Do you really have a guard on your table saw?

[Larry Conely]

My blade guard is always on. It raises or lowers with a light touch, but will stay in place. If for some reason I need to clear the support out of the way, the whole assembly easily rotates in an arc backwards until it is clear of the table plane.

Also note the riving knife behind the blade.

Larry

[Fred Childs]

Mine is also hanging on the wall. Maybe I should try it sometime.

[Jim Kountz]

Mine's on the saw. For every cut. *EVERY* cut.



Thanks,

Bill

So I assume you never use a tenon jig or a tapering jig or a crosscut sled? How about a miter sled? If so how does this work out with your guard?

[Paul Libby]

No, tried it for a short while......it was an awkward thing to use.

That said, the table saw has my full attention when I use it. I use push sticks, feather boards and jigs as appropriate to keep my fingers on my hands.

[Bill Lantry]

Hmmm... I wonder if some of our responses aren't dictated by our saws? Just went to the shark gaurd site, and the thing looks like an upgraded version of what came with my 3650 (way cooler, but still...

It comes on and off in a few seconds... maybe that's why we use it, instead of coming up with all sorts of arguments for how to be safe, all along the lines of "I keep my motorcycle well maintained and I'm careful, so I don't need a helmet." Well, I fell off my motorcycle years ago, and was sure glad I had a helmet on. And when I carelessly dragged my hand across the blade plane last summer, I was sure glad that gaurd was there... Of course, most people are way more experienced, way more careful, and way smarter than I am. If I were like them, I might not need one either.

thanks,

Bill

[Danny Thompson]

Nope. The one on my cheap ($99) Delta never would stay aligned with the blade, so I had to take it off just to use the saw. But I'm religious about using the crosscut sled for any crosscutting and push sticks for any ripping. I've also embedded it in a large worktable for stability and added table surface.

[Pete Stack]

First post in a great forum!

Never used the blade guard for a good 15 years. Was always "careful" and used pushsticks, including the aforementioned Vermont American Push Shoe Plus.

Then one day I was ripping poplar into 3/4" x 3/4" stock. I still do not know how it hit the blade, but a 6' long piece somehow popped on top of the blade. The piece of wood shot back through a double pane window and landed about 50 feet away from where it originally was launched. Thankfully I was not standing directly behind it, as I'm most certain I would have been impaled.

Blade guard is now on, thank you.

[Kevin Groenke]

Since I'm responsible for the physical well-being of others... Yes. Both of our tablesaws have their Beismeyer overheads in place over the blade whenever it doesn't interfere with an operation. If the bladeguard is in the way it takes 3 seconds to slide them out of your way. Riving knives are in place unless something other than a 10" blade is being used.

I have a thumb and finger which are shorter the their left-handed counterparts and have fused knuckles, so I try not to take these things for granted.

-kg

[Simon Dupay]

Nope, I feel that it's more dangerous to have it on because it gets in the way.

[Ron Bontz]

I tried the guard on my unisaw for awhile but found it to be more of a problem than safe. These days I use a beisemeyer splitter and take a defensive mode. My blade insert is the red zone and the blade a formidable defense I can never get passed. I just call out the special teams, (push sticks) for that and kick a field goal..

[glenn bradley]

So I assume you never use a tenon jig or a tapering jig or a crosscut sled? How about a miter sled? If so how does this work out with your guard?

As Jim points out, the guard cannot be used for all types of cuts. With the tenon jig I keep both hands on the handles on the opposite side of a large chunk of cast iron. With a sled the hands are again, well out of the way. For thin cuts I use Grr-Rippers and for most other cuts the overarm guard is in play. A splitter is always present except when using the sled or cutting bevels.

For those that have a guard that is not easy-off / easy-on I would recommend making a modification a priority. If you use a guard without a splitter, please add one. When I get in a hurry (not often) I try to remember how much slower things would go with my hand all wrapped up or missing a digit.

Same goes for your circ-saw. Don't rig your guard to stay open. Don't buy the story that circ-saws aren't dangerous. A sharp awl is dangerous if we don't all take care.

[Steven Wilson]

The riving knife stays on my saw for every cut except when I use a dato. The guard, which provides overhead dust collection, stays on for all through cuts. I no longer have a miter guage, miter slot, tennoning jigs, or use for crosscut sleds. Instead I have a large sliding table with two decent sized clamps. For tennons I use a Felder adjustable tennon cutter on the shaper (which is well guarded) and clamp down my stock to the sliding table. Fingers are nowhere near the blade during this operation. Since the guard that attaches to my riving knife is well designed it doesn't interfere with thin stock operations, just change the rip fence to the low position, move it back, and carry on - a very simple change. The push stick has a great path for ripping thin stock.

[Bob Goldsmith]

I have the ultimate newbie TS, a Craftsman contractors saw, and I use the guard that came with it. I'm new to woodworking and that's how I'm learning...with the guard in place. When the guard is on, for me at least, I don't fear the saw I respect it. Granted it's a PITA to remove and align and I'm sometimes I think if I ditched it, I could take my projects to a whole new level, but I don't feel really comfortable using it without that extra insurance.

As I progress into more advanced projects, I have a feeling that I'll need to remove the guard on a more frequent basis to accomplish the cut correctly and put to use some of those cool jigs and sleds that others on this board have posted on how to create. Currently I try to plan my cuts so that the guard is off only for the minimal amount of time needed. For the bulk of rips and crosscuts I've done so far the guard has not been a limiting factor.

[Joe Mioux]

yes, i use the guard and splitter when cutting plywood or ripping long boards.

I do take it off for certain other cuts.

In addition to the guard, I have Board Buddies installed on my fence, two grippers, additional push sticks and a General Cast Iron tennoning jig.

When using the miter gauge and referencing off the fence, i will place a one inch block on the fence and then reference of that, ala Norm. As long as the fence isn't in play, I feel pretty safe not having the guard on.

joe

[Jason White]

I removed the guard on my RIDGID TS3650 but kept the splitter and pawls in place. As soon as I find a decent aftermarket splitter, I'll replace it. Too bad the Biesemeyer aftermarket splitter won't fit my saw (do they even make it anymore??).

I do wish the stock blade guard was better, as I'd love to have one with a dust collection port.

JW

I admit it. My table saw guard is hanging on the wall. It has been there for a long time.
How about all of you?

Scott