My results,

After posting (on 2 forums) the question about how many of us use the saw guard, I have these results so far.

 

 

20 Either don't use it at all or very seldom

 

9  Use it when ever possible or a good percentage of the time.

 

The reason I asked this question is that every time I went into a serious woodworkers shop, the guard was not in use. I know
there are a lot of pros in the forum and I was not surprised to learn that the
majority don't use it either.   Most are more
worried about kick back than an open blade.

 

I also believe that more of us would work with a guard if;

 

1. It was very easy to remove and reinstall, like a push button release.

2. It had a clear, undistorted view of the blade.

3. It had a very smooth operation with no sticking points.

 

Maybe such a guard already exists. Some of expensive saws I have seen  do address some of these problems, but they always
have a big bulky system. If you don't use a simple guard, you certainly won't
use a huge one either. 

 

What are your thoughts?

Good discussion Ron. This is why I push the overarm guards the way I do, because all those concerns you have 1 thru 3 that you posted, are addressed with the overarm guards. I never used guards either, I grew up with my dad using machinery and tablesaws without guards, it never bothered me. Then, years ago, I got a job at the Sea World of San Diego carpenter maintenance shop. Their 12" Delta tablesaw had a biesemeyer overarm installed on it. I could not believe how easy it was to use. You forget it's even there. And if you don't want it, you just lift it up out of the way. And it has a clear unobstructed view of the blade. It is very smooth as it operates on a cantilever system, and it can be slid completely out of the way when you don't even want it around. The only time I have slid it out of the way is when I cut a tall object, then I unloosen the hand twist and slide the arm to the right.

Now back to pro shops not using them. I can only speak for my state of California, but if a pro shop was operating a TS without a guard, then CAL OSHA would have a field day with them. Talk about heavy fines. Table saws must have some sort of guard in place per OSHA, some safety device. And if I was an employer in a pro shop, I would require that guards be in place. If a guard needs to be removed for a particular operation, then that operation should not be performed on the TS, that would by requirement. Liability lawsuits are pretty popular in my state. And one bad accident could sink a small pro shop if it was proven that no guard was in place when the incident had taken place. That would be a tough one to defend in court.

Now back to the overarms, there really is no excuse not to have a guard in place when we have such a fantastic guard system on the market that addresses all those concerns you laid out. I would really encourage you all to look into these systems. They are everything that I am saying they are and more.

I haven't taken the time to really look into the overarm guards. I did a little research some time back but it move off the top of my list and got buried.

I did find this link to one on another forum and it really looks like it is a project that one could do.

http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/overarm_guard.shtml

I have several things I plan on doing in my shop after the holiday rush is over and they may get moved back up the list.

John, I Iooked at the site with the stationary guard. That is fine if you have a dedicated place where the saw can be bolted in place. I was also thinking of the carpenter who may take a table saw to the job site, a small shop woodworker and the handyman who does his own remodeling. Most of us do not have enough room or money to buy one of those deluxe saws that offers all of the guard goodies.

Aww yes, good point Ron!!! Well, give me a couple hours to come up with a good rebuttle This is going to take some heavy thought on my part! But yes, that is an excellent point. What can we do about the contractors saw that is on the jobsite?

Ron Altier said:

John, I Iooked at the site with the stationary guard. That is fine if you have a dedicated place where the saw can be bolted in place. I was also thinking of the carpenter who may take a table saw to the job site, a small shop woodworker and the handyman who does his own remodeling. Most of us do not have enough room or money to buy one of those deluxe saws that offers all of the guard goodies.

Well I guess you got me also on that one Ron. I wasn't thinking that far outside the shop. I also wouldn't mount it permanently like the one on that page. I would want it so it could be moved around as much as possible.

For those in the field it would certainly require a different type of installation.