On one I built The most important guarding to me was covering the blade where it became exposed behind the rear cross fence as the sled was finishing the cut. I had that saw built into a large table and had cut square ended stopped dado's cut out into the big table to allow the miter gauge bar a place to travel. I made the sled so that it used the ends of those dado's to stop its travel at the proper point. Then I made an about a quarter circle guard that attached to the back of the cross fence. It worked very well. I thought about putting a plexi-glass top on it but never did nor did I feel a need to.
Here is a picture of it sitting up on what would be the right end. at the left is the blade cover.
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Crosscut sled.JPG (87.42 KiB) Viewed 2865 times
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farmer
Francis Robinson
I did not equip with Shopsmiths in spite of the setups but because of them.
1 1988 - Mark V 510 (bought new), 4 Poly vee 1 1/8th HP Mark V's, Mark VII, 1 Mark V Mini, 1 Frankensmith, 1 10-ER, 1 Mark V Push-me-Pull-me Drillpress, SS bandsaw, belt sander, jointer, jigsaw, shaper attach, mortising attach, TS-3650 Rigid tablesaw, RAS, 6" long bed jointer, Foley/Belsaw Planer/molder/ripsaw, 1" sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, Scroll saw, Woodmizer sawmill
fjimp wrote: No I usually do not use the upper guard. As I age I feel the need to have a clear field of vision. The Shopsmith upper guard does not offer me a comfortable feeling in that one area.
I hope this next comment will not constitute a wide ranging rant. im
Hi Jim;
No desire to argue or disagree, since one of the benefits of having a shop of one's own is the freedom to work the way you want to. So, not preaching or proseletyzing here, just commenting.
On my Mark V 500, which sports the upgrades to the saw guards, the upper guard works fine and is always in place unless I am cross-cutting dadoes or rabbets, in which case the splitter, which is integral to the guard, won't work. I always scratch my head a bit when I think about why I would need to actually see the cut as it takes place. Once the workpiece is clamped to the sled and the cut aligned with the blade all I need to do is push the sled. In any event, if I wish to, I usually can see the cut through the side of the upper guard. And this is sometimes handy if I am trying to shave off very small amounts from the end of a piece. I am talking here about cross cuts...for ripping I am even less concerned about seeing what is happening at the cut...much more concerned about fence alignment, depth of cut, proper positioning of featherboards and alignment of splitter. Once all that is taken care of, I focus on how the workpiece is riding against the fence and watch that rather than the cut.
Just my $0.02 and only meant to offer another point of view and not be any sort of last word on the subject, since I know there are a number of folks who read this forum silently and might enjoy hearing a couple of different takes.
Ed
Idaho Panhandle
Mark 5 of various vintages, Mini with reversing motor, bs, dc3300, jointer, increaser, decreaser
As someone who hadn't used the upper saw guard for 20 ish years... I experienced my first ever kickback a month or so ago. If I had been using the USG, the kickback would not have happened.
Right after the kickback, I immediately installed the USG and use it every chance I can... unless I am cutting dadoes or other non through cuts.
I'm not going to preach at you to use your USG...I'm simply stating that I was taught a very valuable lesson and received nothing more than a scare and a small bruise as the price I paid to learn said lesson.
I thought I needed to see the blade to be safe...I thought it would remind me to be most careful...and for a long time, it did. Lastly, it really taught me that if I thought my reaction time was fast enough, I was dead wrong.
I think I'll continue using my USG because bad things happen very fast. If using the guard prevents just one bad event from happening...I'm in! You can do whatever you feel good about.
eagleta2 wrote:As someone who hadn't used the upper saw guard for 20 ish years... I experienced my first ever kickback a month or so ago. If I had been using the USG, the kickback would not have happened.
Right after the kickback, I immediately installed the USG and use it every chance I can... unless I am cutting dadoes or other non through cuts.
I'm not going to preach at you to use your USG...I'm simply stating that I was taught a very valuable lesson and received nothing more than a scare and a small bruise as the price I paid to learn said lesson.
I thought I needed to see the blade to be safe...I thought it would remind me to be most careful...and for a long time, it did. Lastly, it really taught me that if I thought my reaction time was fast enough, I was dead wrong.
I think I'll continue using my USG because bad things happen very fast. If using the guard prevents just one bad event from happening...I'm in! You can do whatever you feel good about.
Thanks
Geo
I have maybe nearly 50 years of not using a saw guard very often... I'll have to look at my SS saw guards... I don't saw a lot on any of them so I can't say for sure without looking. On my Ridgid TS-3650 I currently have the guard in place (an above average guard) but I am mostly using it with the clear plastic guard raised to vertical. It stands up out of the way very nicely and is no bother standing there. That still has me using the splitter and anti-kickback pawls for most cuts. I keep it up for most crosscuts with the miter gauge especially angle cuts since I am usually aligning to a pencil line to start the cut. When I am ripping I now normally lower the guard. Of course I have to remove the whole thing for non-through cuts but that is 5 seconds with a single thumbscrew and it aligns perfectly by itself at re-installation.
