Tablesaw Overhead Guard

[Wayne Davy]

I have finished my homemade T/S overhead guard and thought I would show off some pic's. The guard is made of 6mm perspex and small, angle alum pop riveted together. The support arm is a mix of Alum and steel and is mounted to a support that is bolted to the back of the saw.

After hooking it up to the Cyclone and ripping/cutting up all the wood to make a set of bunk beds for the boys, I have been very very happy with the result. So long as I can position the hood nice and low, virtually no chips/dust escapes. This is mainly due to the 4"/100mm dust port (2.5" ones are useless). Even when ripping narrow pieces where the T/S fence prevents the hood being positioned close to the wood, most stuff is still picked up.

Anyway, here's some pics. I will be updating my web site (http://members.optusnet.com.au/~waynedavy/) with some more construction detail shortly for those who are interested.

[Wayne Davy]

Here's a pic showing the hood connected to the Cyclone. A 150mm/150mm/100mm wye is used above so that the bottom dust port on the saw as well as the hood are connected together. I have also put a blast gate on the pipe connecting to the guard/hood to control the air flow. I did this as I found I was actually getting too much suction on the guard and the guard was getting "sucked" down to the table sometimes!!

Also, I have since added a couple of bar bell weights to the back of the long guard support arm to balance the hood (thanks for the idea Dean). I needed these as the 4" dust pipe was pushing the hood down. btw: The guard/hood does not "float" like most commercial ones - it is locked in place by the two knobs on the Guard support arms. This means that the hood cannot move in use and helps prevent "brain failure" type accidents.

[Wood Borer]

Another fine Wayne Davy project.

- Wood Borer

[derekcohen]

Wayne

Very, very nice job.

I think that your solution to placement of the vertical support is novel and clever. I would not have considered using the fence rail. For your set up this really does get it out of the way (do you ever need to remove your fence and, if so, how is it done?). How secure is it, and did you weld the pillar to the base plate?

I would love to do the same on my tablesaw since increasingly I am having to use it without the guard (NOT a healthy idea) for dado work, etc.

What did you do about the riving knife? Is your original one (what tablesaw do you use?) still usable, or have you added a retractible one (and if so, which did you use?)?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Wayne Davy]

Derek,

Thanks for the praise mate!!

The bar that I mounted the guard support assembly on to is not a rear fence rail (I wish). My fence is the stock (read Cheap/nasty) one that came with my $300 saw that just clamps itself to the back of the Table (and it sucks). I had to install a big Alum support that is bolted to the back of the saw cabinet.

I replaced the Riving knife with a homemade Alum one which is flush with the top of the blade. The original one had an extension on top to support the stock guard (which was useless as it only had a 2" dust port btw). As I want to sell this saw one day, I did not want to wreck the original riving knife.

You may also notice that I have also discarded the stock blade insert plate (orange one in previous pic) and replaced it with a zero clearance one. I also made one for my Dado Set.

As for my fence, I have to do something about it as it is a dead set pain to set square with the blade. However, I don't want to put a $500+ fence on a $300 saw just at this minute. Particuarly considering I want to upgrade to a proper Cabinet Saw (svc010.bne011i.server-web.com/catalogue/carbatec2/cache/header-573public__0-0.html?cache=no) one day which will have a good stock fence (I hope/believe).

I have just finished updating my web site (http://members.optusnet.com.au/~waynedavy/) with these pics (and a touch more details) as well as a few other changes to the Workshop area if you are interested.

[Sturdee]

Wayne, you did a great job with the guard. I also was considering something similar to this untill I worked out how to connect the Triton guard to my DC. which is working out ok.

The instructions I found on the web showed the lever arm to raise and lower the guard at the front rather than the back, the unit hanging down from the ceiling instead of coming from the side and had 2 small lightglobes fitted in the guard to illuminate the work area which was switched to the saw switch.

Peter.

[derekcohen]

Wayne

You have a very nice workshop. It inspires me to rebuild my cabinets this summer. Well, after I have finished the bedside tables for Lynndy. And after I have re-finished all the Western Red Cedar French doors and windows along three sides of the house. And after ...

I like your planned tablesaw purchase. It is on my own short list. I have the one-down from that (12" blade, 2 hp). And yes, I wouldn't go to the trouble of replacing the fence on your current tablesaw.

