Above Table Dust Collection for the TS

[Sam Puhalovich]

+1 on the SharkGuard.
My set-up is almost identical to Oles' ... I wouldn't want to be without it.
Also: in that the SharkGuard is mounted to the splitter ... the top of the splitter is about 1/4" below the top of the blade, which allows for non thru cuts with the removed.

[Dick Mahany]

Using above the table dust collection has made a huge difference in my shop. The real test was cutting MDF ! I made a shopbuilt Shark style guard from plans on their site and also made an articulated OH wide guard. Both have their advantages and disadvantages but I wouldn't be with out them. I posted pics over on the Workshops forum today in response to another question if it might be of any help. My lungs are much happier now .

[G Douglas Fowler]

Seven or eight years ago I built an overhead collector for my TS from plans I found on the internet from Wood Central. Search "Overhead Blade Guard and Dust Collector". Excellent plans and I believe the total cost was around &70 for all of the components.

The system performs extremely well and removes the major portion of the dust that is not captured by the 5" port at the base of the cabinet. One note however I am not a fan of zero throat inserts since they prevent a lot of the dust from being thrown down into the TS cavity. Between the two collection points I experience very little free dust. Dust collection is IMHO, an essential part of the woodworking experience.

Doug

[Jim Andrew]

plus 2 for the shark guard. Easy to install and use, just run a pipe over the saw and use flex hose to drop down to the guard. You can order which size hose flange you want to use. Mine grabs flexible strips of wood and sucks them right up the hose. With just a 2 hp cyclone. The shark guard comes with splitters.

[Stan Mitchell]

Others have mentioned the Excalibur overarm. That's the one I use and it does a decent job.

I use a cross-cut sled half the time and the Excalibur swings out of the way if need be.

I find that even when I'm using a sled that I keep it in position. It keeps chips, dust, and debris from finding my face.

[Jason White]

That's why I always drill 3/4"-1" holes in the top and bottom of my zero-clearance throat plates. It's a place to put my finger when removing the throat plate, but the holes also suck up some of the dust.

Seven or eight years ago I built an overhead collector for my TS from plans I found on the internet from Wood Central. Search "Overhead Blade Guard and Dust Collector". Excellent plans and I believe the total cost was around &70 for all of the components.

The system performs extremely well and removes the major portion of the dust that is not captured by the 5" port at the base of the cabinet. One note however I am not a fan of zero throat inserts since they prevent a lot of the dust from being thrown down into the TS cavity. Between the two collection points I experience very little free dust. Dust collection is IMHO, an essential part of the woodworking experience.

Doug

[Jim Dunn]

Mine is a home made parallelogram> I made the arms and plastic collector. Love it as I find more dust coming at me than going down in the saw.

[Ole Anderson]

And regarding the SharkGuard: Anti-kickback Pawls are an option with an additional cost of $10.

[Steve Wurster]

Take a look at the SawStop Blade Guard with built-in dust collection. It's only about $140 (I think I paid slightly less a couple months ago) and it comes with both a riving knife (possibly made only for the SawStop) and anti-kickback pawls. It only has a shop vacuum style hookup, but it also doesn't have a 4+ month lead time like the Shark Guard. I have a 4" line from my DC coming into my TS that I split into 2.5 inches on the right side and then down to the shop-vac style right at the guard.

I don't have a picture of my setup, but after I installed this I get basically no dust on the surface of my TS on most ripping cuts. Cross cuts or ripping cuts that only remove a little bit of material don't work as well because the entire guard gets raised up and so everything moves away from the vacuum source. This is especially true for cuts made with a miter gauge with a backup fence to reduce tearout. There is also the consequence of the way I mounted mine (I'll explain below) because when the guard gets hinged up too high the suction from the DC gets cut off.

My TS is a contractor saw (Ridgid TS3650), and so I have a splitter instead of a true riving knife. The motor hangs out the back of the saw and the splitter is connected onto that. So my splitter does not go up and down with the blade. But, my splitter had a hole onto where I was able to attach the guard, and I had to drill a second hole to complete the work. Due to the design, this has the consequence of the guard tipping down slightly. Doesn't affect the operation, but it does take less raising of the guard before the DC gets cut off. It still works fine for anything I have thrown at it; I'm not sure how thick the material has to be before it would stop working. Note that my setup means I did not hook up the height limiter thing that comes with the guard, but that's okay for me.

So if you have a true riving knife on your TS you might be able to get the full features of the guard out of the box.

[Jason White]

Hey, Steve -- I've been thinking about buying the SawStop blade guard (just for dust collection purposes) and trying to adapt it to my non-riving knife Unisaw. Did you get the mounting arm, too? A picture or two of your setup would be most enlightening and appreciated!

