aftermarket table saw guards

[Mark Carlson]

Bart,

Your description of my router setup is correct. Its similar to the setup used by David Marks, if you've ever watched his show. I agree the setup is not ideal for positioning oneself as you feed your stock through the bit. I dont find this awkward though. It does have the benefit of providing a lot of work surface to the left of the router fence along with outfeed extensions. I had a seperate router table before I got a cabinet saw. I have a small shop so I decided to mount my Woodpecker router table in the right extension to save room.

Your pictures of a ceiling mounted Exaktor guard would work for me also.

[Mark Rios]

Don't forget to add that cupholder in the near left corner of the router wing.

[Tom Drake]

I use a Shark Guard I purchased from Lee Styron as well. Works very well.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Art,
I believe a guard with dust collection capability, whether it's mounted via an arm, an overhead mount or to the saw's splitter assembly, is the only way to capture 'most' of the dust generated. You still need a port to serve the bottom of the tablesaw also. Unfortunately, with both above and under dust collection, I still get dust flying around on certain cutting operations. The idea here is to minimize, and understand that you cannot eliminate dust problems from such a diversely applied tool as the hobbyist's tablesaw.

If your concern of dust is regarding your health, a dust mask, or a half mask particulate respirator, or a positive air helmet is the only way to adequately protect yourself. However, in this regard, I'm all talk for I don't practive what I preach.
cheers, Jeff

[Mark Hollingsworth]

After doing some research into the SharkGuard and contacting Lee Styron, I ordered one for my Griz1023. I liked the idea of the hose hanging from the ceiling for dust coll rather than an arm at eye level across the extension table. I just got email saying it would ship today so can't give a testimony but I am expecting to be well satisfied with it. Lee says the tail you see on some of the pictures is obsolete which was fine with me and I also had him leave off the decal. I didn't want any more view obstructions than neccessary. Happy decision making! Mark

[Frank Chaffee]

IMHO, yes. No matter how great your dust collection system is relative to your cabinet, the physics of cutting is going to make some material come off the top of the blade, especially when using zero clearance inserts...which we all do for very good reason. An overarm guard with collection catches a lot of that material and reduces or nearly eliminates all the "stuff" that ends up on your saw top and, um...you. In the mean time, it helps keep your hands away from the blade (not foolproof, of course...) and also helps to deflect any kickback.

Jim, and others,
I too have gotten a few chips down the front of my shirt while using a tablesaw, but I have to wonder if those chips are ejected immediately as the cutting tooth shears the wood or if they are carried a full rotation or more in the sawblade gullet before flying free. If they are carried around in the gullet, perhaps a crosswise airstream to the blade would deflect them into the space beneath the table.

Any thoughts on this (especially from those with time-lapse photography capabilities)?

Thanks,
Frank

[Mark Carlson]

I just ordered a Shark Guard for my General 650. I like threads that get me to buy stuff I never new about. Thanks.

[john mclane]

I ended up ordering a shark guard. For my budget that seems to be the best. I was a little hesitant to order since he had not made one for my type saw but assured me he had one that was being beta tested and was similiar in design to another model. hope it aligns better then the current guard and splitter since I spent about a 1/2 hour to put back on and get aligned.

thanks for everyone's advice

[Mike Gottlieb]

Mark, I have the Shark Guard and absolutely love it. It is easily installed, its splitters are interchangeable, can be easily removed, and collects dust very well in concert with the ts outlet. Lee Styron is a great guy to work with and his product works as advertised. You won't go wrong by buying a shark guard.

[Kurt Voss]

I'm a little late getting to this thread as the money's been spent, but thought I'd mention I've used the Exaktor for the past year and like it. I can shove it out of the way easily and raise and lower the hood easily as well.