Thread: Better blade guard for TS10HB

I bought 1 of carba-tec's suva guards for my 12" TS & i seam to spend more time taking it off & swearing at it for getting in the way.
In a lot of cuts it actually seems more dangerous to use than not. holding a board down as it passes thru the blade, squeesing my hand between the suva guard the the fence because i can't get a push stick under the guard..... It just seems a waste of money for me.
Maybe i just need to learn how to use better......

If it is such a thin strip that you are cutting I would either add a small spacer/sacrificial fence against the TS fence (bolted into the side grove) or use a gripper type pushblock.

Peter.

Originally Posted by Waldo

G'day,

One of my annoyances about the blade guard on the 10HB is that, and using the shot as an example, when you have the fence up close to the blade the guard rides on the edge of the fence exposing the other side to things on your hand that you'd really like to keep there.

Forgetting about pushsticks and everything else, is there a blade guard on other C/Tec saws above the 10HB or any other saw, where the guard falls independently on either side so that the blade is totally covered?

If so I'd like to find one and retrofit it to my t/saw.

There is a design that will do what you want, but it depends on what you're willing to do to get it.

If you mount a Delta Uniguard and can live with the limitations, this is what you get:


The right and left halfs of the guard are independent and can be lifted separate of the other, so you can do things like cut 1/8" strips while having the other half protesting you from the blade. There are some big limitations on the mount though, that caused me problems.

I ran into issues with it and designed this:


From there, it morphed into this:


Finally it morphed into this including dust collection:


I use the Uniguard basket when I'm cutting thin strips and the other with dust collection while doing normal cutting.

5 different ways to mount: back or rail, floor, mobile base, ceiling or surface. It even has provisions for wing mounted router or shaper coverage. It's scalable and module.

Right now I'm trying to get everything together to license, but for the moment there's only plans for those that are willing to build their own.

Paul

Did I mention that the upgrade as a number of functions not available elsewhere, like just to show one example:

That looks like a much better design than the suva guard. This is my saw with the guard but i'm minus the sliding table;
[media]http://www.carbatec.com.au/images/hires/MBS-300_1PH.jpg[/media]
I like the way yours swings to the side too.
I was using the suva only yesterday ripping some 110mm boards down to 90mm so an easy wide safe cut but i was VERY uncomfortable making the cut because i didn't have a clear unobstructed view of the blade only a narrowish window view from the front. Plus the guards support arm partially blocks the feed thru of the cut timber making me bend down some so my right arm could pass under the support.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Sturdee, that's not a bad idea - it'll let me get a pushstick down on the fence side of things. I'm hoping I might find something at the WW Show in October that will address what I'm after.

I'd still like to have a guard that falls independently on either side - if on exists.

Thanks hcbph, I remember your initial thread, like you say the Delta Uniguard will do it, but with limitations, which are evident so I'll pass on that one. Your adaption is a great improvement on it.

Thanks ratrap, looks like the suva guard isn't ideal either.

Originally Posted by Waldo

Sturdee, that's not a bad idea - it'll let me get a pushstick down on the fence side of things. I'm hoping I might find something at the WW Show in October that will address what I'm after.

Waldo,


I've posted details and photos of my fence ofset guide here.

Peter.

That ofset guide fence is exellent to work with. We have it at the community shed, i was only talking about making 1 this week. Ours is the full length of the saws fence & almost never comes off. We call it a finger saver fence. Its really comfortable to use & just feels safer.

I've made adapters similar to what Rattrap has shown, they do work. The one complaint I have about them is that the blade guard is still elevated on the side opposite the adapter. If you're running a dust collector, all the dust will flow out that side, along with the obvious blade exposure.

There's no perfect solution but this is probably the most cost effective solution to the problem.

Paul

Hi Waldo

I'm a little bit late here but it's because of the post title (I don't know this TS) but after looking at your problem, I would like to share with you my way.

Regards
niki