01-21-2021, 03:31 AM
When I purchased a Unisaw years ago, I immediately purchased the version of the Shark Guard available at that time. Safety was my priority over dust collection at the time. The stock blade guard on the old version Unisaws were junk and always ended up in the corner, with the saw being used without any safety protection. The ease of use of the SG has trained me to use a blade guard every situation I can.
With the significant improvements in OEM blade guards over the past 10 years, dust collection has become the focus. I am glad to see the SG holds up well against the factory guards. I assumed Shark Guard market had been reduced to older machines only.
That said, I can’t give my older version of SG a good score on dust collection, but it was because of my choice. At the time, my only dust collection was a shop vac. I could not fathom a 4” port being useful, so I choose a 2 1/2” port on my SG. Now that I have a new shop and a 2hp dust collector, I see the benefit a 4” port could have on edge cuts. 2 1/2” port does not allow enough air flow for certain cuts.
If I ever upgrade from what I have, it will be a newer version of Shark Guard with a larger dust port.
With the significant improvements in OEM blade guards over the past 10 years, dust collection has become the focus. I am glad to see the SG holds up well against the factory guards. I assumed Shark Guard market had been reduced to older machines only.
That said, I can’t give my older version of SG a good score on dust collection, but it was because of my choice. At the time, my only dust collection was a shop vac. I could not fathom a 4” port being useful, so I choose a 2 1/2” port on my SG. Now that I have a new shop and a 2hp dust collector, I see the benefit a 4” port could have on edge cuts. 2 1/2” port does not allow enough air flow for certain cuts.
If I ever upgrade from what I have, it will be a newer version of Shark Guard with a larger dust port.
John