In article , "Upscale" wrote:

"Doug Miller" wrote in message news:jYm%g.14271

[Curious here, not argumentative] Why? How can you be more comfortable without
the guard than with it?

I'd guess that some feel more comfortable when they can see the blade as
compared to a guard that partially obscures seeing the whole blade.

I've heard people say that before, and could never understand it -- why the
heck does anyone "need" to see the blade on a table saw during a cut??

Band saw or scroll saw, sure -- it's awful tough to make a freehand cut if you
can't see where you're cutting, but nobody with any sense makes freehand cuts
on a table saw.

So what purpose does it serve to be able to see the blade on a table saw while
you're cutting? Proper cutting technique on a table saw means using a guide of
some sort, be it a rip fence, tenoning jig, miter gauge, crosscut sled, or
whatever. Once you set the guide and place the wood against it, the blade is
gonna cut where it's gonna cut, whether you can see it or not. Any adjustment
that may be needed (checking blade height against the thickness of the wood,
or aligning a pencil mark left-right against the blade, for instance) can, and
should, be done with the blade *stopped*. Once the saw haw been started,
though, what possible reason is there to see the blade?


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.