I have always been very safety conscious during my 20 years as a
furniture maker: tablesaw guard, hearing and eye protection, no rings
or watches, etc. But I have to say I hate using the blade guard on my
jointer. I have an 8" Grizzly and hate using the guard as much as I
did on my 6". At the risk of getting many (probably well deserved)
lectures, does anyone else occasionally take their jointer guard off?

Dave

wrote:
I have always been very safety conscious during my 20 years as a
furniture maker: tablesaw guard, hearing and eye protection, no rings
or watches, etc. But I have to say I hate using the blade guard on my
jointer. I have an 8" Grizzly and hate using the guard as much as I
did on my 6". At the risk of getting many (probably well deserved)
lectures, does anyone else occasionally take their jointer guard off?

Dave

OK, I'll bite. Sure, I take the guard off if the task can't be
accomplished with it on. But the guard on my Powermatic is not a
problem for edge jointing, only for face jointing.

DonkeyHody
"I'd rather expect the best from people and be wrong than expect the
worst and be right."

Yup. I use my hands not paddles too. I feel that I can control the
workpiece better with a tactile grip and no obstrutions. In my mind, better
control is safter.

And many would probably say that only proves that I'm a moron.

It's your call, (and your fingers).

-Steve



wrote in message
ps.com...
I have always been very safety conscious during my 20 years as a
furniture maker: tablesaw guard, hearing and eye protection, no rings
or watches, etc. But I have to say I hate using the blade guard on my
jointer. I have an 8" Grizzly and hate using the guard as much as I
did on my 6". At the risk of getting many (probably well deserved)
lectures, does anyone else occasionally take their jointer guard off?

Dave

wrote:

But I have to say I hate using the blade guard on my
jointer.

I'm not surprised - I think those US style sprung swinging guards are
pretty clumsy. I prefer the Euro-style bridge guard, where it slides
sideways and is set before use. Doesn't guard fully when the timber
isn't present, but it's easier to use.

I'd only remove my guard for rebating, which I don't do on the jointer
anyway.

In article , "Stephen M" wrote:
Yup. I use my hands not paddles too. I feel that I can control the
workpiece better with a tactile grip and no obstrutions. In my mind, better
control is safter.

Indeed it is -- which is exactly why I use pushblocks.

And many would probably say that only proves that I'm a moron.

I don't know that I'd go quite that far, but I definitely would say that it
proves that you don't appreciate the risks.

It's your call, (and your fingers).

I still have all mine. I hope you keep yours.

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

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

I still have all mine. I hope you keep yours.

I recommend keeping the guard on. It's amazing how much blood can come
out of a finger end thats just been quickly removed from a spinning
cutter head. To make matter worse, blood will rust your cast iron
surface if you don't get it up immediately. Something you might not be
in the mood to do. Don't ask me how I know.
Stubby

On Thu, 28 Dec 2006 11:46:23 -0800, Mike in Arkansas wrote:


I still have all mine. I hope you keep yours.

I recommend keeping the guard on. It's amazing how much blood can come
out of a finger end thats just been quickly removed from a spinning
cutter head. To make matter worse, blood will rust your cast iron
surface if you don't get it up immediately. Something you might not be
in the mood to do. Don't ask me how I know.

Not to mention that when it happens you'll be working with the best piece
of curly maple that you're ever going to see in your life and you're
_never_ gonna get the stain out.

Stubby

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"Stephen M" wrote in message
...
Yup. I use my hands not paddles too. I feel that I can control the
workpiece better with a tactile grip and no obstrutions. In my mind,
better control is safter.

And many would probably say that only proves that I'm a moron.

It's your call, (and your fingers).

I hope you are either trolling or talking about edge jointing. Face
jointing with your hands would strongly suggest you are a moron, if not
outright proving it. Even I've never done that.

I always keep the guard on when face or edge jointing (and I use push
pads or sticks for most operations unless my hands are above the height
of the fence) but I was getting quite annoyed when the guard would slam
into the fence as the board cleard it. I think I had the spring too
tight but instead of trying to loosen it I simply padded the contact
area with some foam.
Marc

wrote:
At the risk of getting many (probably well deserved)
lectures, does anyone else occasionally take their jointer guard off?

I can't bring myself to say anything insulting, but I've got an 8''
griz too, and have never considered not using the guard or not using
the push paddle things. Not because I always play by the safety rules
but because 1. that spinning sharp thing in there scares me more than
the table saw blade for some strange reason and 2. I've never had
trouble with the guard or the paddles and the wood always comes out
with nice reference edges.

So I guess I don't understand. I often work without a tablesaw guard
because it's junk and gets in the way, but the jointer guard never gets
in my way or I probably WOULD consider removing it now and then. I may
be safety conscious but I'm not above temptation.

wrote:
wrote:
At the risk of getting many (probably well deserved)
lectures, does anyone else occasionally take their jointer guard off?

I can't bring myself to say anything insulting, but I've got an 8''
griz too, and have never considered not using the guard or not using
the push paddle things. Not because I always play by the safety rules
but because 1. that spinning sharp thing in there scares me more than
the table saw blade for some strange reason and 2. I've never had
trouble with the guard or the paddles and the wood always comes out
with nice reference edges.

I find those paddles useless. Guess I need to go to paddle school. What I
use instead, is a board about 4 inches wide and about 28 inches long. At the
back of the board, I have a 5/16" lip glued on that points down to grab the
back end of the wood I am going to joint. On the top of this board I have
glued on two handles that are about 12 to 15 inches apart. I find this
method of face jointing better then using paddles.


So I guess I don't understand. I often work without a tablesaw guard
because it's junk and gets in the way, but the jointer guard never
gets in my way or I probably WOULD consider removing it now and then.
I may be safety conscious but I'm not above temptation.



--
Frank Howell


-----------------
www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed*
Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road
-----------------

"Frank Howell" wrote in message
...

I find those paddles useless. Guess I need to go to paddle school. What I
use instead, is a board about 4 inches wide and about 28 inches long. At
the
back of the board, I have a 5/16" lip glued on that points down to grab
the
back end of the wood I am going to joint. On the top of this board I have
glued on two handles that are about 12 to 15 inches apart. I find this
method of face jointing better then using paddles.

The paddles are great for the board ahead of your pusher. Helps stabilize
and keep it in contact with the desired surface. Short stock certainly
wants a push stick.

No one has mentioned it, but there's a certain convergence of board
thickness, fence location and the slope of the guard on my JET 6" jointer
where the piece jams rather than gains enough leverage to rotate the guard
outward. Annoying, but just a touch of fence adjustment is all it takes to
avoid it. Which leads me to the question of why I always seem to find
it....

On Thu, 28 Dec 2006 08:15:51 -0800, davemc444 wrote:

I have always been very safety conscious during my 20 years as a furniture
maker: tablesaw guard, hearing and eye protection, no rings or watches,
etc. But I have to say I hate using the blade guard on my jointer. I
have an 8" Grizzly and hate using the guard as much as I did on my 6". At
the risk of getting many (probably well deserved) lectures, does anyone
else occasionally take their jointer guard off?

Dave

Well, the guard on mine is broken and I can't get any parts for it. I
haven't taken it off, but it doesn't really do much. The jointer is an
old Rayco I got for $50. I had to do some tuning and cleaning, but now it
joints as well as it probably ever did.

JD