That is the real secret to using a guard, it MUST be easy and quick to use. For most of the last 100 years any guard was a cobbled on inconvenient after thought that as often as not was the most dangerous thing on the saw.
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--
farmer
Francis Robinson
I did not equip with Shopsmiths in spite of the setups but because of them.
1 1988 - Mark V 510 (bought new), 4 Poly vee 1 1/8th HP Mark V's, Mark VII, 1 Mark V Mini, 1 Frankensmith, 1 10-ER, 1 Mark V Push-me-Pull-me Drillpress, SS bandsaw, belt sander, jointer, jigsaw, shaper attach, mortising attach, TS-3650 Rigid tablesaw, RAS, 6" long bed jointer, Foley/Belsaw Planer/molder/ripsaw, 1" sander, oscillating spindle/belt sander, Scroll saw, Woodmizer sawmill
If you're concerned with kickback while ripping with the sled, may I ask just out of curiosity just how big is that sled?
;-)
Mark V 520, Power-Pro!; Speed Reducer; B/S; Jointer; ShopMate DCS; SS Tenon Master; Rip-Strate; Incra; BCTW; DW734; var. SS sanding systems; Wood River;
Does anyone have issues getting the blade and the knife to line up?
Mu USG came bent from the factory. And after talking to Ss many years ago and not wanting to pay for shipping for something that I had already paid for I just straightened it myself and it looks perfectly straight. But when I put it. In the table saw I can't get it to line up correctly unless I move the LBG out just 1/8.
IMHU, the riving knives (both the standard one in the upper saw guard and the stand alone) are made from overly and frustratingly cheap, bendy metal and are too easily deformed (DAMHIK). On the plus side, when they get bent, they are easily bent back.
As for alignment, there's a set screw in the bottom center of the quill clamp of the lower saw guard that is used to adjust the lower saw guard in and out in order to align the riving knife to the blade. It is part no. 211 here: http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/part ... xpview.htm
I don't know if there's a standard range of adjustment, but 1/8 of an inch is much more than I need to adjust mine. So, I'd double check the riving knife for flatness. Take it out of the upper saw guard (only held in by one screw - No. 195 on the above link) and put it on a known flat surface. The pawls will interfere, so hang the pawls over the edge and check to make sue it doesn't rock; or use your engineer's square.
(BTW, did you ever try another blade in the band saw?)
Al
Gale's Law: The bigger the woodworking project, the less the mistakes show in any photo taken far enough away to show the entire project!
Without going out to the barn and looking, I'm sitting here thinking that I'm reading about apples and oranges. As an assembly, the upper guard assembly will prevent kickbacks. However, I'm thinking that it is the splitter and riving knives that prevent kickback. The guard itself (if I'm thinking right on only one cup of coffee) only controls flying chips/dust and helps make the dust collection more efficient. Well, and it keeps your fingers out of the blade too.
So this thinking has me asking a question. If you really want to see what's happening, wouldn't having the splitter/knives only be a decent option, assuming one keeps one's fingers out of the blade?
OK, time for that 2nd cup of joe......
'55 Greenie #292284 (Mar-55), '89 SS 510 #020989, Mark VII #408551 (sold 10/14/12), SS Band Saw, (SS 500 #36063 (May-79) now gone to son-in-law as of 11-11), Magna bandsaw, Magna jointer 16185 (May-54), Magna belt sander SS28712 (Dec-82), Magna jigsaw SS4397 (Dec-78), SS biscuit joiner, Zyliss (knockoff) vise, 20+ hand planes, 60s Craftsman tablesaw, CarbaTec mini-lathe, and the usual pile of tools. Hermit of the Hills Woodworks, a hillbilly in the foothills of the Ozarks, scraping by.
[quote="algale"]IMHU, the riving knives (both the standard one in the upper saw guard and the stand alone) are made from overly and frustratingly cheap, bendy metal and are too easily deformed (DAMHIK). On the plus side, when they get bent, they are easily bent back.
As for alignment, there's a set screw in the bottom center of the quill clamp of the lower saw guard that is used to adjust the lower saw guard in and out in order to align the riving knife to the blade. It is part no. 211 here: http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/part ... xpview.htm
I don't know if there's a standard range of adjustment, but 1/8 of an inch is much more than I need to adjust mine. So, I'd double check the riving knife for flatness. Take it out of the upper saw guard (only held in by one screw - No. 195 on the above link) and put it on a known flat surface. The pawls will interfere, so hang the pawls over the edge and check to make sue it doesn't rock]
I never did get another one as they were sold out at my local store.
On the knife issue, I only got one with my system the one with the plastic cover. Did you get two?
I had that saw built into a large table and had cut square ended stopped dado's cut out into the big table to allow the miter gauge bar a place to travel. I made the sled so that it used the ends of those dado's to stop its travel at the proper point. Then I made an about a quarter circle guard that attached to the back of the cross fence. It worked very well. I thought about putting a plexi-glass top on it but never did nor did I feel a need to.
For most of the last 100 years any guard was a cobbled on inconvenient after thought that as often as not was the most dangerous thing on the saw. 
