daneger Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 In a recent WoodTalk episode (#236, "SawStop Sponsored This One", around 34:30), Marc commented on the effectiveness of SawStop's blade guard dust collection. It prompted my sharing this post. Listen here: http://www.woodtalkshow.com/episodes/wt236-saw-stop-sponsored-this-one/ I've had an issue with the splitter/blade guard on my Powermatic cabinet saw - it doesn't prevent some sawdust from getting flung in my face. I seem to always end up with a nice stripe of dust and debris up my chest after a short time in the shop! And the clear plastic ends up getting clogged with sawdust which obscures my view of the blade-wood contact point. After seeing SawStop's solution to this - integrated dust collection (which appeared nearly perfect to me) - I decided to retrofit that blade guard onto my Powermatic. So I plunked down the big bucks for the SawStop TSG-DC blade guard ($139 at Amazon & elsewhere - pay attention to where the parts go as you disassemble it!). That splitter fits the sawstop saw, but not my Powermatic of course. And my powermatic splitter wasn't big enough to modify to bolt on the blade guard (nor did I want to sacrifice it). So I created a template for a new splitter by lining up the ~10.25" radius parts of each. I traced the lower profile of the powermatic splitter, and the upper part from the sawstop splitter. Overall size was about 7 3/8" wide and 9 3/4" tall. I bought a piece of sheet steel (I chose McMaster part #6544K59 for $18) which was 12" x 12" and precision rolled/ground at 0.90" thick. I traced the template with a fine point sharpie. Using my handheld angle grinder and with the steel sheet held in a vise (metal; I recommend against using your Roubo!), I was able to quickly cut the template down to size. It took about 2 hours total to cut out the rough part and refine it on all sides. I checked back and forth with both splitters to make sure I wasn't going too far. I carefully and slowly made a blunt "blade" along that 10.25" radius area. A lot of the areas I required using hand files since the grinder is pretty aggressive and/or had a tight radius shape. Finally, when the rest was complete and deburred, I deburred the inside of the bottom slot and fine-tuned that fit with my saw's splitter clamp/holder. I had to widen it a bit, and ended up with a nice but snug fit - perfect! Check to be sure the blade-splitter gap is 1/4" or so. Too big and it'll be unsafe. And too small can really be a problem - if the blade hits the splitter... Finally, I taped my template to the new splitter and punched in the center marks for each hole. I drilled the holes at the drill press using a bit of oil to lubricate the bit. Be sure to clamp down the splitter and use slow speed - anyone who has drilled into metal knows that it is likely to catch on the bit and spin around like a saw blade... I then deburred these holes using a very light touch with a countersink. The slotted hole was a challenge - I did what I could using a drill bit but ended up getting out the dremel and then using hand files as well. Fortunately, that's the least important hole of the 3 you need to drill. The other 2 need to be fairly precise. I wanted to protect the splitter from potential corrosion, but don't have a nice powder coat system at home. So I decided to gun blue the steel (used this item on Amazon). I used a random orbital sander with high grit sandpaper (and then some sanding by hand) to remove the surface material and make it all uniformly shiny. Then I wiped the splitter down with denatured alcohol, rinsed with water, and applied the gun blue according to the package directions. I didn't like the look after just one application, so I applied gun blue a second time - this time essentially flooding the surface. I left it for several minutes and the patina was a nice uniform black. I wiped off the remaining acid, gave it a rinse, and it looked good. After a bit of steel wool to make it nice and smooth, I applied Boeshield T9 followed by some Ren Wax to further protect it and to help the wood slide past. Now came the hard part - getting all those little pieces reassembled. Here is my method; maybe it'll work for you. (I assembled and disassembled 3x during this process, so this method wasn't just lucky once.) I first put the split pin in place. Then, put the nut/bolt in the rear slotted hole location, which attaches the splitter to theblade guard. Leave this loose for now, but at least these two pieces won't be able to move independently...! Next, I put the hooked spring over the bottom boss and slide in the stack of pawl-spacer-spring-pawl-washer under the splitter. I put the bolt up through this stack and was able to hold it with sideward pressure so the stack was pretty stable. With the pointer finger of the same hand, I held the other hooked spring over the top boss. With my other hand, I put the other washer over the tip of the bolt, then slid the pawl-spacer-spring-pawl stack into position and wiggled the bolt through the whole thing. Put the nut on loosely, then pull the springs in place (tensioning the pawls). Finally, tighten both bolts. You'll need a 4mm allen wrench for those bolts. And voila - you're done! A couple notes: Because I used the lower profile of my Powermatic splitter, I can use this with all my existing table saw inserts / zero clearance inserts. This is nice! However, Powermatic saws don't have an insert support directly behind the blade. This would be ideal because then a kerf cut straight back through the splitter would allow it to be installed after the splitter was clamped in place. I don't feel comfortable (yet) that the insert is structurally sound enough to work well if I cut it, but I'm still able to put the insert over the splitter and reach through the gap to get the splitter clamped in. This feels a bit dicey the first couple times (your wrist is essentially touching the blade), but I got past that. I didn't want to pay for the fancy SawStop dust collector pipe, which is a couple hundred more. But I found a 2.5"-1.25" dust collector fitting at Rockler ($6 - this one) which is a perfect slip fit. I used a stiff hose (this one) partly supported by an arm attached to my fence, to connect it into a 4x4x2.5" wye in the table saw dust collection line. This rigid hose keeps the whole thing out of the way of the workpiece. Works great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneger Posted May 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 I should've also mentioned - I've now got a SawStop riving knive, splitter, and insert which I don't need. If anyone is interested in buying them at a fair but modest price please let me know! These came with the kit, but I don't need them. Hopefully they can find a good home... