blade guard use on tablesaw

Not to troll or anything -- and I'm already dodging flames, but how many use/don't use the blade guard on their table saw? I must confess I very rarely use mine.

Reply to
Jim K
Loading thread data ...

I never use mine. threw it away first week I owned it. Bought a Bies spreader/splitter since I do worry about safety and never looked back.

Reply to
Ramsey

We went through this a week or so ago. You can find the thread on Google.

I use mine. Probably less than half do.

I had an insurance inspector visit at work last week. He said he will find the same things in every shop. The bench grinder is not adjust properly (ours wasn't) and if there is a table saw, the guard will be off. (we don't have one). Ed

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I have an overarm guard which flips out of the way. I use it on all cuts where it is convenient and not in the way as an extra margin of safety, which are the preponderance of cuts I make on the table saw. I am not a zealot about the blade guard, but I am about using a splitter when ripping. My splitter is aftermarket, separate from the guard, and installs and removes in seconds.

Reply to
Swingman

This topic has been beaten to death, quite recently.

Try here:

djb

Reply to
Dave Balderstone

Still in the plastic baggie. :-)

-- Ernie

Reply to
Ernie Jurick

I plan to put mine on before I use the saw again. DAMHIKT

Wes

Reply to
clutch

Reply to
Ramsey

As has just about any topic to do with woodworking at one time or another ... beats hell out of religion, politics and BORG rants.

Reply to
Swingman

took mine off my Unisaw about the 3rd time I fired it up. I got a kickback BECAUSE of the blade guard. It tweaked a small piece right into the blade, due to the uneven pressure it exerted downward. Much safer without it. I DO use the splitter though!

dave

Jim K wrote:

Reply to
Bay Area Dave

Yes -- that's why I just bought some stuff from them. :-)

"born aga>

Reply to
Jim K

But do they sell *table saw guards*?

Reply to
Brett A. Thomas

Jim K spaketh...

Was it your turn this week to ask? I thought it was my turn, oh well, I'll just wait 'til next week. Whose got the week after that?

Reply to
McQualude

After glancing through this thread, (last week) I decided "aww, what the heck, I'll reinstall mine".

After futzing with it for 10 minutes, cursing half that, I got it on. Took one look at the poor alignment between the blade and "splitter", pushed up on the pawls and realized they'd leave a nice divot (sp?) on _any_thing that went under 'em, I said a few choice words and removed the blasted thing.

Reply to
adb

Funny... Me too. I hadn't looked at the thing in ages, and when I did, I noticed that it's a "riving knife" which is supposed to be sooo much better than a standard splitter.

Except it's such a thin, crappy piece of stamped sheet metal that it flops to one side under its own weight, and like as not, it will interfere with the cut instead of doing what it's supposed to do.

I do think I should probably keep a riving knife on to prevent the kerf from closing on the far side, but I think I need to see about manufacturing myself a new one out of a heavier gauge of steel.

I have a completely defunct saw blade and a metal-cutting bandsaw... Are saw blades hardened? Could I cut it up to fit, using the old one as a template, and then grind an edge on the splitting bit of it, or would the metal just chew the teeth off my bandsaw? (I have a 28 TPI blade, I think. It's an extremely fine-toothed blade...)

Seems like a halfway decent idea, actually, since the two blades are pretty much the same thickness, and it's a free source of suitable sheet metal.

Reply to
Silvan

I think I would try a torch to cut to shape then grind with a hand grinder (4-1/2"). It won't be needing much hardness; I would think that hardness=brittleness.

Blades are normally pretty tough stuff.

Reply to
Ramsey

I have worked in professional industrial wood shops since 1980. Trust me, DON'T USE THE GUARD. Ours are there only for OSHA and are purposely designed to be easily moved out of thway to a safe position. If you have a slide-down guide, and need o have it there, drill a hole in the upper slider and stick a penci in it to keep the darn thing up while you work. Our other ones are on swivel pipes, etc. You do not need another thing to deal with while passing your hand near a spinning, tilted meat grinder.

Reply to
RM MS

Man, you could use aluminum, believe it or not, just as long as it is just a little thinner than the Circular saw blade. Why would you even bother with something as thin as a band saw blade? Another tip: if you think the piece is closing up on you, slow down and shut off the damn saw and knock a wedge, screw, nail, any darn thing you got to keep the crack open. You already goofed anyways. Don't tell me I am full of it; if the blade is straight and sharp, you can re-start with no problem. They usually only close up anyway if the blade is gummy or dull and heating up, or if the wood is crappy or not dressed flat first, or if the blade angle or fence is off true. Admit it.

Reply to
RM MS

"RM MS" wrote

I knew an old gentleman, recently deceased, who had been a barnstorming pilot in his youth. He believed auto seat belts were unsafe and refused to wear one. For him, safety was a matter of skill and performance, not claptrap constraints. Statistics did not apply to him, he said. Was he right or was he wrong?

Joe Gilman

Reply to
Joe28

That depends. Did he die in a car crash?

Seriously, though... anyone who thinks that statistics don't apply to him, is a fool. And so is anyone who believes that auto seat belts are unsafe. The evidence that seat belts save lives is overwhelming. Only fools refuse to wear them. It doesn't matter how good a driver you may be, you're still sharing the road with thousands of reckless morons. To believe that your skill alone is enough to protect you from them is delusional.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Reply to
Doug Miller

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.