Blade guard for radial arm saw

[thewalnutguy]

I've been using this radial arm saw for almost 60 years, and still have ten fingers, but that doesn't mean that there's no risk involved. I often have the stock blade guard lowered on the front side to help capture more sawdust, which also means that there's more of the blade exposed on my side. Was thinking that it would be nice to have a bit of protection since the radial arm doesn't have the auto stop protection feature of my Saw Stop table saw and when I glanced at the cutoff left from a table leg of a recent project, it occurred to me that it might be re-purposed rather than just scrapped and came up with this arrangement which I think is going to work quite well. The blade of the new guard assembly is light enough on the front end that it automatically raises up and rides over the material being cut. The new guard can be swung up out of the way when positioning material.  Not terribly pretty, but it seems to work.

[Ray Newman]

Now that is interesting, very usable, and easily shop-fabricated!!

[hcbph]

Very nice, good finger protector there.  I also made one about 30+ years ago for my Craftsman RAS.  Not pretty but it does work though it only covers the outside of the blade.
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[jteneyck]

I've been using this radial arm saw for almost 60 years, and still have ten fingers, but that doesn't mean that there's no risk involved. I often have the stock blade guard lowered on the front side to help capture more sawdust, which also means that there's more of the blade exposed on my side. Was thinking that it would be nice to have a bit of protection since the radial arm doesn't have the auto stop protection feature of my Saw Stop table saw and when I glanced at the cutoff left from a table leg of a recent project, it occurred to me that it might be re-purposed rather than just scrapped and came up with this arrangement which I think is going to work quite well. The blade of the new guard assembly is light enough on the front end that it automatically raises up and rides over the material being cut. The new guard can be swung up out of the way when positioning material.  Not terribly pretty, but it seems to work.

I'm a strong believer in guards but how do you see the cut line with that?  

John

[thewalnutguy]

I'm a strong believer in guards but how do you see the cut line with that?  

John

The blade and the cut line can actually be viewed by peeking under the connecting block, looking down over the guard's blade, or temporarily rotating the guard's blade upwards. 
And for repetitive cuts, the stock is positioned by use of an adjustable stop on the fence track

[srv52761]

I'm a strong believer in guards but how do you see the cut line with that?  

John

The best way to align the cut line is to make sure your saw is tight, slide your fence over an inch, then put a fresh kerf in your fence.

When making your cut, pull the saw with the same lateral pressure you used when making the kerf, and the blade will enter the stock in the same place.
  When I need precision, I never sight down the blade, I sight the good side of my knife mark and the edge of the kerf in the fence.

[Bob Vaughan]

I've been using this radial arm saw for almost 60 years, and still have ten fingers, but that doesn't mean that there's no risk involved. I often have the stock blade guard lowered on the front side to help capture more sawdust, which also means that there's more of the blade exposed on my side. Was thinking that it would be nice to have a bit of protection since the radial arm doesn't have the auto stop protection feature of my Saw Stop table saw and when I glanced at the cutoff left from a table leg of a recent project, it occurred to me that it might be re-purposed rather than just scrapped and came up with this arrangement which I think is going to work quite well. The blade of the new guard assembly is light enough on the front end that it automatically raises up and rides over the material being cut. The new guard can be swung up out of the way when positioning material.  Not terribly pretty, but it seems to work.

The middle photograph clearly shows the three screw holes that held the original lower blade guard.

[thewalnutguy]

The middle photograph clearly shows the three screw holes that held the original lower blade guard.

The saw did not come with blade guard using the screw holes when it was purchased new (I'm the original buyer) and I've had no luck finding the blade guards, nor any listings for the model number shown on the saw's base. The only DeWalt radial arm saw models I found when searching for DeWalt Radial Arm Saw Parts are the later models that had the height adjustment crank on the arm close to the outer end, my saw is the older style where the elevation crank was located on the vertical column at the back of the saw.

[Pirate]

That guard would drive me nuts. Lining blade up to cut line. A lot of times I need to cut a hair off. Like to slide work against stopped blade. Then cut.
Wouldn't work for me.