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted May 23, 2015 Report Share Posted May 23, 2015 In a recent WoodTalk episode (#236, "SawStop Sponsored This One", around 34:30), Marc commented on the effectiveness of SawStop's blade guard dust collection. It prompted my sharing this post. Listen here: http://www.woodtalkshow.com/episodes/wt236-saw-stop-sponsored-this-one/ I've had an issue with the splitter/blade guard on my Powermatic cabinet saw - it doesn't prevent some sawdust from getting flung in my face. I seem to always end up with a nice stripe of dust and debris up my chest after a short time in the shop! And the clear plastic ends up getting clogged with sawdust which obscures my view of the blade-wood contact point. After seeing SawStop's solution to this - integrated dust collection (which appeared nearly perfect to me) - I decided to retrofit that blade guard onto my Powermatic.0.jpg So I plunked down the big bucks for the SawStop TSG-DC blade guard ($139 at Amazon & elsewhere - pay attention to where the parts go as you disassemble it!). That splitter fits the sawstop saw, but not my Powermatic of course. And my powermatic splitter wasn't big enough to modify to bolt on the blade guard (nor did I want to sacrifice it). So I created a template for a new splitter by lining up the ~10.25" radius parts of each. I traced the lower profile of the powermatic splitter, and the upper part from the sawstop splitter. Overall size was about 7 3/8" wide and 9 3/4" tall.1.jpg2.jpg I bought a piece of sheet steel (I chose McMaster part #6544K59 for $18) which was 12" x 12" and precision rolled/ground at 0.90" thick. I traced the template with a fine point sharpie. Using my handheld angle grinder and with the steel sheet held in a vise (metal; I recommend against using your Roubo!), I was able to quickly cut the template down to size. It took about 2 hours total to cut out the rough part and refine it on all sides. I checked back and forth with both splitters to make sure I wasn't going too far. I carefully and slowly made a blunt "blade" along that 10.25" radius area. A lot of the areas I required using hand files since the grinder is pretty aggressive and/or had a tight radius shape. Finally, when the rest was complete and deburred, I deburred the inside of the bottom slot and fine-tuned that fit with my saw's splitter clamp/holder. I had to widen it a bit, and ended up with a nice but snug fit - perfect! Check to be sure the blade-splitter gap is 1/4" or so. Too big and it'll be unsafe. And too small can really be a problem - if the blade hits the splitter...3.jpg4.jpg Finally, I taped my template to the new splitter and punched in the center marks for each hole. I drilled the holes at the drill press using a bit of oil to lubricate the bit. Be sure to clamp down the splitter and use slow speed - anyone who has drilled into metal knows that it is likely to catch on the bit and spin around like a saw blade... I then deburred these holes using a very light touch with a countersink. The slotted hole was a challenge - I did what I could using a drill bit but ended up getting out the dremel and then using hand files as well. Fortunately, that's the least important hole of the 3 you need to drill. The other 2 need to be fairly precise. I wanted to protect the splitter from potential corrosion, but don't have a nice powder coat system at home. So I decided to gun blue the steel (used this item on Amazon). I used a random orbital sander with high grit sandpaper (and then some sanding by hand) to remove the surface material and make it all uniformly shiny. Then I wiped the splitter down with denatured alcohol, rinsed with water, and applied the gun blue according to the package directions. I didn't like the look after just one application, so I applied gun blue a second time - this time essentially flooding the surface. I left it for several minutes and the patina was a nice uniform black. I wiped off the remaining acid, gave it a rinse, and it looked good. After a bit of steel wool to make it nice and smooth, I applied Boeshield T9 followed by some Ren Wax to further protect it and to help the wood slide past.5-after1stgunblue.jpg7-afterwax.jpg Now came the hard part - getting all those little pieces reassembled. Here is my method; maybe it'll work for you. (I assembled and disassembled 3x during this process, so this method wasn't just lucky once.) I first put the split pin in place. Then, put the nut/bolt in the rear slotted hole location, which attaches the splitter to theblade guard. Leave this loose for now, but at least these two pieces won't be able to move independently...! Next, I put the hooked spring over the bottom boss and slide in the stack of pawl-spacer-spring-pawl-washer under the splitter. I put the bolt up through this stack and was able to hold it with sideward pressure so the stack was pretty stable. With the pointer finger of the same hand, I held the other hooked spring over the top boss. With my other hand, I put the other washer over the tip of the bolt, then slid the pawl-spacer-spring-pawl stack into position and wiggled the bolt through the whole thing. Put the nut on loosely, then pull the springs in place (tensioning the pawls). Finally, tighten both bolts. You'll need a 4mm allen wrench for those