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+======Table Saw Guard======
+By Ron Bean, Spring 2014
+This started out as an experiment, but it's working well enough that I
+might as well call it permanent.
+{{:projects:guard:guard04.jpg|}}
+Our table saw came with a blade guard that was attached to a splitter,
+and every time someone moved the guard, they'd bend the splitter out of
+position, so it didn't line up with the blade. Instead of bending it
+back, people would just remove the guard and put it in some random place
+where we couldn't find it, so a lot of the time we were using the saw
+without a guard.
+Over-arm type guards are available, but some people have built their
+own, so I decided to give it a try. The Lexan sides and the spacers
+between them were cut out on the CNC router (see DXF files below).
+Everything else was sized to fit the saw. (It's made for a 10" blade,
+but for some reason we have an 8" blade on the saw right now.)
+The spacers add up to 1.5", which seems to be wide enough. The guard can
+be moved slightly side to side, but not enough to contact the blade. I
+wanted it to be as narrow as possible, because I often make cuts as
+narrow as 3/4". A giant washer acts as a counterweight (it weighs about
+a pound). I used vibration-proof nuts on the bolts holding the guard
+itself together, and double nuts tightened against each other on the
+pivots. I also put acorn nuts on the ends of the pivots to make them a
+little safer.
+{{:projects:guard:guard02.jpg|}}
+This picture shows the first experiment, with clamps holding everything
+together. That worked well enough, but didn't allow wide sheet goods to
+be cut (hence the sign telling people they can remove it if necessary,
+although we encourage people to cut large sheet goods on the panel saw).
+I thought we'd have to fabricate a cantilevered arm from welded steel,
+or maybe some of the carbon fiber tubing that's laying around. But first
+I built a prototype out of 2x4s, and it worked well enough that I
+decided to leave it that way (I replaced the last two clamps with nuts
+and bolts after the picture at the top of the page was taken.)
+The upright has a "foot" at the bottom that keeps it from pivoting around
+the bolt that holds it to the saw.
+{{:projects:guard:splitter02.jpg|}}
+The new splitter was cut from 16 gauge sheet steel on the vertical
+bandsaw in the metal shop, then filed to fit, and bent with a pair of
+pliers to line up with the blade. It has slots in the bottom, so it can
+be removed by loosening the bolts with a 10mm wrench (for certain kinds
+of cuts that it would interfere with, such as dados). Since it's not
+attached to the guard, it doesn't get bent as easily as the original
+one.
+{{:projects:guard:guard-04a.dxf|}}
+{{:projects:guard:guard-05a.dxf|}}
+{{:projects:guard:guard-06a.dxf|}}

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