Thought I'd share my progress with my Craftsman 10" table saw... Had a
few close calls and decided that I really should have a guard on the
beastie... Did a little prowling thru the archives and found a link to
a good set of plans for an overhead guard made out of lexan :

http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticle...rm_guard.shtml

I made a few modifications to the plans but was pleased with the end
result inspite of that fact... ;-)

This link takes you to some pics of the saw and the guard and shows the
other modifications I've done to it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7176102...7594384387020/

The guard is made of 3/8" lexan and has an overhead mounted armature
assembly that allows you to raise and lower it.

The plans I got from the link had a dust collection port included... I
decided to not do that part right now... I have dust collection on the
the bottom of the saw and want to see how that works out once I seal up
the back around the motor.

The other slight change was I didn't happen to have any 1" aluminium
tubing or flat alum. stock laying around, I did have an ash board that
wasn't doing anything... So I cut that to the required dimensions and
used it for the parts instead. I did use a steel unibrace for the top
section where I attached it to the ceiling via brackets and some
plywood... (I'll have to include pics of that later)

Besides, (and I mean absolutely no offense to the original designer)
it's a wood shop I kinda liked the idea of using wood for it... :-)

A few minor adjustments I still have in mind are... the top armature
assembly sticks out right now a bit longer than I'd like. My plan is
to cut it down to the same point as the motor sticks out and hang a
counter weight off of it to balance the guard. This should also make
adjustments easier. I'm also going to get some knobs to use instead of
the wing nuts that I used on the adjustment arm... The 1/4" wing nuts
work fine, but are a bit small to get ahold of and the knobs aren't
that expensive.

So far I have about $50 total in the guard and assembly... the wood and
unibrace were free, I just had to come up with the lexan, hardware, and
time for it. :-) I got the lexan off eBay and the hardware at the
local Tractor Supply.

Now it's on to aligning the bloody thing... I've put that off I suppose
for as long as I've been able, but I know it's off. I have looked it
over and it looks like my only trouble lay with the trunion
alignment... So it's knuckle abuse time to loosen that a bit and
"nudge" it back into whack...

Just thought I'd share... If you have any questions or suggestions
please feel free to ask or share...

Happy New Years to all!!!

Having a guard, that's up to you but having close calls, that should be a
cause for concern. I don't use a guard and don't have close calls. You
should really take a look at the problem. A guard is no substitute for good
practice.

"bremen68" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thought I'd share my progress with my Craftsman 10" table saw... Had a
few close calls and decided that I really should have a guard on the
beastie... Did a little prowling thru the archives and found a link to
a good set of plans for an overhead guard made out of lexan :

"bremen68" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thought I'd share my progress with my Craftsman 10" table saw... Had a
few close calls and decided that I really should have a guard on the
beastie... Did a little prowling thru the archives and found a link to
a good set of plans for an overhead guard made out of lexan :


I am going to agree with CW on this one. Using a guard is good. I do not
use a guard. With proper technique and usage of the saw a guard should
never be needed. Pick up a book on proper TS technique and learn to make
safer cuts on the saw. Even with a guard you can still get hurt with
improper technique. In some instances a guard can be more dangerous.

bremen68 wrote:
Thought I'd share my progress with my Craftsman 10" table saw... Had a
few close calls and decided that I really should have a guard on the

....
Bremen68:

I have a similar, but later model saw. While I like the overhead guard
assembly you made, I don't see a splitter, shop-made or factory, which I
think is probably more important safety-wise than a guard.

By the way, your dust collection will improve considerably if you use
zero-clearance inserts. Sears makes an add-on shroud for this saw that
collects the sawdust from around the blade directly rather than from
collecting it from below once it has spilled all over everything:

See this thread:

http://tinyurl.com/5h8mv (link to old rec.woodworking thread on google)

Cheers!
Dukester

bremen68 wrote:
Thought I'd share my progress with my Craftsman 10" table saw... Had a
few close calls and decided that I really should have a guard on the
beastie... Did a little prowling thru the archives and found a link to
a good set of plans for an overhead guard made out of lexan :


snip

Perhaps I should have been a little clearer with my definitions of what
I consider a "close call" and what a few is... I'll start by defining
that "few" is just that, a few incidents over a span of nearly 20 years
(that's just painful to be able to say that) of working with guardless
tablesaws...

The incidents that are fresh in mind are... One where I nipped the
blade with a piece that was cut. I was removing it from the table
before the blade spun down completely. Stupid thing to do, I realize
this. But I'm mortal and do make those little errors ocassionally (you
can call SWMBO and confirm this if you'd like) Regardless of technique
or practice I for one fall pray to the occasional mistake.
Congratulations to those who don't and I honestly hope that you never
do.

This guard will not prevent mistakes, however it might help in the
event of one and could control the direction of discharge if it kicks.
The other thing that comes to mind is more of a recurring item with saw
dust and pieces of debris coming up from the saw.

My normaI safety wear consists of my regular glasses, and a face
shield. I wear hearing protection as well when I work with any power
tool.

I'm stuck with the glasses for life so they're not coming off, but with
the guard I will probably stop using the face shield on the TS.

Whether you use a guard or not is a personal thing. Some do, most
don't. Nothing wrong with either IMHO. I liked the design of this one
and thought building it would be an interesting project and help me in
the shop as well.

I have tons to learn and freely admit it... During this little side
project I have picked up quite a bit, items on safety, short cuts,
tricks, technique, and such.


