothing short of extraordinary. Also installed the Biesy splitter, albeit with a fair amount of modification for my particular TS. Love both and feel safer! :cool:

[Jim Becker]

I started out with a UniGuard that I was able to pick up used for a "very good price". It worked as advertised, but the lack of dust collection that Ron mentions (the single most important reason I use an overarm guard other than the obvious safety benefits) and the fact that its mounting method made it difficult to get completely out of the way/off the saw were negatives. The former I was able to deal with as I made a new head for it that accommodated dust collection. The latter was the reason why I sold it two years ago and bought the Excalibur at a show for a "very good price"...new. I have found the Excalibur very usable and for those few times that I really needed it completely off the saw so I could use the full table surface, it was easy to deal with...one knob and lift. Yea, I wouldn't want to do that often as the long arm is cumbersome, but the utility is very useful to me on occasion. Is it 100% "better" than the PSI or Exactor? Probably not, but I like the sturdy design over the others and it's less expensive than the Biesemeyer and/or Brett Guard overarm guards. (I paid $319 as a show special)

I have a review of the Excalibur (and Biesemeyer splitter) on my site.

[Kevin Kelly]

Thanks, John. I had forgotten that the bies was the snap-in variety.