J. Clarke wrote:

At the same time, on repetitive cuts, I find myself losing focus on the
blade--

This is what is dangerous, imo.

I know that if I don't put some kind of guard in place I'm going
to hit it eventually. You do 20 or so of the same movement and a
conditioned response starts to form that takes the higher brain
functions out of the loop ("wax on, wax off"). So project for the week
is figuring out how to guard the sled.

This part I don't think so. I think the blade guards promote taking the
"higher brain out of the loop".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjvmF...eature=related

I couldn't find the video of the one I saw on TV a few years ago, those
guys made this stuff look safe...

Anyway, I don't use guards, my saw didn't come with one, and if it did,
I'd remove it. Knowing my saw can cut off my hand in an instant if I'm
not careful keeps my brain in gear. If I was so worried about it and
thought I couldn't get by w/o a guard, I'd buy a saw stop, still
wouldn't fuss with a guard. The only caveat I have is age. As you get
older, eyes are worse, reactions are worse, and brain goes out of the
loop much easier than it did in the past. So far, knowing this has made
me more careful than ever, but saw stop is looking more interesting as I
the years add up...

--
Jack
From Little A.C.O.R.N.S Mighty Marxist Grow!
http://jbstein.com