The shaft collars are added to restrict the side-to-side movement of the blade cover so it never accidentally touches the saw blade. I filed a flat spot on the tube for greater locking force, and as a locking reference point. The tube and guard can be shifted left or right for flexibility when sawing narrow work-pieces, or when using my sliding table attachment. A hole is drilled in the tee, a nut is brazed over the hole, and then a threaded knob is screwed into the nut. The upper pivot arm tube fits nicely inside a black pipe tee fitting. The lower pivot arm allows me to pivot the blade cover out of the way for blade changes or when I need to retract the independent splitter. Here are a few of my guard’s construction details: The upper pivot arm lets me pivot the entire guard up and out of the way so I can make cuts on tall pieces up to about 24″ without needing to separate the guard at the pipe union. That allows me to easily remove the lower section that holds the guard so there’s clearance for the rare times I need to cut extra long or wide work pieces oriented vertically.
I split the pipe into two sections and joined those sections with a pipe union. So I made this 2-ft long extension box, which shortened the pipe length and increased the ceiling connection surface area. The problem was that a long section of pipe with a small footprint connection to the ceiling was too flexible. I tried a few different ways to connect the guard support pipe to my ceiling before I arrived at this final solution. Using the Uniguard blade cover parts together with black plumbing pipe and fittings, rectangular and round metal tubing, and miscellaneous hardware I crafted the ceiling mounted guard you see here. My saw is affixed to my floor and it doesn’t move so a permanently mounted ceiling overhead guard made a lot of sense. Making those cuts required I drop the Uniguard out of the way, and that made me very nervous, and rightfully so.Īdding an aftermarket sliding crosscut table to my table saw forced me to eliminate the Uniguard due to interference with the sliding table. It’s design presented sawing limitations to the left of the blade. That configuration is not typical, most wrap around from the right. I added Delta’s Uniguard overarm guard that wrapped around the left rear of the saw. My table saw is a 1980’s vintage Delta Unisaw that I bought new. My Shop-Made Guard And Splitter Storyīasically this is my story of how I got from there to where I am today with my saw safety thinking. First I’ll show you my guard and splitter solution, then I’ll show you some of what I found when I searched the Internet for aftermarket saw guards and splitters. Please realize this is not a review of different factory or aftermarket table saw guards and splitters, rather it’s intended to explore options, give you ideas, and encourage you to find a solution that works for you and gives you proper protection. Here’s a great video that explains riving knives: George Vondriska Explains Riving Knives This offers more protection by stopping a saw kerf from closing sooner than with a traditional splitter. It maintains close proximity to the blade at all times. A “true” riving knife is a splitter that is articulated to move up and down as the saw blade is raised or lowered. Riving knives are fairly common on new saws, but that wasn’t the case just a few years ago. Pawls are spring loaded backward pointing “fingers” that stop a board from being shot forward during a kickback. Most new table saws today come with good guards and good splitters with anti-kickback pawls. I choose to continue calling these guards since they block or impede a person’s hands from contact with the rotating saw blade. You should know that OSHA defines what I call a guard as a blade cover. I understand that accidents happen, but you can do a lot to minimize the chances of being the victim of a table saw accident by using a guard and splitter, and common sense. Table saws are inherently dangerous and you should give them ample respect. I implore you to use caution and do everything you can to protect yourself in your shop. I’m convinced that all of these accidents were preventable. The story always goes the same way, first is what happened, and then, unfortunately, what the operator did wrong.
We’ve all heard the horror stories about someone who’s gotten maimed using a table saw.
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