Thread: WTB - Hafco SB-12 Blade guard and riving knife

I have one somewhere in my shed that I think is similar if not identical that I'm willing to sell.
Let me take a look down the shed and then I'll PM you.

It's going to be a slow process because I have a broken ankle and can't get around that easily.

There are some available relatively cheaply on ebay and aliexpress. e.g.
Accessories Anti Dust Protective Cover With Dispensing Tool Table Saw | eBay

I've ordered one but haven't received it yet to confirm it really does fit.

[edit] These are splitters not a riving knife. Retro fitting a riving knife to an old SB-12 is something entirely more challenging!

Originally Posted by BobL

It's going to be a slow process because I have a broken ankle and can't get around that easily.

No problem at all thanks Bob Hope the heal fixes swiftly!

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

I've ordered one but haven't received it yet to confirm it really does fit.

Ok, that will be interesting to see, they are described as universal. The fitting looks a little different I might have a closer look tonight to understand how the guard assembly fits in.

The eBay/Aliexpress one won't fit. You don't want one of the original fitments they're a complete PITA and you'll just end up taking it off and not using it anyway. I have one too, but I won't sell it to you because you'd only be wasting your money. In lieu of the splitter make youself some zero clearance inserts and fit a timber flute at the rear of the blade slot. Works great, costs nothing, and you will use it. Make an overhead blade guard with integrated dust extraction.

Originally Posted by aldav

but I won't sell it to you because you'd only be wasting your money.

ha ha thanks for the intervention I am so reluctant to buy something that I will hate, but my fear of losing fingers is strong!

So ... I reckon I have the skills for making a zero clearance plate with splitter.

However ...

Originally Posted by aldav

Make an overhead blade guard with integrated dust extraction.

I will need to look into this ...

Cheers

Glyn

I feel I should make some observations as I bought an equivalent contractor saw many years ago that came without a blade guard. I also make my comments based on the fact that I use the saw relatively infrequently in a hobby environment in a garage workshop. Not only was the blade guard missing but the fence was broken as well when I got it. 15 years later I'm still using the same saw because I can't seem to justify the expense of buying something a whole lot better for limited use. Over that time I have had several attempts at making usable guards and they all had failings. I did make a temporary fix to the fence that has worked well enough. I did source some steel at one stage to make a Biesemeryer style fence as a permanent fix, but it still sits on the ground under the saw waiting for me to learn how to weld .


My most usable attempt at a home made blade guard was based on trying to emulate a Brett Guard. I never could find enough floor space or accessible ceiling for my other homemade attempts at overhead guards to work in my moveable machine space. A ceiling suspended dust collecting one like BobL's doesn't work because the roller door opens above my saw. My attempts at constructing a hood on an arm extending from the back or side were never stiff enough to hold up, or were too easy to deflect away from the blade in use.

guard.jpg

I made splitters to use with any style of overhead guard by cutting up and shaping some old saw blades. I made several of varying shapes that work with the blade set at different heights or for non through cuts. I tried the the timber flute idea set in a zero clearance insert, but since I have the thin steel style insert rather than a fat one, this didn't work quite so easily and I really don't find swapping over the steel splitters occasionally very troublesome. I have thought about making a quick release clamp for holding the splitters to ease change over. The one I've seen on the sawstop looks fairly simple.

I've recently done a tune up on the saw and after dinking around with too many other poor DIY attempts I decided to try the above mention after market guard as suitable for most ripping. It will still need to be swapped out for one of the others when doing non through cuts or using the cross cut sled. I'll be interested to see how well the dust extraction works.

The best option would be to just go out and buy a real cabinet saw with a real riving knife, fence and blade guard.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

My most usable attempt at a home made blade guard was based on trying to emulate a Brett Guard. I never could find enough floor space or accessible ceiling for my other homemade attempts at overhead guards to work in my moveable machine space. A ceiling suspended dust collecting one like BobL's doesn't work because the roller door opens above my saw.

Bummer!

I replaced the guard on my saw a few weeks after I bought it in 2006, mainly because the dust extraction was rubbish.

My first guard was based on a dust picker arm/hood bolted to the back wall of my shed and used a SS cable, pulleys and a 2L bottle of water as counterweight on the opposite wall. I don't recommend this but I also haven't had a splitter on my saw since I removed the original guard. Like the steel for your fence, I have a nice piece of SS that I was going to make a splitter out of but its still sitting in my SS box.

My new guard is very bulky and heavy but it's one of the most effective in terms of extraction I have come up with. The bulk also forces the timber downwards onto the table top so the workpiece can't easily ride up the blade to kick back.

The best option would be to just go out and buy a real cabinet saw with a real riving knife, fence and blade guard.

I agree but like you I don't use mine enough to justify upgrading. The OH extraction I've seen on most new cabinet saws is not that inspiring so I would be rebuilding it anyway.

Originally Posted by BobL

mainly because the dust extraction was rubbish.

To be honest I hadn't thought too much about this yet. My workshop is pretty dusty to start and currently trying to improve the dust catching capability underneath the saw.

Thanks Fuzzie, I'm a novice hobbyist who is trying to build the most capable and safe workshop with minimum budget. Thanks for your help, I'll check out those guards. FOrtunately my fence works well, so at least I have that to start with.

The blade guard arrived this morning. Some modification required.....

The slot in the splitter will need adjusting to fit over the fixing bolt on my saw. The cover also doesn't come forward quite far enough to clear the blade. I'll have a little think about how I'll go about adjusting things.

The dust port as expected is only vacuum cleaner hose size.

guard1.jpg
guard2.jpg

Still, for $17.61 I'm happy to give it a go.

It turns out this guard is really only suitable for 10" saws. I mostly used 10" blades in my SB12, but the original geometry of the blade guard is designed for a 12" blade. The splitter on this new guard does not have enough projection to cover the full 12" slot of the insert.

After a bit of thought I decided a solution might be to bolt an extension to the splitter to push it forward of the original guard retainer bolt. The alignment of the original holder needed a spacer washer to get the splitter to line up with the blade anyway and the bolted on extension takes the place of the spacer washer leaving the new splitter to be still in line with the blade.

This new arrangement seems to have worked but since the new splitter upright is now closer to the blade than before I had to also make an insert with a slot long enough to slide around its new position. One improvement I guess is that this also places the splitter a better distance back from the usual 10" blades I use.

I'll have to wait to see whether the fix is robust enough in general use.

newGuard.jpg guardExtension.jpg

Thanks Franklin, I had missed these updates! That is really helpful. Was it hard to line up the extension of the splitter and the blade itself?

Hi Glyn. Not on my saw, there are a couple of places where the splitter mount can be adjusted.

As it happens I have been using the saw this morning and it is the first time I have used it with this new splitter in place. It works, but it's nothing special. I was also doing some bevel cuts with the blade tilted which made things more complicated. Because of my dodgy fence I always check the teeth to fence measurements at the front and back of the blade when I first set up. The new plastic cover is a bit awkward to lift fully out of the way to do this easily. There is a pin at the top of the splitter to limit how far the cover can be lifted, probably a safety measure. I may take it out.

All in all I'd say my attempt at a Brett type guard was a better solution.