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Lower saw blade guard
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:25 am
by dsdufour
As I am restoring this old ShopSmith greenie I notice there is no bottom saw blade guard.
I’m thinking this could be very dangerous if you accidently reached under the table.
What I would like to know is did the 1954 green ShopSmith come with a lower saw blade guard, if so does anyone know where I can order one in Ontario, Canada.
Thank you
Dave Dufour
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:19 pm
by johnm
dsdufour wrote:As I am restoring this old ShopSmith greenie I notice there is no bottom saw blade guard.
I’m thinking this could be very dangerous if you accidently reached under the table.
What I would like to know is did the 1954 green ShopSmith come with a lower saw blade guard, if so does anyone know where I can order one in Ontario, Canada.
Thank you
Dave Dufour
The upper and lower blade guards were optional accessories for the greenies as far as I can determine. I have an old SS catalog and it shows dad leaning over his SS...no guards in sight. You can occasionally find the old guards on Ebay, but you probably don't want them since they were aluminum and could reek havoc on a carbide-tipped blade. The newer guards are plastic
My greenie came with no guards, so I have the SS saw guard upgrade kit on order (backorder, actually since Dec.). It's fairly pricey (>$100), but I figure it is worth it for safety and its dust collection capability. Of course you can just upgrade to the 510/520, but that upgrade costs more than the price of the greenie, and you'd probably want the newer headstock (more HP, poly-V belt, dual bearing quill) to go with it.
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:17 pm
by john
Dave:
All-In-One Tools in Mississauga is the Shopsmith distributor for Canada. They may be able to help. You could also try Shosmith directly to see if there is any advantage price wise to go this route but you may be dinged for brokerage charges unless they ship by mail.
Good luck.
John
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:01 pm
by charlese
Don't' give a worry about aluminum reeking havoc on a carbide blade. Occasionally I use mine to cut aluminum angle braces. This practice has even been recommended in wood working magazines.
In fact, I once was using my SS as a saw horse and sawed a small kerf in my extension table.
This was using my little skill saw.
That little 1" kerf is there as a reminder not to again use the Mark V as a saw horse.
Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:42 am
by a1gutterman
I cut aluminum every day, on purpose, using a carbide blade. My blade usually lasts for a couple of years doing this.