DeWalt 1205 Safety Queries/Upgrade

[Jelly]

I picked up a DeWalt 1205 RAS today, well preserved if a bit rusty in places. There are certain things that make me nervous about it though.

• No finger guard at the front
• No carriage return

It's the former that bothers me, I have all the bits needed to make a counterweight return, and there's an eye on the blade assembly for attaching one; But there's no obvious attachment point for a finger guard, nor does the powershop handbook (which covers saws of this period) show one in use.

Has anyone retrofitted one, or indeed did DeWalt manufacture one themselves?


I'm also unsure of the anti kickback fingers, they dont look substantial to me, and there have been several iterations with them placed at both infeed and outfeed sides (the older generation saws have them at the outfeed, which caused some headscratching when i was reading the "Mr Sawdust" book.The tempation is to build an assembly with a substantive catchig finger, offside guide fence and power feed to retrofit onto the bench it's being built into whenever I require it to carry out ripping duties. This may be a bit of an overkill solution though.

One thing I am glad of however, Is that it has a knee height (when bench mounted) emergency stop button retrofitted.

 

[misterfish]

Automatic carriage return was not fitted as standard to most of the old DW RAS models, but they sold a retrofit kit. I've never felt the need for one on my 1251 - I hold the carriage firmly and only allow it to move when I am controlling it.

Not sure what you mean by finger guard - one hand on the main carriage handle and the other well away from the spinney sharp metal bits. The handle and blade guard keep the blade protected.

As for the anti kickback fingers - they are only designed to be used if you are ripping timber along the table - I (and others) have never felt safe doing this though DW consider the machine capable of ripping. I use a table saw for ripping and the RAS for crosscutting.

I too have a retrofitted knee high emergency stop button - you can never be too safe.

Misterfish

 

[Jelly]

A finger guard is a plate on the front of the saw carriage that is adjusted down to about 5mm above the surface of the material being cut.
If you observe the 300mm prohibition zone then it's redundant, but that doesn't stop it being a good idea.
With the carriage return, it is very much a failsafe, but more than that I'm used to pulling against a return weight.

As for Ripping, I don't have space for a tablesaw, and I fully believe that the RAS can do so safely if used properly, but observing apropriate prohibition zones and the effective functioning of the catching finger mechanism is absolutely essential to that... No one wants unexpected flying timber, and if it does happen, you definately dont want to be in the way.

 

[Clockie]

Whilst I do not have your model saw, i have the Powershop 125 from when god was a boy. Ripping with the saw was done out of necessity not choice. It was entertaining to say the least. The kick back mechanism went along time ago, when, it kicked back and cracked the housing. Ripping small section or short lengths is a no no. On a RAS when ripping the teeth are cutting on the up stroke away from the table. Also note the gap between the kickback fingers and the saw tooth cut. I notice on new RAS ripping cannot be done and quite right too.

 

[Jelly]

Whilst I do not have your model saw, i have the Powershop 125 from when god was a boy. Ripping with the saw was done out of necessity not choice. It was entertaining to say the least. The kick back mechanism went along time ago, when, it kicked back and cracked the housing. Ripping small section or short lengths is a no no. On a RAS when ripping the teeth are cutting on the up stroke away from the table. Also note the gap between the kickback fingers and the saw tooth cut. I notice on new RAS ripping cannot be done and quite right too.

From what I understand, my saw is more or less the same as yours, but with self retracting side guards for the blade and an ugly plastic casing over the arm casting. You've confirmed my concerns that the anti kick back teeth are more,or less sacrificial.

I do agree that it's more out of neccecity than out of choice.... I'd have a bandsaw for resawing, or even a sawbench (as distinct from a tablesaw) if i could justify the space or cost. In that vein I've been using it to dimension sheet materials, (It's building its own bench) which really is the thin end of the wedge in my book, it's definately awkward to work safely, even with auxiliary supports.

That said, actually most of the RAS's still in production do have ripping abilities... the newer Industrial models (400mm Stromab's amongst others) i've been using offer the catching fingers as an add on not as part of the base machine, probably a nod to the fact that very few people use them to rip. (The BWF suggest against it, But the HSE actually says its ok, so long as you take precautions against anything that might be ejected striking someone.)

 

[Jelly]

Whilst I do not have your model saw, i have the Powershop 125 from when god was a boy. Ripping with the saw was done out of necessity not choice. It was entertaining to say the least. The kick back mechanism went along time ago, when, it kicked back and cracked the housing. Ripping small section or short lengths is a no no. On a RAS when ripping the teeth are cutting on the up stroke away from the table. Also note the gap between the kickback fingers and the saw tooth cut. I notice on new RAS ripping cannot be done and quite right too.

From what I understand, my saw is more or less the same as yours, but with self retracting side guards for the blade and an ugly plastic casing over the arm casting. You've confirmed my concerns that the anti kick back teeth are more,or less sacrificial.

I do agree that it's more out of neccecity than out of choice.... I'd have a bandsaw for resawing, or even a sawbench (as distinct from a tablesaw) if i could justify the space or cost. In that vein I've been using it to dimension sheet materials, (It's building its own bench) which really is the thin end of the wedge in my book, it's definately awkward to work safely, even with auxiliary supports.

That said, actually most of the RAS's still in production do have ripping abilities... the newer Industrial models (400mm Stromab's amongst others) i've been using offer the catching fingers as an add on not as part of the base machine, probably a nod to the fact that very few people use them to rip. (The BWF suggest against it, But the HSE actually says its ok, so long as you take precautions against anything that might be ejected striking someone.)

 

[Bluekingfisher]

I have the Elu 1251, it has the return spring and finger guard you speak of which can be lowered or raised to compensate for the material being cut. I tend to keep mine just high enough to clear the fence.

It has the anti kick back pawls at the rear of the blade guard but I have ever used it for anything other than crosscuts. I have other tools which will perform ripping and routing, in my opinion more safely.

I don't have a knee high safety switch at present but seems a good idea which I should install sooner rather than later.

I hope you get things sorted soon, its a great tool just needs some careful and skilled useage.

Good luck

 

[marcus]

If you are going to rip on it then you MUST make sure that everything is completely rigid — no play in the arm, roller head not loose in the track, bearings OK etc. If there is movement anywhere it's just asking for the blade to catch.

 

[Jelly]

If you are going to rip on it then you MUST make sure that everything is completely rigid — no play in the arm, roller head not loose in the track, bearings OK etc. If there is movement anywhere it's just asking for the blade to catch.

Yup, It's all in great nick. As far as I can tell it's either been scarcely been used at all or scrupiously maintained until it was mothballed.

I've ripped a load of MDF, Ply, 50*75 Whitewood and a little bit of 1 7/8*6 1/2 Purpleheart today; mostly fine, but I could hear it grumbling with the purpleheart, If i'd attempted to feed it at more than a snails pace it would almost certainly have kicked back... But machines can talk, if you listen carefully.