as most of you probably know I'm a big believer in the protection that a table saw blade guard can provide I made a whole video about exactly why you should be using one for every cut that you can I'll link to that video below this one do yourself a favor and watch it your fingers will thank me later but I also am realistic I understand that some play saws just don't have blade guards because they were a long ago removed and discarded nobody knows where they are and other saws particularly cheap portable versions have what could best be called blade guard shaped objects because they're just pieces of sheet metal and plastic that merely masquerade as effective blade guards but in reality they can be flimsy and impossible to align with your table saw blade and so they can become hazards themselves so for years viewers have been asking me to recommend different aftermarket blade guards they can make their saws safer and there's not a lot of options out there but today I'm going to show you one that I've been playing with on my saw for a little while now but before I do I think I need to save some of you a trip to the comments section to pound angrily on the keyboard because what I'm about to show you is really cool but it's not cheap nor is it practical for every table saw however this video isn't just about this blade guard it's about good ideas ideas which a clever woodworker like yourself may be able to incorporate into a homemade version which is size to the saw that you own and the budget you have if a commercial version isn't right for you so watch this video carefully with an open mind because you're going to see some really clever stuff so here it is this is the shark s12s Universal overhead guard and it is loaded with features that really make a difference in the shop let me go through just some of my favorites first I like how it fully covers the blade I do have an overhead floating blade guard on my sawstop which I like but it has to be manually set above the saw based on the thickness of the material but the shark guard physically rests right on top of the saw until a work piece is Advanced beneath it and that work piece then lifts it up to the proper height exposing just enough to make the cut but not enough to put your hands in danger now I could force my hand beneath this blade guard if I tried but it's a little difficult so it's not something you're going to do by accident when you're not paying attention now I have equipped this one with a large clear Dome on the left side you can swap this out for a flat clear one like on this side so that it's narrower but the larger Dome gives me a better view of the blade not that I really need that view when I'm making the cut because I don't steer my cuts through the blade you run them along the fence but to line Cuts it's good to be able to see the blade and if I don't want to look through that plastic I like how I can just grab the hand handle move it up and now I can get right under there right up to the blade to align I mark on my work piece with the blade there's a gas strut on the side that makes it easy to bring it up and to put it back down without having to adjust any knobs or any buttons need any tools to do it that is one of my favorite features now because this guard floats above or sits right on top of the saw it can be left in place for many of the non-through cuts that you would have to remove a standard blade guard for such as tenons or lap joints or things like that but if I do want to get this thing out of the way the whole arm simply swivels to the side and my saw top is clear now when you have something that is this easy to remove and then replace right back on the saw no need to adjust knobs no need to get out tools you're going to use it more often you're not going to leave it off for cuts when it really should be on and that is very important if you want to keep yourself protected of course it is fully adjustable both in length and in height but it is a really heavy Cast Iron and Steel construction and that weight can create some challenges for example the cast iron base on this column attaches to a support leg that fastens to the rear rail of your saw this leg supports all of this weight and leverage but with this in place it becomes a little awkward to work with my router table that is mounted in the side table of my table saw I could spin this all the way around backwards and that gets it partially out of the way but it still can be a little awkward especially if I'm working with a large panel or really long work pieces I'm not saying that's a deal breaker by any means but it is something that's taken a little getting used to now if you don't have a router table on the end of your saw like this then the way this column is designed can become really versatile in how you mount it because I've seen people that have eliminated that leg and post back there and they've put the base the cast iron base of the column right on their outfeed table or even on a nearby bench and it doesn't even have to be lined up with the saw blade you could Mount that over there in any direction because it is fully adjustable not just in length but also the blade guard itself pivots and turns to align with the blade no matter where that column is that can really be useful if you have a small shop that requires a unique setup now fully extended that post can be about 60 inches or so away from your saw blade but again its weight makes it a little difficult to adjust this length so once you get it set up don't be thinking that you're going to be telescoping this pull in and out all the time shortening and extending it it's just not that practical to do of course one of the best features of the S12 is its overhead dust collection there is a four inch hose attachment right here on the back that reduces down to I believe this is a three inch pipe I just moved this saw to a new part of the shop because we're rebuilding some things for filming so I don't have dust collection hooked up that's why I'm not doing any cuts it is a huge improvement over just having dust collection at the base of the saw but it is not perfect you're still going to get some dust on the top of your saw and over the course of a project in many cuts that will build up to dust that you're going to have to sweep or vacuum up later this video from Harvey's website Compares it a little bit so you can see the difference that you should expect this is a big upgrade for a large cabinet saw like mine and in fact I would even Mount this on a medium-sized contractor saw and regardless of the brand it can be mounted to pretty much any saw the way it mounts is very versatile but this is too large for a job site or a little bench top saw unless you have that in your garage built into a great big stationary workbench however you may use some of these ideas to make something similar of your own I did that many years ago I used a piece of PVC pipe instead of the steel
