Overarm Blade Guard & Ceiling Mount

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Originally Posted by Rob Blaustein

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=179385&postcount=12 Nice job John. Let me guess, you also made that overarm blade guard for your saw. Ceiling mount?

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Rob - Yes, the design is from a very nice article on Woodcentral The ceiling mount was inspired by some photos posted by Sam Blasco on the MM forum in 2003. Sam also has some photos of a nifty edge duster he made for the guard which perhaps he could post here for the non MM members.

In the photos below you will see that I executed the ceiling mount a bit different than Sam's and also provided left-to-right adjustability. When I am ripping, I can move the guard to the left to make more room for narrow cuts (use a push block!). This position also works good for edge trimming since more of the dust goes into the collector rather than out the side. Moving the guard to the right also gives me clearance for my miter guide.

I intended to use telescoping aluminum square tube to provide vertical adjustability but I was unable to find enough for both supports. So the front one uses the telescoping tubes while the rear one uses a wooden support and an aluminum tube.

Overall I am satisfied - the guard does a great job of dust collection and keeps my hands away from the blade.

John,
Thanks for the topical post. I'm in the process of making this guard and think I will incorporate your ceiling mount into my project. I'm thinking of a two-axis adjustment for N/S and E/W movement.

Thanks again,
Tom

John,

Your guard looks great! How much of a pain is it to adjust the guard left and right? Seems you would need a chair or ladder?

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Originally Posted by Jeff Sudmeier

John,

Your guard looks great! How much of a pain is it to adjust the guard left and right? Seems you would need a chair or ladder?

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Hi Jeff,

I was out of town for a few days. Yes I have a stepstool (3-step ladder) nearby to the saw. I stand on that, loosen the four knobs approx 1/2 turn, slide the guard into the new position and retighten. This takes about 30 seconds. The solution may not be what the pros want, but for this amateur it works just fine.

JM

John, sounds like a workable solution! For those that have the table saw on a mobile base, they could even just move the saw a touch.

Thanks again for the pics!

Nice job. I based mine on that article, as well. I miss using it, though, now that my shop has 20' ceilings, no place to mount it. Since I have a combo there is no place to mount an over-arm version, either. I contacted the guys at Sommerville Designs, makers of Excalibur stuff, to see if they would work with me to develop a freestanding version for me, and possibly, other combo owners. Man was polite, and said he would get back to me, and I never heard from them again. I guess I'll have to break out the epoxy and fiberglass and come up with something myself, as usual. I really miss the "Edgeduster" since I straight-line most of my solid stock on the slider rather than using the jointer for the initial edge. When I initially built the mount and extensions, I too, would have preferred metal tubing, but the idea hit me in the morning, wanted to get it done by lunchtime (if you know what I mean), and used what I had, always plenty of scrap plywood lying around. I also would have preferred to use 1/4" Lexan, but the 3/8" is what I had leftover from something else, so it is a bit heavier than I would have liked. Hopefully I'll be able to incorporate the guard into the new design, and I'll try to post some pics this weekend of the "Edgeduster" in action.
I would love to have it in done in time for my August Seminar, but some furniture needs to be made first. We'll see.

John--thanks for the details, looks great. I'm still thinking of putting together something like this, also based on Gordon Sampson's design. I started a thread a few months ago about this topic and got some nice reponses; those of you interested in the topic can check it out here. I was originally thinking ceiling mount too, but I might go for something like Todd Frank's design which mounts to the rear rails. As he points out, his design has elements of Gordon's design as well as those of the Biesemeyer unit. Here is the link to his post that he provided in his response. (And Todd, if you're reading this, I sent you a PM about your design.)
-Rob