Convert Jointer Guard from European bridge style to American Porkchop Style

[Alan Lightstone]

Isn't there also a Euro style guard made of segments (along the lines of the pork chop you show) so the segments drop down in front when the guard is retracted for edge jointing thick stock, rather than sticking out into the walking path? That's pretty much my only complaint with the euro style guard.

My Felder jointer has that.

[Jim Becker]

Ive never enjoyed using the euro guard. I feel like I always get a bit of snipe at the beginning of a board as my hand rides over the guard and there is a subtle change in pressure. Also, face jointing wide boards with a euro guard can be quite cumbersome.

You can minimize this by keeping the heel of your hand on the board as your fingers span over the guard. Once the fingers are in contact, you can maintain the same relative grip on the board from there. I have not had any snipe issues when face jointing since I got that technique down. That said, if you truly don't like the Euro/bridge guard, I hope you can find a solution that takes care of the safety and is workable for you.

[stevo wis]

Dan, that looks like it. Price around 1500 plus is a lot though.
thanks,
Stevo

[Andrew Hughes]

I find the pork chop guards to be in the way on a jointer.
Sure glad I don't have yo keep it on my jointer. Kinda reminds me of wearing a mask for no good reason.

[William Hodge]

Interestingly enough, Sam Blasco surprisingly prefers the American style. See video link below:

https://youtu.be/Ca8ljZEoeuw

Neither one is perfect.

I like the teaser where Sam Blasco pushes the wood with his thumb on the tail end of the board. It's kind of like watching a lion tamer show, where you hope that the guy in the cage with the lions doesn't get something bitten off. On the other hand, when it happens, it sure is exciting.

[Kevin Jenness]

Has anybody ever converted their european style jointer guard to an american style? I recently upgraded to a Robland NX410 Pro and have a 16" jointer with the european bridge guard, and I absolutely hate it compared to the american porkchop guard. I had the same issues with my previous Jet 12" jointer/Planer. I find it annoying to use and you cant use a push stick without lifting it up and over the guard.

Id love to convert it to an american style porkchop guard but have no idea how. Would love some insight if anybody has done this before!
Attachment 455531

Have you tried sourcing a replacement from MiniMax? Failing that, keep an eye on Ebay- even with a smaller guard you could use the guts and fabricate a proper size paddle of plywood.

When the crappy plastic guard on my 16" jointer broke I replaced it with a piece of 3/4" ply, drilled out underneath for lightness and fitted with a p-lam wear strip. The return mechanism is a torsion spring with ends slotted into the guard and a bushed capscrew. I have seen a couple of old American jointers fitted with a similar ply guard connected to a sash weight with a cable and pulley instead of a spring. Given all the old jointers in service this cat must have been skinned more than a few times. If the owwm site is up you might inquire there.

It's funny how a request like this draws so many posts trying to persuade the op to love his euro guard. I like them, but they are not for everyone and after a certain point it is hard to change. At my old shop we had a Euroguard on a 16" Griggio and I can't count the # of times I stepped up to it to find the bar retracted after a certain person faced a wide board. He was used to pushing the stock all the way through a porkchop guard and was not going to change his approach just because the guard was different. In that case everyone would be safer with a porkchop guard. An unused guard is worthless, as proven by all the tablesaws whose guards were stripped and discarded at the first blade change.

[Patrick Kane]

OP, im afraid anything you go to do will require custom mounting and fabrication. I highly doubt there is an off-the-shelf plug and play solution for your machine. Like someone else mentioned, the Suvamatic appears to be fantastic. Ive only watched them used in videos, but also very pricey. You might want to search other forums for a thread on the segmented porkchop guard. I definitely remember finding a thread where a guy had a sketchup model and walked people through how to make the segmented fold down porkchop guard that is seen on the Sam Maloof zefam jointer. Martin used a guard like that in the late 80s, i believe. From what you describe--and i agree with your opinion wholeheartedly--i think you would enjoy the segmented pork chop more than the expensive suvamatic.

I have a 500mm machine and it has a homemade euro bridge guard. Its ok. Its safe, and thats what matters, but i would prefer to use pushblocks and ram the material through the machine with constant connection and force. There is always a slight pause as i reposition my hands/fingers/pushblock over the guard.

And just like that, i saved you the hassle of finding it. It was actually a thread on Sawmill, of course.

SawDust : Planer Jointer Guard Swing7 (online.fr)

[Brian Holcombe]

I would put a Suva on mine but I can’t see how it would attach to a j/p without sticking out an additional. 4-5”.

Does anyone know where to purchase a Zefam style guard? I can make one, if need be, I just prefer not to.

[Joe Calhoon]

Brian
Panhans sells those folding yellow guards like Martin has for standard on their jointers.
http://www.panhans.co.uk/Amtec%20New%20online.pdf

[Joe Calhoon]

Another source
http://www.gl-trade.de/.cm4all/uproc...&_=1680adf02ac

[Joe Hollis]

When I went to a wide jointer, I was so happy to be able to move to a bridge guard from the porkchop. What many folks struggle with is that using a bridge guard brings a different technique relative to one's hands while face jointing material that passes under the guard. Once you get that down and also start to enjoy the ability to pull a board back over the guard smoothly without damage, things get very nice.

I honestly do not recall anyone going in the direction you ask about, although I could certainly have missed it.

I have to say that I haven't adapted fully to the guard on my Felder AD741. Of course, it also helps if you don't forget to collapse the segmented guard so the unused sections don't stick out at just about the right height to catch you where it hurts the most...

[Patrick Kane]

Well look at, Joe. This guy pulls goodies out of left field all the time. I still havent found a copy of that german orange book, btw. I just emailed both sources about the segmented porkchop. I am very interested in how much they are. If its around a grand, i think ill buy it.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thank you, Joe! Much appreciated. I used one of these on Chris Hall’s Martin jointer, it was great!

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Sean, I'm with you, I hate the euro guard. It's the opposite of safe, anything that makes you reposition your hands above a jointer head is just not a good design. My favorite feature is how much cutter head you can see as it's floating over your stock, in my opinion, it is just a horrible design. I honestly feel more comfortable with it completely removed. I have the Felder folding model, looks like the Pahans that Joe C posted. At least it folds so it is only sticking out about 8" in the way when you are edge jointing.

[Patrick Kane]

Sean, I'm with you, I hate the euro guard. It's the opposite of safe, anything that makes you reposition your hands above a jointer head is just not a good design. My favorite feature is how much cutter head you can see as it's floating over your stock, in my opinion, it is just a horrible design. I honestly feel more comfortable with it completely removed. I have the Felder folding model, looks like the Pahans that Joe C posted. At least it folds so it is only sticking out about 8" in the way when you are edge jointing.

I agree, there seems like something is amiss on face jointing with a euro guard. I will say i like the design a lot for edge jointing. With it flat to the tables and 1/16-1/8" farther from the fence than the thickness of your material, it really makes the operation as safe as it can be. A porkchop or similar will swing out just a bit more exposing enough of the cutterhead to be slightly more dangerous. I am finally happy that i have a machine that doesnt require me to remove the guard routinely. Those are the guards/machines i dislike the most.