overarm blade guard / DC

[Ralph Butts]

Hello all I just picked up my new CV cyclone (thanks to all from my previous thread). Still in boxes and business travel will take me out of town for a couple of weeks so it will be a bit before I can get it put together and installed. Once I do I will share more on that.
I am looking to collect more airborn dust and wood chips off of my table saw and I and beginning to look at overarm blade guards. I currently have a Grizz hybrid G0478 modified with 7' rails and extension table. I have a BD CI router extension table which I plan to move to the right side of the blade utilizing a semi-mobile cabinet secured to right extension wing. This will allow for access to the motor cover when needed. If I find a 1023rlx at the Grizz tent sale in June I will be coming home with an early XMAS present. Otherwise I am asking Santa for new Unisaw or PM2000. I mention this only because whatever I do for overarm dc I want to be able to utilize no matter what saw I wind up with. I have researched excalibur, Grizzly universal and PSI. I have not physically seen any of the models. I am primarily looking to collect dust off of the upper table area during cutting operations. The guard functionality is very distant second criteria achievement. I would ultimately like to mount the overarm unit from the trusses in my garage shop without any over complex modifications. Can anyone using any of these products provide some feedback and/or review of the product. If you mounted the unit overhead I would really like to see pics of your mountings. Thanks

[Paul Wunder]

Have you also looked at the Sharkguard? Lee Styron is working on an overhead mount system for it. I recently added it to my table saw to pick up dust from the top. I have been amazed at how much it picks up on both cross and rip cuts including MDF. No wood odor, no flying dust, and perhaps a few flecks of dust on the table top after repeated cuts. I have the SG with the 4" port and have it connected overhead via flex duct to my ClearVue. I am very pleased. I have lung disease so I am slightly fanactical about dust. With a lower cabinet pickup also I no longer concern myself with table dust. Now, on to my sanders! I believe that the only variable on the Sharkguard is the mounting bracket and Lee could probably advise you as to your options as you decide which machine to buy.

Paul

[Matt Winterowd]

If you're focusing on dust collection, Exaktor is another one to consider. I haven't heard much about the Grizzly, but it looks like it would be comparable to the Exaktor or the Excalibur. The PSI has significantly less airflow due to the smaller diameter pipe.

[Chip Lindley]

+1 Exaktor! I love mine! I have also have an overarm Biesemeyer guard that works great too. Dust collection is the only reason I tolerate blade guards at all.

[Rod Sheridan]

I had an Excalibur overarm guard, it worked very well, and it is available in a ceiling mount model............Regards, Rod.

[glenn bradley]

The PSI has significantly less airflow due to the smaller diameter pipe.

I have the PSI and it does starve for airflow. I don't do much with sheet goods and this is the only place I find the overarm of a real benefit and so have continued to use it. It is convenient in that I have modified the hood hose so that it sings over to be my router table fence hose when I want that. It is used more for the RT than anything as I find it a pain when using sleds or the miter gauge. For cutting down sheet goods it really does improve du0st collection though. Your amount of use will vary with the type of work you do so take my words with a grain of salt. They only apply to my shop ;-

[Tom Cullom JR.]

+1 on the shark guard i thought about going with a overarm type but went with the shark and love it!!
And whats even better is I keep the guard on the saw 99% of the time compared to 0% before the shark.
I onely have the 2.5 hose on mine but I dont have a problem with dust.

[Glen Blanchard]

I put the Shark on my Excalibur. Love it.

[glenn bradley]

Sorry, I should have mentioned in my previous post. Make sure the guard swings easily out of the way or, in the case of a saw mounted guard, that it snaps in and out quickly and easily. Many cuts that I make preclude the use of this type of guard (I use all other precautions and take safety very seriously) and if it is not easily movable we can be tempted not to bother. Again, this affects the type of work I do, your mileage will most probably vary ;-)

Just as we can be guilty of not putting guards on when they should be used, not getting them out of the way can lead to accidents as well. I had never noticed the Grizzly unit before but see it uses a square tube that would disallow swinging the hood out of your way. When running a tenon jig, some sleds and other jigs, raising the hood is often not enough. Just food for thought while you are making your selection.

[Ralph Butts]

Thanks guys for the feedback. Never thought about having to swing the boom out of the way just assumed that lifting the guard up would suffice. Unfortunately SG not available for my current saw model. The Grizz square vertical does present a problem with respect to swinging the boom arm away from the blade area. I had envisioned something mounted from the ceiling (trusses in my case) that could swivel at the connection. Something along the lines of a rigid medal conduit threaded coupling. I will take a closer look at the Excalibur. I must have missed the ceiling mount. Thanks again.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Mounting a hood from the ceiling would prohibit you from moving your tablesaw around, but that may not be a problem if your shop is sufficiently large whereas the saw can stay in one place all the time.

The other issue with an overhead ceiling mount is that it creates an obstruction when swinging wood and sheet goods around. If I had a choice, all the overhead duct drops to my machines would be replaced with an under floor system...but that's not possible for a basement or garage shop. As for the tablesaw, the next best thing would be side mounted arm that swings away. You can also mount a motor switch, miter gage holder, accessory tray, etc., to the arm for added convenience.

I would also like to reinforce what other folks in this post stated about it easily swinging out of the way. I fully agree. There are just too many operations that require the hood to be removed.

Jeff

[David Helm]

Anyone know where to find the ceiling mount excalibur? . . . and the price?

[Aaron Rowland]

Congrats on your new purchase. A couple of things to look for on the overhead pickup. My saw has a 6" inlet on the saw base to get the saw dust inside the cabinet. I had to add a plate inside at a 45 degree angle to direct the saw dust to the inlet. The over head uses a 4" flex duct . There wasn't much pressure left to have much air flow with a 4" duct since the 6" duct takes priority. I added a Toro leaf blower in series to help things out. Very noisy and an irritant but it works. The Toro is wired to the cyclone by a relay so automatic turn on.

There are two types of pick up hoods , near field and far field. The far field needs a lot of CFM to capture the dust over a big area like a hood on a SCMS or the inside of the TS.

A near field needs high velocity to grab the dust being ejected by the blade or tool like a router at very high speed. Vacuum cleaners are an example. They have high velocity and the pickup is very close to the dirt in a rug similar to Shop Vac floor nozzle on the floor picking up sawdust. They both have very air flow that's less then 40-70CFM CFM but that's all they need because of high velocity and close proximity to the dust. I'm not sure of the numbers but it's probably around 7,000 FPM or higher with a small nozzle. The Blade pick up is some where between the two. You need very high velocity to capture the high velocity sawdust coming of the blade. If the hood is a tight fit over the blade it can deflect the sawdust into the 4" duct before it's tossed out into the shop air. So hood design is critical. Beware of anything with 2"-3" ducts. Not enough air velocity to catch much sawdust.

Overheads are easy to build and a fun project. Lots of plans and pics available.

[Tom Cullom JR.]

in regards to the SG contact the the owner theirs a good chance he might be able to custom fit one to your saw.

[Chris Parks]

Anyone know where to find the ceiling mount excalibur? . . . and the price?

No, but I reckon this is pretty good

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ust+extraction