Take a look at the SawStop Blade Guard with built-in dust collection. It's only about $140 (I think I paid slightly less a couple months ago) and it comes with both a riving knife (possibly made only for the SawStop) and anti-kickback pawls. It only has a shop vacuum style hookup, but it also doesn't have a 4+ month lead time like the Shark Guard. I have a 4" line from my DC coming into my TS that I split into 2.5 inches on the right side and then down to the shop-vac style right at the guard.

I don't have a picture of my setup, but after I installed this I get basically no dust on the surface of my TS on most ripping cuts. Cross cuts or ripping cuts that only remove a little bit of material don't work as well because the entire guard gets raised up and so everything moves away from the vacuum source. This is especially true for cuts made with a miter gauge with a backup fence to reduce tearout. There is also the consequence of the way I mounted mine (I'll explain below) because when the guard gets hinged up too high the suction from the DC gets cut off.

My TS is a contractor saw (Ridgid TS3650), and so I have a splitter instead of a true riving knife. The motor hangs out the back of the saw and the splitter is connected onto that. So my splitter does not go up and down with the blade. But, my splitter had a hole onto where I was able to attach the guard, and I had to drill a second hole to complete the work. Due to the design, this has the consequence of the guard tipping down slightly. Doesn't affect the operation, but it does take less raising of the guard before the DC gets cut off. It still works fine for anything I have thrown at it; I'm not sure how thick the material has to be before it would stop working. Note that my setup means I did not hook up the height limiter thing that comes with the guard, but that's okay for me.

So if you have a true riving knife on your TS you might be able to get the full features of the guard out of the box.

[glenn bradley]

It seems like all the commercial ones available and the home made ones give up any sort of anti-kick back protection. While I understand the gaurd is there we all know how fast a kick back takes place. If it causes the guard to raise up you've lost the safety aspect.

Correct. Some of these items are sold as dust collection devices / blade guards. There are some guards with splitters and pawls that incorporate dust collection as well. When I ran the PSI I also used a separate splitter. I now have a Saw Stop where the overarm collector has a built in splitter with pawls. When the guard is off a riving knife without pawls is used.

[Steve Wurster]

I'll try to take some pictures of my setup tonight. In the meantime I can at least explain part of it.

I did not get the SawStop mounting arm. Instead, I found a picture on the Shark Guard website that shows a piece of PVC pipe suspended horizontally about 10" or so above the right side of the saw. It's mounted to the right side with just a block of wood or something (I used plywood). The PVC pipe ends closer to the blade and from there I have a run of 2.5" DC hose that just connects to the back of the guard (via a 2.5" to 1.5" adapter). The Shark Guard one of course is shown connecting to that guard; different location for the DC hookup. Their site appears down right now, so I cannot provide a link or tell you where to find it.

On the far right side of my saw is where I have a 4" to 4" / 2.5" DC splitter. The main 4" line comes from my DC, while the 4" output part drops down to the floor and connects into the back of my saw (my contractor saw is open on the bottom so I boxed that in). The 2.5" output is connected to a blast gate, and then from there connects to the end of that PVC pipe. I can close that blast gate when running non-through cuts. For most of those I just leave the guard connected to the hose and the splitter, disconnect the splitter from the saw, and place the whole assembly on the right side of my saw. But if the material has to go through that space I just disconnect the hose from the PVC and put the guard / splitter / hose assembly on my bench or something.

Note that since the PVC pipe is suspended above the right side of the saw, I am limited in how tall my material can be when it's over on that side. But since the PVC pipe ends a good bit away from the blade I still have plenty of room. I can still run material vertically without issue. I have yet to encounter any cut that has required me to remove the PVC pipe.

The only issue with my setup is that stretch of hose from the PVC pipe to the guard. When ripping narrow material and using a push device between the blade and the fence, the hose can theoretically get in the way. It's behind the blade, and I have it setup in an upside down "U" configuration to limit any impact, but I have to be aware that it's there. It hasn't affected anything yet however.

I've been wanting to post a picture ever since I got it working. This should hopefully be my impetus to do so!

[Jim Andrew]

Those anti kickback pawls are one of the reasons I discarded the unisaw guard. Try to back up your board once it is under those, and it is a pain. The splitter is your main anti kickback device, as it prevents your board from sliding over and letting your blade get a strong BITE of it, which is when the kickback happens. Haven't noticed any riving knives coming with anti kickback pawls. Maybe there are some out there, but I haven't seen them.

[Steve Wurster]

Here are some pictures of my setup. See my previous post for the descriptions.

pipe.jpgguard on splitter.jpgblast gate.jpg

[Chris Parks]

I think Jim Schaeffer's (sp?) is the best I have seen and is somewhere on this site. Found it!.....http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...n-from-the-top

The brushes stop the debris escaping but allow air flow in to feed the extractor.