Duke --- I'm working on a plan for a splitter, I want a riving blade
that attaches to the trunion and just haven't got that far yet. That's
on the list along with the zero clearance inserts as well... Always
something to add... :-)

bremen68 wrote:
Thought I'd share my progress with my Craftsman 10" table saw... Had a
few close calls and decided that I really should have a guard on the
beastie... Did a little prowling thru the archives and found a link to
a good set of plans for an overhead guard made out of lexan :

http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticle...rm_guard.shtml

I made a few modifications to the plans but was pleased with the end
result inspite of that fact... ;-)

This link takes you to some pics of the saw and the guard and shows the
other modifications I've done to it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7176102...7594384387020/


SNIP

breman68,

Thanks for sharing you guard design. I am interested in adding an
overhead guard to my TS, mainly to enhance dust collection.

I have looked at both your pictures and the other design you referenced
(which I had previously bookmarked for a future project) and I have a
question. I would expect that you would want a guard that would lift
when you push the wood that is being cut against it. When I look at
the pictures (both designs), it would seem to me that you would have to
lift the guard up to get it to rest on top of the wood being fed. For
the guard to lift by wood being pushed against it, I would expect to
see the mechanism reversed from the way I see it in your pictures. For
example, imagine feeding the wood from the back of the saw to the
front. Wouldn't that stand a better chance of lifting the guard by the
wood motion alone? Please understand I am not saying to feed the saw
backwards, I am just trying to question the orientation of the guard
support mechanism.

Do you understand my question? Comments??

Thanks,

Bill Leonhardt

Bill Leonhardt wrote:
bremen68 wrote:
Thought I'd share my progress with my Craftsman 10" table saw... Had a
few close calls and decided that I really should have a guard on the
beastie... Did a little prowling thru the archives and found a link to
a good set of plans for an overhead guard made out of lexan :

http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticle...rm_guard.shtml

I made a few modifications to the plans but was pleased with the end
result inspite of that fact... ;-)

This link takes you to some pics of the saw and the guard and shows the
other modifications I've done to it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7176102...7594384387020/


SNIP

breman68,

Thanks for sharing you guard design. I am interested in adding an
overhead guard to my TS, mainly to enhance dust collection.

I have looked at both your pictures and the other design you referenced
(which I had previously bookmarked for a future project) and I have a
question. I would expect that you would want a guard that would lift
when you push the wood that is being cut against it. When I look at
the pictures (both designs), it would seem to me that you would have to
lift the guard up to get it to rest on top of the wood being fed. For
the guard to lift by wood being pushed against it, I would expect to
see the mechanism reversed from the way I see it in your pictures. For
example, imagine feeding the wood from the back of the saw to the
front. Wouldn't that stand a better chance of lifting the guard by the
wood motion alone? Please understand I am not saying to feed the saw
backwards, I am just trying to question the orientation of the guard
support mechanism.

Do you understand my question? Comments??

Thanks,

Bill Leonhardt

Hi Bill, I understand... The way this is designed you lift the guard,
slip the piece you want to cut under it, and tighten it so that if
floats just above or on it. I have wing nuts on the adjustment side
right now... they're a little small to be adjusting all the time so I'm
going to change them to knobs. Another thing I'm going to do is add a
counter weight to the back of the main support limb. My idea is to get
the balance so that the guard is just on the heavier side which should
pretty much allow me to adjust it almost without tightening the
knobs...

I'll have to add some pics of that side of the assembly to show how
that works...

Let me know if you have any other questions.

How bout some info on the fence you installed. I have the same saw and
would like to upgrade my fence.


bremen68 wrote:

Mapdude wrote:
How bout some info on the fence you installed. I have the same saw and
would like to upgrade my fence.


bremen68 wrote:



No problem... I love it!!!! It's an Align-a-rip 24/24... Some folks
install it as a 12/36 but with my shop size it just didn't work to do
that. The rails bolted right on with only minor modifications. (I had
to drill out the holes in the wings to accomodate the bolts)

The fence locks square and will hold it. It also is made with slots
for easy jig attachment if you want to do that.

The other huge difference was the modifications to the chassis of the
saw itself. Take a look at my previous posts, they list everything I
did to it.

But I highly recommend the fence for this particular saw.

bremen68 wrote:
The other huge difference was the modifications to the chassis of the
saw itself. Take a look at my previous posts, they list everything I
did to it.


If you want to see a tricked out contractor's saw:

http://home.carolina.rr.com/jayhanig/table%20saw1.jpg
http://home.carolina.rr.com/jayhanig/router%20wing.jpg



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
bremen68 wrote:
The other huge difference was the modifications to the chassis of the
saw itself. Take a look at my previous posts, they list everything I
did to it.


If you want to see a tricked out contractor's saw:

http://home.carolina.rr.com/jayhanig/table%20saw1.jpg
http://home.carolina.rr.com/jayhanig/router%20wing.jpg



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

That's in a whole other league... :-) That your baby Mort?

bremen68 wrote:
If you want to see a tricked out contractor's saw:

http://home.carolina.rr.com/jayhanig/table%20saw1.jpg
http://home.carolina.rr.com/jayhanig/router%20wing.jpg

That's in a whole other league... :-) That your baby Mort?


It is. I started out adding the router wing outboard of the seft cast iron wing
(instead of merely replacing one with the other). Then I built the foldable
outfeed table. After that I added the overhead guard but found it limited how
big anything I wanted to crosscut could be. The solution to that was to build
another wing, this time adding it to the preexisting right hand cast iron wing
and remounting the overhead guard. That pretty much got it to where it is
today.

The router wing has a PC 7518 in it. I also have an Incra miter gauge 5000 for
it.

One thing I'll say for it; you can stack a lot of crap on top. G



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com