Table saw guarding

[marcros]

So an not to hijack another thread on riving knives, i will start another.

I am looking for ideas for table saw guarding, that are not connected to the riving knife. I wish to make a reduced height riving knife for deep ripping, and more likely grooving on the saw.

Roger kindly posted a picture of an arm fixed to a ceiling beam, which would work well if the saw had a dedicated space and didnt move. However, that may be an issue for me.

An idea that I have had (and borrowed a photograph from the for sales section to demonstrate), involves fixing it to the rip fence, with some kind of adjustment to allow it to be re-positioned (ie extended or retracted) as the fence is moved. There could also be a means of raising and lowering it, or even a hinge to allow it to do so, for different thicknesses of timber being cut. A dust extraction hose could be ran along it from the hood. I dont know, at this stage how i would secure it to the rip fence, but since this is yet to be made, nothing is off limits!

There may be a lot of leverage on the saw for very wide cuts, but if the front of the guard itself was eased, and or the guard could swivel a few degrees, then it could ride on the timber that was being cut. (similar to the way that the pork chop guard does on the side of timber being planed.

A picture is below- any thoughts?

 

[wizard]

like this

 

[marcros]

yes, except i was thinking of having the post (on yours) on my rip fence, in case it got in the way. What happens on that if you had a 4ft width of sheet material and wanted to produce a 2ft piece either side of your blade? I cant quite get the scale of your saw.

 

[davem62]

mark
mine is attached to the side beyond the fence's full adjustment which allows the table to be used for max cut ,which varies depends on the size of your table,
regards dave

 

[wizard]

If i am cutting a 4 foot sheet i use a skill saw

 

[marcros]

Thanks Dave. I have just dropped you a message about coming to see you. I am not sure whether this would work on my saw. I was planning to have a router table in one end, but it could work from the other. One side of the blade would have limitless capacity, the other would be dictated by this arm. Worst case, i guess is to find an alternative on the rare occasion that the arm gets in the way. Medium term, I want a track saw, which will mean that such occurrences are almost none.

Does nobody like my idea of putting it on the fence?!

 

[marcros]

If i am cutting a 4 foot sheet i use a skill saw

I suspect that is the simplest and best solution to the problem!

 

[Steve Maskery]

Mine is mounted from the far right corner and given support by a shoe mounted on the fence. I can lock it up in the air or tip it out of the way altogether for making adjustments or accessing the throat plate. It works very well and I don't think I'd change anything about it. You can see the Mark 1 version on many of my YouTube vids.

That reminds me, I've had broadband installed this morning so I'll reload my Blip videos to YouTube when I get a mo.

S

 

[nathandavies]

having it attached to the fence would be a pita. moving that every time you moved the fence.

 

[Karl]

Here's mine. I have done away with the side extraction pipe - it wasn't necessary.



Suspended from above



Cheers

Karl

 

[No skills]

Hi-jack alert!

Karl, do you mean the only extraction on the saw is via the clear blade guard?

'New' workshop looks neat and tidy.

 

[doctor Bob]

Might as well show you mine, standard altendorf set up

 

[The Bear]

Another slight hijack from me as well. Karl, where did you get the blade guard from. I'm just talking about the clear plastic box. I want to make the boom arm but not the guard itself. Cheers. Some good ideas all round.

Mark

 

[Karl]

Hi-jack alert!

Karl, do you mean the only extraction on the saw is via the clear blade guard?

'New' workshop looks neat and tidy.

That pic was taken some time ago...... :lol:

No, the only extraction (now) is below the blade, from the back of the cabinet.

Another slight hijack from me as well. Karl, where did you get the blade guard from. I'm just talking about the clear plastic box. I want to make the boom arm but not the guard itself. Cheers. Some good ideas all round.

Mark

The full kit was from Axi - you can't buy just the perspex box.

Bob - stop showing off... :lol:

Cheers

Karl

 

[Steve Maskery]

If you make the top from thickish material, say 10mm HDPE, then you can easily pilot drill it and screw the thinner sides to it. That is exactly how I made mine and it works great. I'd do the same anytime.
S

 

[The Bear]

Steve
I've ebayed 10mm hdpe sheet but can't find clear. I know nothing about plastics, any idea where to buy it ( and thinner stuff for the sides)?

Mark

 

[No skills]

http://www.theplasticshop.co.uk/polyeth ... 996-0.html


Maybe helpful.

 

[The Bear]

Quick look suggests they don't sell clear???

Mark

 

[Steve Maskery]

Steve
I've ebayed 10mm hdpe sheet but can't find clear. I know nothing about plastics, any idea where to buy it ( and thinner stuff for the sides)?

Mark

Hi Mark
I bought mine from a sign manufacturer. It's not cheap, but at least you can buy offcuts rather than an 8x4 sheet. I seem to remember I paid about £15 for a few bits. Enough to make my guard, anyway. The good thing about HDPE is that it is not brittle, so it can be drilled and screwed without fear of it going bang.

S