bolts. And voila - you're done!8-assembly1.jpg9-assembly2.jpg A couple notes: Because I used the lower profile of my Powermatic splitter, I can use this with all my existing table saw inserts / zero clearance inserts. This is nice! However, Powermatic saws don't have an insert support directly behind the blade. This would be ideal because then a kerf cut straight back through the splitter would allow it to be installed after the splitter was clamped in place. I don't feel comfortable (yet) that the insert is structurally sound enough to work well if I cut it, but I'm still able to put the insert over the splitter and reach through the gap to get the splitter clamped in. This feels a bit dicey the first couple times (your wrist is essentially touching the blade), but I got past that.10-installed1.jpghttp://www.woodtalkonline.com/public/style_images/master_custom/attachicon.gif 11-installed2.jpg I didn't want to pay for the fancy SawStop dust collector pipe, which is a couple hundred more. But I found a 2.5"-1.25" dust collector fitting at Rockler ($6 - this one) which is a perfect slip fit. I used a stiff hose (this one) partly supported by an arm attached to my fence, to connect it into a 4x4x2.5" wye in the table saw dust collection line. This rigid hose keeps the whole thing out of the way of the workpiece. Works great!http://www.woodtalkonline.com/public/style_images/master_custom/attachicon.gif 12-withdustcollection.jpg Thanks for sharing. Great job! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteJr Posted May 24, 2015 Report Share Posted May 24, 2015 I have the Shark Guard http://thesharkguard.com/pm.php on my PM2000 and the dust collection is excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davestanton Posted May 24, 2015 Report Share Posted May 24, 2015 Have to say I prefer an overhead dust port on a table saw. You have obviously had fun doing the conversion! Thanks for sharing with us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneger Posted May 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 I have the Shark Guard http://thesharkguard.com/pm.php on my PM2000 and the dust collection is excellent. Thanks Pete. I saw systems like this when considering the options. Mark also has a nice swingarm-style one which doesn't physically attach to the saw but seems to provide similar upward dust collection (the Excalibur, I believe?). Those all look nice. But the difference which made me go the SawStop route was the air routing right at the front (see page 35 (37th page of the pdf) of SawStop's manual). The dust seems to get thrown forward by my saw, so collecting it right at the front where that shroud meets the table gave me confidence that it would provide the highest degree of collection possible. However, I bet those other solutions are about as good and less effort than what I did. I'm happy with my solution, and glad you are too. It would be interesting to do a side-by-side-by-side comparison of all three, to see how much dust ends up on my chest or around the shop... @TheWoodWhisperer - I could loan you my setup if this is something you might want to host? Or @MattsBasementWorkshop since you already have the official SawStop - would probably make this the most fair comparison? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzTexas Posted November 16, 2015 Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 Daneger, inspired by your post and also looking for a similar solution for my Grizzly g0690 and not finding anything on the market. I decided to use your post as instructions for myself. During the process I forgot to take photos but took these at the end. I used all of your suggested links, I purchased the plate metal and gun blue steel as those mentioned in your post. I also went ahead and purchased the flexible hose and connections from Rockler too. My biggest challenge as you can probably see from the photos was replicating the bottom of the knife to match the Grizzly. It took me the better part of a day to grind down and mostly hand filed to get the exact match. Grizzly has a locking pin which is above the arch on the base and the inside has two bulges the only way to ensure the shape and the location of the hole for the locking pin matched was to duct tape the two together and place them in my vise and begin hand filing! It was totally worth it. This works great and I'm very happy. Apart from the extra dust collection I'm now getting I noticed a significant decrease in the blade noise level of the saw when this is attached and cutting through stock.I've yet to modify my zero clearance insert to fit the knife but that's the next project. You provided a great post and I'm thankful I found it.Cheers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estesbubba Posted November 16, 2015 Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 Both of those turned out great. One thing is you both have the thickness bar upside down. I found mine got in the way and removed it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzTexas Posted November 16, 2015 Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 So.... who says I don't follow instructions!!! I'll be honest I was so focused on the great post I didn't even open the instructions that came with the TSG-DS I just ran out to the workshop and flipped it over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneger Posted February 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 Oz - nice! I never know when writing up a lengthy process like this whether I might have skipped important details... Glad it worked well for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davestanton Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 Go to about 12 minutes in and you will see the conversion I have done to my Table saw. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneger Posted February 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2016 Nice Dave - looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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