I'm new to woodworking. I have an old, small (8") tablesaw that I've
fashioned a sled for out of 3/4" ply. The sled's skids run in both
miter slots and actually runs very well. The sled is the width of the
table, and has a groove that holds a 6" upright near the front to put
my stock against when I'm crosscutting. In the middle of the sled is a
double blade-width cut to allow the sled to clear the blade.

The guard for the saw got munched and I can't find a factory
replacement for it. I got a guard for a 10" saw and adapted it to fit
my guard holder so that I'm satisfied with it under "normal"
circumstances and when the sled is on the table.

So far, so good. However, the teeth behind the guard (no idea what
they're called - I'd guess they are for kickback) bind on the sled. To
the point that each time I run the sled forward to make a cut, I have
to release these teeth just to draw my sled back.

I can think of a few solutions to this,

1. Fashion something that will allow me to pull these teeth up and hold
them out of position when the sled is on the table. On crosscuts, I
don't know if this presents any safety problems or not. Please bear
with my ignorance. I don't know if kickback is an issue with crosscuts.
In any event, I could see using the sled for short ripping too.

2. Widen the clearance cut on the sled at the back end so that the
teeth don't engage on the sled even when it's pushed all the way. Or
just run a cut where each tooth is and let them run in that sawcut.

3. Remove the guard assembly completely when I use the sled. I don't
like this one for a couple of reasons. First, it's a pain to remove and
reattach the entire thing. Second, and most important, I'd have no
guard at all. My thumb is still sore from an accident I had running the
saw in "normal" mode.

There may be other solutions that I've not thought of.

What do you guys think?

Tanus