Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Power Tools). This thread is read-only.
I recently bought a table saw (a Bosch 4100-09) and it did not come with a blade guard of any kind (it was used and I assume the previous owner lost or broke it). Blade guards seem to be quite costly, so I am wondering if it is safe to work without one. Most blade guards appear to cost over $100 which to me seems a bit exorbitant considering it is just some pieces of plastic and metal.
@cliu Does it have a riving knife? If it does you should be okay. Many saws come with both a riving knife and a blade guard. Both are riving knives but the blade guard allows dust collection to be connected.
Jronman wrote:
2 hours ago, Jronman said:@cliu Does it have a riving knife? If it does you should be okay. Many saws come with both a riving knife and a blade guard. Both are riving knives but the blade guard allows dust collection to be connected.
+1
If it has the riving knife I wouldn’t worry about the guard. The riving knife does the work, the guard just gets in the way.
My Jet table does not have a riving knife and I do not use a guard on it. I use an MJ splitter on it though https://www.microjig.com/products/mj-splitter
I don’t use the blade guard on my Dewalt, it has a riving knife like everyone else mentioned which is where the real business happens, mine can with an anti kick piece too that attaches to the riving knife but as long as you have half a head of common sense and pay attention to what your doing you don’t really need it, maybe on larger stock it will help it out but a decent feather board is easier on the wood