Dangerous for short pieces, sure, but how do you think we coped when all timber came as waney edged? We cut by eye to a line on the plank and if the plank had tension in it we had to hammer wedges into the saw kerf behind the riving knife. There is an awareness of the fight between the wood, the machine and yourself. The bigger the machine the more respect you give it, but never be nervous as that is also dangerous, you have to be boss of what you are doing and respect limits and watch for dangers like stop to remove a wedge shape offcut that could become a projectile delivered by the back of the blade, but less likely with a crown guard. Safety is not only about keeping fingers away from the cutting edge.
Importance of crown guard?
- Thread starter Alasdair
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jrm688
Established Member
Is this what you mean by a crown guard? This is not the original that came with this old Rockwell Unisaw. I bought it used with this overarm guard and fitted the 4” (~100mm) dust extractor hose to it. The anti kickback pawls are in guarded behind the blade. There is also a 4” hose off the bottom of the cabinet. Hardly any dust escapes. I also made a riving knife that fits into the mount for the original blade guard behind the blade.
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jrm688
Established Member
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
Seems like that guard doesn't lift, unless its the post which does?
Still so undecided about which overhead guard looks the best design.
This one from Cosmas Bauer looks interesting.
Still so undecided about which overhead guard looks the best design.
This one from Cosmas Bauer looks interesting.
Pretty much. Better addressed as .
It's a piece of hard plastic that would explode into a shower to jagged shards should the fast sharp spinney thing be driven into it by the soft pink digits.
But it could provide that extra nanosecond to pull your hand back and save the soft fleshy bits from exploding into shards of their own.
What is more important, is proper use of pushsticks and having those soft, important squishy digits from getting anywhere near enough to the fast sharp spinney thing in the first place.
Yes the riving knife is a must have but crown guards can all to easily provide a false sense of safety. Personaly if I see anything that can hurt I tend to keep my self out of harms way and just seeing a saw blade is more than enough for me to use push sticks and to not approach until it has become stationary. A crown guard will not always stop the removal of digits, some people will go out of there way to get hurt. A good approach is use the pushsticks and if something is not right or gets stuck then hit the STOP and put your hands behind your back until the saw has stopped. Also do not forget to have good lighting and a clear working area free from any trip hazzards and before you feed the wood make sure there is clearance on the outfeed so it does not get stuck.
Ttrees
Iroko loco!
I don't think lexan or other forms of polycarbonate explode on impact, unlike perspex or some other plastics.
I only got some from a skip recently enough which might need to be laminated,
and have a welder now, so an excuse to make a proper one in the future.
Vann
Established Member
Not a very helpful post, oh horney one. "You're doing it wrong but I'm not going to help, just sit back a wait for the blood to splatter " is how I interpret your post.
Would you like to be a bit more helpful?
Cheers, Vann.
Doug71
Established Member
A proper crown guard will NOT explode into a 1000 pieces if it touches the blade.
Always use push sticks AND a crown guard. Yes in theory with push sticks your fingers shouldn't get close to the blade but it's better having the blade covered in case they do.
Every accident I have seen reported of people losing fingers on the table saw would have been avoided if they had used the crown guard.
I have never seen a report saying "If only I hadn't used the crown guard I would still have my fingers".
As I said earlier the crown guard can also stop kick back, if it happens you wouldn't have time to press the stop button and get out of the way, you would find yourself with arms flailing over an uncovered spinning blade.
Always use push sticks AND a crown guard. Yes in theory with push sticks your fingers shouldn't get close to the blade but it's better having the blade covered in case they do.
Every accident I have seen reported of people losing fingers on the table saw would have been avoided if they had used the crown guard.
I have never seen a report saying "If only I hadn't used the crown guard I would still have my fingers".
As I said earlier the crown guard can also stop kick back, if it happens you wouldn't have time to press the stop button and get out of the way, you would find yourself with arms flailing over an uncovered spinning blade.
This is a lousy crown guard, since replaced, but I think it answers the original question.
Sometimes it's healthy to be a little bit intimidated by a machine. I wouldn't try freehanding through this. I wouldn't use it without a riving knife and something above the blade either.
Sometimes it's healthy to be a little bit intimidated by a machine. I wouldn't try freehanding through this. I wouldn't use it without a riving knife and something above the blade either.
When I use my table saw I stand to one side and use push sticks, the STOP button is easily operated so at no time am I at risk from the blade or any wood thrown out the back. The issue with crown guards is that they often still leave a gap, if there was no gap then it would be a pretty useless saw and the gap maybe not always as big as shown above but still a gap big enough to get a digit under and in the moment the crown guard could give a false sense of protection.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Well yes but you can't have crown guard without the other!
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
1. Everything
Even on a saw of this size, the riving knife can be flexed by pressure on the crown guard, the pull on extractor hose, etc. Most saws there's little alternative, but on this I've replaced it with a rigid overhead arm mount and the riving knife has been reprofiled so that I can saw partial thickness slots with the riving knife and crown guard both in place.2. Absolutely agree, but when you had an 8" DIY table saw, tell me you didn't ever crosscut something freehand. The mitre gauges on many of those are so sloppy and feeble that they don't provide much support. The answer is a better mitre gauge or sled, but the real hazard is that the little 8" saw doesn't look as scary so there's a temptation to risk a shortcut.
Most people who’ve had accidents using a saw without a crown guard were also probably standing to one side and using push sticks, means absolutely nothing and contravenes UK Health and Safety laws.
Why do you say standing to one side means absolutely nothing and it contravenes UK Health and Safety laws?
I have a nice Bosch table saw. I find the best safety features for it are my band saw and track saw.
It means, standing to one side counts for nothing if you’ve taken off the crown guard, it’s still illegal in industry.
It is not UK Health and Safety laws that would apply but the machinery directive and more specifically PUWER, but only in a place of employment and not a private workshop. It is also common practice not to stand where a machine could eject the workpiece whether that is a table saw, P/T or router table.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
I feel like that about my 7 1/4" circular saw.
