Two-by-Four Won't Go Under Shark Guard

[Steve H Graham]

I got a Shark Guard for my Powermatic 66. Today I was slicing up a two by four in order to make some little pieces to stiffen the corners of a router dust enclosure, and I noticed that the guard was too low to permit the 1 1/2" high wood to go under it. The metal part the pawls hang on extends sideways from the splitter, and the underside is a tiny bit less than 1 1/2" off the table surface.

I thought this was a little weird, since there must be a lot of people who like to cut up two-by lumber for various purposes. I would think that a guard that won't accept this standard size would be a lot of trouble for most users. Has anyone else had this problem?

It turned out I could solve the problem by putting a piece of scrap under the splitter where it attaches to the splitter mount, but that seems a little cheesy. I'm wondering if I'm having this problem because my saw has one of the weird male splitter mounts.

[Gary Curtis]

Though I am not a carpenter and don't build houses, for the reasons you stated I got fed up with my General 350 TS. A superb machine, but a 10" blade in unrealistic. I bought instead a 12" tablesaw and thank my stars nearly every time I use it. Even for a hobbyist, a 10" saw doesn't provide enough capability.

[John Morrison60]

Steve
My Sharkguard on my Unisaw came with multiple splitters, each a different height.

The tallest one will let a 2-3 inch piece of wood go under the guard.
The "normal" one will let a 1 1/2 inch piece go under the guard.
Check to see if you got multiple splitters

John

[Steve H Graham]

Oh, man. Is it that simple? I was afraid I was going to have to try to get parts for a new splitter mount. I got several splitters, but I guess I forgot their purpose today!

[Noah Katz]

Even for a hobbyist, a 10" saw doesn't provide enough capability.

+1, and I'm surprised that it's not a more common complaint; you're the first person to mention it that I've seen.

I'm often wanting to rip 4x stock, and I don't know of 10" saw that does that (other than the Craftsman that I used to have and ground on until it did).

Some of them get within 1/4", and I wonder why they don't try a little harder and go all the way.

[Tom Ewell]

My 10" saw will rip 4x stock, it just takes two passes

[david brum]

If your tall Sharkguard splitter is like mine, you can also use it to get the fence really close to the blade. It's great for ripping thin stock without spraying dust everywhere.

[Steve H Graham]

I guess I'll change the title of this thread to, "Wow, I'm stupid."

[Mort Stevens]

I'm often wanting to rip 4x stock, and I don't know of 10" saw that does that (other than the Craftsman that I used to have and ground on until it did).

Some of them get within 1/4", and I wonder why they don't try a little harder and go all the way.

I'm not an expert on many brands, but on *some* 10" saws you can adjust the upper stop to get you a full 3-1/2"+ capacity... usually there is plenty of clearance under the saw to accomplish this and all you may need is to make a new throat plate.

[johnny means]

If ripping 4x material is a regular task, it's time for a bandsaw. I can think of many reasons why resawing on a table saw is a bad idea.

[Noah Katz]

I'm not an expert on many brands, but on *some* 10" saws you can adjust the upper stop to get you a full 3-1/2"+ capacity... usually there is plenty of clearance under the saw to accomplish this and all you may need is to make a new throat plate.

Which?

On my old CM and IIRC on my current PM2000, the limit is the arbor hitting the underside of the table.

[Noah Katz]

I can think of many reasons why resawing on a table saw is a bad idea.

A TS is able to support much longer stock than a BS; I don't recollect ever seeing posts on BS outfeed support like there are for TS's.

And what's the difference between ripping and resawing?

[johnny means]

A TS is able to support much longer stock than a BS; I don't recollect ever seeing posts on BS outfeed support like there are for TS's.

And what's the difference between ripping and resawing?

Really no difference between ripping and resawing. I guess most people would say that resawing is ripping a board through it's width, but cutting is cutting. My point is that at a certain dimension a table saw becomes a bad choice for making the cut. Table saw blades are designed to work within certain parameters and very deep cuts test the limits of those parameters. When using a blades full depth of cut almost half the blade is buried in the material this causes issues with chip clearance and friction. Also, at the blades apex the teeth and body are working to push the material straight back at the operator. This can be particularly problematic when you have a large area of material binding on the blade.

Don't get me wrong, I've done this plenty of times and will do it again. But I do this realizing that what I should do is change the blade on my bandsaw and use the more appropriate, safer machine for the job.

[Mort Stevens]

On my old CM and IIRC on my current PM2000, the limit is the arbor hitting the underside of the table.

This for one;
http://woodgears.ca/delta_saw/depth_of_cut.html

I suspect there are probably others too.

[Noah Katz]

Thanks, I'll take another look at mine.