Hey folks,
With my baby boy looking to venture out into the shop (garage) more and more, efficient dust collection has moved to the top of my list of priorities. (Not the easiest task when you're an OWWM guy - DC wasn't really on the radar at that point in our history).
I've got a solid game plan for the overall upgrade/ overhaul, (I'll start a thread when there's something to show), but the purpose of this thread is to try to talk myself into learning to work w/ a blade guard and all of the associated benefits of at-the-source dust collection.
Hand-slapping aside, I've never liked working w/ blade guards - I'm more comfortable seeing the blade at the cut, (and the kerf behind the blade). I use a full arsenal of safety gear, (gripper, push-sticks, featherboards, etc), and feel confident in my abilities. That said, my exposure to blade guards has been the crappy 40-50year old versions that were original to my machines - not exactly state of the art.
All that said, at-the-source dust collection is by far the most effective way to go, so I'm willing to give it a shot. It's looking like the Shark Guard is a good choice, so I'm leaning that way. My saw is somewhat mobile, so I'll fab up a boom to cantilever across the table from the right. I really like the Excalibur/ Exactor design as well, I'm just not wild about the $500 price tag.
I'd love to hear any reviews of these systems, as well as any confirmation, (or denial), that these modern blade guards are easy to work with - and will make a useful addition to the shop, as opposed to being removed in a month or so and set in a cabinet along with the original guards:gar-Bi
Thanks folks.
With my baby boy looking to venture out into the shop (garage) more and more, efficient dust collection has moved to the top of my list of priorities. (Not the easiest task when you're an OWWM guy - DC wasn't really on the radar at that point in our history).
I've got a solid game plan for the overall upgrade/ overhaul, (I'll start a thread when there's something to show), but the purpose of this thread is to try to talk myself into learning to work w/ a blade guard and all of the associated benefits of at-the-source dust collection.
Hand-slapping aside, I've never liked working w/ blade guards - I'm more comfortable seeing the blade at the cut, (and the kerf behind the blade). I use a full arsenal of safety gear, (gripper, push-sticks, featherboards, etc), and feel confident in my abilities. That said, my exposure to blade guards has been the crappy 40-50year old versions that were original to my machines - not exactly state of the art.
All that said, at-the-source dust collection is by far the most effective way to go, so I'm willing to give it a shot. It's looking like the Shark Guard is a good choice, so I'm leaning that way. My saw is somewhat mobile, so I'll fab up a boom to cantilever across the table from the right. I really like the Excalibur/ Exactor design as well, I'm just not wild about the $500 price tag.
I'd love to hear any reviews of these systems, as well as any confirmation, (or denial), that these modern blade guards are easy to work with - and will make a useful addition to the shop, as opposed to being removed in a month or so and set in a cabinet along with the original guards:gar-Bi
Thanks folks.