Good reason to leave your table saw guard on

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re: rip fence. I don't know if this the de facto method, but the way I was shown at college was to line up the gullet (the first one appearing out of the blade slot) with the end of the fence (where the quadrant cut out begins).
Thats if the saw even has a rip fence, most come with full length/biesemeyers now. Pretty easy to make out of ply to attach to the full length one.
 
Though the second one looks sturdier than many worse examples which crop up
Why not - I think you should!
Yes I was referring to the second one.
And to why not...
I procure much of my material from windows, so I saw up to the putty line for the glass and snap the wee stick off, flip it upside down and saw off the molding afterwards.
Can't really do it any other way apart from a circular saw of some description, the tablesaw suits best.

So I'd like to see a better example in your opinion than something that's "Heath Robinson"as you say,
if you're going to knock it.
I haven't seen much, and I'm not going to pretend I know what makes a good design,
apart from rigidity which is a given.

Preferably not something like the latest auto rise or whatever, but an analogue system which I could copy.
I don't mind if its complicated, cant but a price on that kinda thing.

Thanks
Tom
 
Yes I was referring to the second one.
And to why not...
I procure much of my material from windows, so I saw up to the putty line for the glass and snap the wee stick off, flip it upside down and saw off the molding afterwards.
Can't really do it any other way apart from a circular saw of some description, the tablesaw suits best.

So I'd like to see a better example in your opinion than something that's "Heath Robinson"as you say,
if you're going to knock it.
I haven't seen much, and I'm not going to pretend I know what makes a good design,
apart from rigidity which is a given.

Preferably not something like the latest auto rise or whatever, but an analogue system which I could copy.
I don't mind if its complicated, cant but a price on that kinda thing.

Thanks
Tom
Are you saving the glass or the wood?
I take glass out by band or hand sawing through stiles or rails at each end just clear of the glass so they are separated from each other but just held by the putty. Then gently tap them away from the glass and they come off quite easily, usually bringing some putty with them. Might break if there's a crack already started but not often.
 
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I'm saving the iroko, the glass gets removed beforehand and recycled.
I'll see if I can mock up a piccy if you like, but am busy researching fixing washing machines ATM:poop:
 
That's on the list of things to make for me, and going to have a proper bash at it
sometime, now I have a welder.
Just don't know what the best one to copy would be?

Any other suggestions apart from this one Jacob?
I can't use an attached crown guard for a lot of the stuff I use the tablesaw for.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/threads/overhead-table-saw-blade-guard.115782/#post-1268044
Always use a proper guard, use the correct thickness riving knife for the blade. They are not expensive and they can help your extraction too.
 
Always use a proper guard, use the correct thickness riving knife for the blade. They are not expensive and they can help your extraction too.
Yep.
In fact our OP Doug71's proper guard did just what it is supposed to do and is strong, simple and easy to use. Would have been better with blade lower then the workpiece wouldn't have picked up quite so much momentum
Also always use two push sticks, then whatever else goes wrong the chances of a cut remain close to zero.
 
I`ve got one of the festool cms tables with a router plate and a ripsaw plate for the ts75 saw. The rip fence runs the whole lenght of the table and is locked at both ends. Is using such an arrangement putting me at extra risk ? It would be easy enough to add an Ali extrusion to the fence stopping short of the centre line of the saw spindle. Any opinions ?
cheers
Andrew
 
I made a guard for my wee saw. It's made of steel, 20mm steel rod on the upright, 16mm square on the support and the guard is 3mm welded steel. It's pretty basic, so is the saw, but so far, it has behaved very well, but I spent a lot of time adjusting/shimming everything to get it in line

Img_5383.jpg
 
Always use a proper guard, use the correct thickness riving knife for the blade. They are not expensive and they can help your extraction too.
Aye, I'll be making a crown guard for sure, I don't deem the time expensive to me, even if it took a month, I'd sooner that than loosing em fingers!
Don't really use the TS at all, even when woodworking, apart from doing a few specific jobs that can't be done otherwise like I mentioned, so the crown guard makes sense.

Been meaning to get an extractor for a long time, nearly bought one recently, but the man wouldn't put it on a pallet for me, so it was too risky to buy a basket case of a machine with stuck aluminium impeller.

Dust extraction or not, seems like it makes sense to include it in the design.
What do you make of the Excalibur style, is it the best out there regarding a manual system?



Not sure if this one swings outta the way, I've got a sprung pin so might as well make use of it;)
I think I recall some using the pipe for the ducting to run into, might have to try grab a piccy of that.

overhead guard.jpg

overhead guard 2 .jpg


Any thoughts on this one?
Thanks
Tom
 
I made a guard for my wee saw. It's made of steel, 20mm steel rod on the upright, 16mm square on the support and the guard is 3mm welded steel. It's pretty basic, so is the saw, but so far, it has behaved very well, but I spent a lot of time adjusting/shimming everything to get it in line

View attachment 119305
It's not in line though - it's mounted to the right and if it did contact the blade it could skew to the right and do even more damage. Would be better made of something perishable so that if it did make contact it would just get cut rather than pulled. Wood perhaps?
It's also big and bulky and could get in the way of manoeuvres and sight lines.
Why not a riving knife and crown guard - so neat and effective?
 
