Splitter/Blade Guard/KickBack pawl

[Ron Taylor]

Do you use them or not?

Having just bought my first TS, I find that these safety devices are troublesome and in the way. However, I do know the value of fingers, hands, and other body parts.

I know Norm removes them, but just for the camera...

What about you?

[Von Bickley]

Ron,

I'm probably the only one that doesn't use these items. Never have and have no plans to start now.

[Dave Avery]

Ron,

I have and use an overarm blade guard with built in dust collection. I find that it defines a comfortable (for me) "safe" zone around the blade. Even with the guard, I NEVER reach across or over the blade while it's spinning. Norm does this ALL THE TIME and it really bothers me.

I use a splitter when ripping 8/4 stock and greater. I don't find that it's usually required on thinnerr stock. When I'm not using the splitter, I pay careful attention to the cut and make sure that there's no binding. At the slightest hint of increase motor load, I'll shut down and place a small wedge in the cut to prevent closure.

All that said, it's all about your comfort level. If you trust yourself to be careful without safety equipment - great. If you don't, better use the safety devices. Dave.

[Howard Ruttan]

Most surveys I have seen list the number one cause of injury on the table saw as kickback rather than some form of contact with the blade. That is not to say that blade contact isn't right up there. Just ask me - I almost lost a thumb to the darn thing. However, using a splitter is just as necessary with thin stock as with thicker material. I believe the splitter is just as important as the guard, if not more so - a belief backed up by the numbers. I use the Delta removable splitter with my saw. At around $30 it is a real deal. I have yet to find a guard that is worth what they charge for them but a guard is just a physical barrier and does not require the level of engineering necessarily that the splitter requires. Thus I am in the process of designing my own. Yes, that means that I am not using a guard at present, but the splittter is on the saw for every operation I can use it with. It is unfortunate that the stock splitter/guard supplied today is such a waste of metal and plastic.

[Jim Becker]

I use an Excalibur Overarm Guard and a Biesemeyer snap-in splitter. Why? Aside from the obvious safety benefit, I use them because they are easy to use, unlike the OEM guard and splitter that comes with most saws. Having them independent also means you can use one or both, depending on what's best for a particular cut.

An overarm guard is also the only way to capture the "splash" that comes up off the top of the blade on a through cut. Rather than having all that sawdust hitting you bodily and also landing on your saw and floor, it just goes up the hose in the nose of the guard.

[Mark Mazzo]

Originally posted by Howard Ruttan
...However, using a splitter is just as necessary with thin stock as with thicker material. I believe the splitter is just as important as the guard, if not more so - a belief backed up by the numbers...

Howard,

I agree with you. Kickback from thick stock can happen when the stock closes onto the spinning blade and fires straight back, but with thinner stock there is a tendency for the stock to be lifted by the back of the blade and spun around and over the top of the blade (with possibly even greater force). I always use a splitter unless the cut is a non-through cut.

I found the original equipment with my Delta CS to be cumbersome as well (although I still used it and removed it when necessary for non-though cuts ). Finally I got the Delta Removable Splitter (definitely a great value and easy to use) and made an overarm blade guard. I took apart the original guard and fabricated an overarm guard from aluminum stock using the original guard to shield the blade. Works pretty well, but it is a little narrow. Someday I may fabricate a better one out of Lexan, but even if I don't I will still always use my bladeguard and splitter.

--Mark

[Howard Ruttan]

Hey Mark,

Do you have a picture of your blade guard? I am very interested to see what you came up with.

[Mark Mazzo]

Originally posted by Howard Ruttan
Hey Mark,

Do you have a picture of your blade guard? I am very interested to see what you came up with.

Howard,

I'll take a couple of shots tonight and post them here. I basically took Gordon Sampson's design from his article on Badger Pond and made modifications to it. I hung it from the ceiling but I fabricated a "hanger" from wood and I used the stock Delta CS clear guard rather than creating one from Lexan, aluminum and screws. As I mentioned, it works opretty well, but the guard is a little narrow. Since it is hung from the ceiling I need to get the saw in just the right position underneath it. I guess that is what mobile bases are for

-- Mark

[Howard Ruttan]

I watch for it. I am trying something similar but using those rare earth magnets in a small stand that I can set on the fence or the edge of the table on the left. That way I don't have to suspend anything from the roof or have one of those enormous arms hanging around. I have more than a few bugs to work out though.

[Bob Lasley]

Ron,

I am a firm believer in splitters for any thickness of material. I too, think OEM splitters, guards and pawls are junk. The cabinet saw I bought last fall has never had them installed. I made a splitter that attaches with one bolt so it is easy to remove and reinstall. Mine does not have pawls on it as I find the pawls cause more problems, including scratched wood, than they prevent. I have been considering building an overarm guard ever since I saw Terry Hatfield's. This would be more for dust collection than keeping my fingers out of the blade. The other piece of safety equipment I wouldn't be without is my push stick. I prefer the type that looks like a shoe as it gives down force as well as push.

Bob

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

Von's not the only one that doesn't use them. I've never used an after-market 'overarm' guard, so I can't speak to them...but I find the OEM stuff to be crap, and in the way at the times when you really need 'protection', which is on 'skinny' rips.

As to splitters and pawls, I don't like anything that hinders my ability to control the workpiece...particularly one that's 'acting up'.

KC

[jack duren]

i dont use any guards due to setup changes. now if i could dedicate a saw for every application i would use the splitters/guards.

for a hobby woodworker time isnt money. you should invest in a good, suitable safety system for all your equipment.....jack

[Steve Clardy]

Originally posted by Von Bickley
Ron,

I'm probably the only one that doesn't use these items. Never have and have no plans to start now.

No Von, you are not the only one. I too don't use anything, as they get in the way. And I bet Norm doesn't put all that stuff on when the TV camera is off. I still have all ten, I just be careful.

[Sam Chambers]

Ron:

The blade guard - or maybe "blade cover" is a better term - is there to decrease the liklihood of an accidental meeting of your flesh and the sharp spinning thing. Zach Ethridge ( terriffic instructor at Highland Hardware in Atlanta) calls this, "voluntary injury". Many of them are poorly designed and are a nuisance to use. But I guarantee you that, in hindsight, my father would gladly out up with a little inconvenience if he could have his left hand in original, unmangled condition.

Kickback is a whole different thing. Ethridge called this "involuntary injury", in that the user didn't have to do anything to cause it to happen. I recently saw a great live demonstration of kickback by author Kelly Mahler. He used a piece of rigid styrofoam insulation instead of wood, ran it through the saw blade with no splitter in place, and let go. ZING!!! Off it flew, in an impressive display of violent kickback. And it didn't go straight back either. It went right where we've all been taught to stand when using a table saw - to the left of the blade.

The splitter/guard assembly on my Delta contractor's saw is a joke. It's a pin to remove & reinstall, and it never wants to line up right. But I'll keep using it until I come up with something else. And I'm going to come up with something else.

[Dennis Peacock]

Nope....don't use them. I tried to use the OEM one that came with my Jet cabinet saw.....I hated it....the wood stuck in the pawls, the wood was scratched and dented and changing in setup seemed to take forever.....I have worked for years without these guards....I still have all fingers, hands, arms and legs as well as all other essential body parts.

Yup.....I have experienced a severe kickback.....BUT....that was because I wasn't making a very smart cut with a very twisted board and I paid the price for it......7 weeks of wearing a very large right chest bruise.......

I still don't use those devices today...even after getting bit with a really hefty kickback. I'm just more careful about material condition and selection for ripping on the TS....when in doubt, rip it on the BS and finish on the TS.