Now I see that your overhead guard is fixed separately. Ah, but it gives me an idea! There is no reason that one could not make up a steel fitting for the rail of a tablesaw fence, one that clamps down and is removable (or just movable). Mmm....

All the best from Perth

Derek

[kenmil]

Well done Wayne. When did you say you would have mine ready ??

[Wayne Davy]

Thanks guys!! (I'm blushing and my head wont fit through the door)

Ken, mate, I already have an order to fill which will mean yours should be ready on the 32nd of a Month in a year to be announced at a later date ;)

Probably be a bit quicker if you made one yourself - not all that hard just a bit fiddly putting the hood together. The other bits (supports/arm) are a piece of cake.

[bigAl]

Hi Wayne,

I was heading to Carbatec this week to buy either the Delta or Biesmeyer overarm guard and I confess, I've just changed my mind.

Great job, great idea.

Al.

[Wayne Davy]

Al,

A hell of a lot cheaper to make one. Also, I believe those ones only have 2.5"/3" dust ports on top. I made mine with a 4" - makes a hell of a difference.

Best of luck.

Wayne

[bigAl]

Hey Wayne,

I've finished the table insert on the jet super saw for the router station including homemade router plate and zero clearnce inserts. The incra jig has been customised to provide dust extraction. Next step, I guess, is the overhead blade guard.

Now all I need to do is some actual woodwork and I'll be laughing!

I'll post a pic of the Wayne-Davey-Knock-Off ASAP.

Al.

[Rocker]

Wayne,
Thanks for inspiring me to build an overhead guard for my saw. Mine is essentially identical to yours, except that I used steel angle for the support arm and its braces, and I added a wooden stay to prevent the guard from being pushed back, if it were knocked hard.

I am delighted to find that the guard captures every scrap of dust, so my workshop should be a lot cleaner from now on :)

Rocker

[derekcohen]

Rocker

That is a very neat job.

How is the main supporting vertical member attached to the saw table?

It looks as if you have had to deal with a possible inherent weakness in the overhead system (that is, the danger of the guard being pushed back). Can you say something about this (e.g. pushed back how?), and what could be incorporated into a design (if starting from scratch).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Rocker]

Derek,
I was fortunate, in that my (older model) Jet table saw has heavy-duty steel angle (blue in the picture) bolted to both the back and the front of the saw table. I was also lucky that it was drilled in convenient places, so that I could bolt the vertical member and its brace to it. I added the wooden stay, bolted to the front piece of steel angle, because I found that the long horizontal member could be pushed backwards quite easily by backward pressure on the perspex guard. I felt that, in the unlikely, but possible, scenario of the operator stumbling and pushing hard against the guard, it needed to be restrained from moving back so as to expose the blade.

Rocker

[derekcohen]

Rocker

Do you think that thicker steel sections could prevent the twisting action?

Derek

[Rocker]

Derek,

I think if you want to dispense with the stay, you would need to use either heavy-duty steel pipe or steel box section for the vertical support. The length of the horizontal member (about 800 mm in my case) means that it can exert strong leverage and could therefore twist most steel angle. I notice that Wayne has used steel pipe for his vertical support, but I don't know whether it is sufficiently rigid to withstand a strong backward push on the perspex guard box.

Rocker

[Eastie]

Great job Wayne, looks like it will do the job nicely.

[Wayne Davy]

Rocker,

Great job on your guard!!! It's damn nice to have the things set up to remove nearly all the dust/chips. Also feels a lot safer to use especially with the Dado set installed. I do still get some chips flying out during certain cuts (ie. edge dado's) but, all in all, it is working great.

Regarding your additional support. You cannot see it in the pics, but my vertical support is TWO steel tubes and the cross brace is fixed inbetween these two. This seems to give quite good support but my arm is not as long as yours (and no, thats not size envy ;) ). While I can move the guard back/sideways a bit, I dont think there is any danger. To expose the blade on mine, I think I would have to fall on top of the thing, from an angle and a large height which I am pretty sure is not going to happen (at least not when the saw is running).

Cheers,

[Wayne Davy]

Eastie,

Thanks mate!! Yep, love it and it does work very, very well. Just need to upgrade the cheap saw one day (come on Lotto!!)