Aye, I'll be making a crown guard for sure, I don't deem the time expensive to me, even if it took a month, I'd sooner that than loosing em fingers!
Don't really use the TS at all, even when woodworking, apart from doing a few specific jobs that can't be done otherwise like I mentioned, so the crown guard makes sense.

Been meaning to get an extractor for a long time, nearly bought one recently, but the man wouldn't put it on a pallet for me, so it was too risky to buy a basket case of a machine with stuck aluminium impeller.

Dust extraction or not, seems like it makes sense to include it in the design.
What do you make of the Excalibur style, is it the best out there regarding a manual system?



Not sure if this one swings outta the way, I've got a sprung pin so might as well make use of it;)

View attachment 119308

Any thoughts on this one?
Thanks
Tom
Very fussy! Over designed? What is the point of it, compared to riving knife and crown guard?
 
Cuz ya can't always have a guard on the riving knife Jacob.
Seems you don't have an answer for me?

Tom
 
I`ve got one of the festool cms tables with a router plate and a ripsaw plate for the ts75 saw. The rip fence runs the whole lenght of the table and is locked at both ends. Is using such an arrangement putting me at extra risk ? It would be easy enough to add an Ali extrusion to the fence stopping short of the centre line of the saw spindle. Any opinions ?
cheers
Andrew

I am also confused by this. See so many videos on YouTube with TS with whole table length fences and even saws are sold with them..
 
Nothing wrong with that, it's up to you to make it safe and add a short fence for the job!
Many make a slip on box around the fence for that.

A full length fence can be good for tenon jigs and other jobs that require a carriage.
 
Cuz ya can't always have a guard on the riving knife Jacob.
Why not, unless you are not cutting right through? In which case use two push sticks and keep hands well away.
 
Why not, unless you are not cutting right through? In which case use two push sticks and keep hands well away.
I still thought one needed a crown guard for the job Jacob,
I'm not up to speed on all aspects of safe cutting on the TS, even though I try.
(admittedly not read the H&S rules, but always try and seek good publications from European sources)

Will be using two push sticks when I can, and if I can't for whatever reason,
it will be a 450mm long shoe style pushstick, which wont let the hand get near even the front of the blade.

Cheers
Tom
 
It's not in line though - it's mounted to the right and if it did contact the blade it could skew to the right and do even more damage. Would be better made of something perishable so that if it did make contact it would just get cut rather than pulled. Wood perhaps?
Thanks, I meant the blade and fence are in line. The guard is offset and based on the original design. There was a hole in the table to fit it. I did look at fitting a riving knife, but it wasn't possible without more effort than it's worth, just nowhere to attach it. You tilt the table to lower the blade :) . The guard was more to stop me from doing something really stupid, like coming in contact with the blade when it's running, hence the yellow paint. The saw is beautiful to use, a wee gem and it only cost me £65. I tried making a wooden guard, but it just wouldn't weld. I'm waiting for Matthias Wandel to make a wooden welder.
 
How do people feel about rip cutting grooves rabbets (dado’s) on the tablesaw? An issue seems to me to be the blade not being able to clear debris and overheating,,,are you supposed to use a special blade?
Steve.
 
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How do people feel about rip cutting grooves rabbets (dado’s) on the tablesaw? An issue seems to me to be the blade not being able to clear debris and overheating,,,are you supposed to use a special blade?
Steve.

I thought I was going to miss the Craftsman (Sears) cabinet saw and dado stack I had in the States while I was setting up my shop here. However, between my router table and handheld routers with rail guides, I haven't experienced any situation that required the saw for rabbets or dados.

I haven't used the rip fence on my SC2C slider saw since adding the Incra LS25 positioner over a year ago. The LS25 works with the standard crosscut fence to create an adjustable second point in space on the sliding table. This allows me to easily rip up to about 500mm wide stock using the slider, and I use only the crosscut fence for any rips wider than 500mm. The advantage of this, to me, is I never come close to the blade and am never in line with the blade. Narrow pieces are clamped to the sliding table and don't move while being ripped.

I started building a Fritz and Franz jig, but never finished it because I keep changing my mind on the design. I really should since it is great for safely cutting small stock on the slider.
 
Why not, unless you are not cutting right through? In which case use two push sticks and keep hands well away.
Here is what I was referring to, although I often come across different profiles which I need to rip a wee section out of, again snapped near the putty line afterwards.

Photos are a mock up.
I always use a zero clearance insert/custom throat plate for my blade, and I rig up an outfeed table when using this machine.
I don't have a pair of pushsticks made, nor a suitable shoe made, but that is a given.

I'm questioning what way the pro's approach would be.
I can rig up my mock up overhead guard and make some new pushsticks to see what ye think, if that helps.

Thanks

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