Biesemeyer 78-960 T-Square Table Saw BladeGuard System for 50-Inch and 52-Inch Fences

List Price: $824.32 Discount Price: $669.00

Features:

• Fits saw with 50 inch cutting capacity to right of blade
• See through guard allows any blade angle
• Lifts away with a touch of finger for instant clearance for sliding table
• Price includes hardware for 10 inch saw & 50 inch fence
• Shown with optional dust collection hose kit

Accessories:
This Old House (1-year)	Creating a New Old House: Yesterday's Character for Today's Home (American Institute Architects)	Biesemeyer 78-966 Dust Collection Kit for T-Square Blade Guard

Customer Reviews:

High Quality Bladeguard [Posted on 2003-09-21]
I purchased a Delta Unisaw in January of 2003. Completing the installation I ripped several pieces of wood and immediately disliked the factory bladeguard and splitter that came with the saw. I used the saw for about 8 months with no problem without a splitter or bladeguard. One afternoon as I was trimming drawer bottoms to size, I had my first and only encounter with kick back. It took my breath away. The saw blade picked up the drawer bottom and hurled it at me. The drawer bottom glanced off my hip and lodged in a hollow core door, even poking through the other side.

I stopped what I was doing, got on the internet and began researching bladeguards and splitters. After reading reviews and even the "Table Saw Book", I decided to order the Biesemeyer Bladeguard from Amazon.

It arrived about several days later in one large box. I was expecting some shipping damage because the box looked battered but upon opening the box, everything was in good shape. The packaging was first rate.

The bladeguard was very easy to install. I had the job completed in less than an hour. My only complaint was that the basket was cloudy and very sticky. I took it apart and used some househould cleaner to remove the blotches. After the cleaning it was crystal clear and smooth to the touch.

I installed the splitter that was included also. It is simple and quick to remove when using a dado blade etc.

The fit and finish of the bladeguard is first rate. The instructions were concise and clear. Using the bladeguard and splitter isn't a problem like the factory guard. The adjustments are easy to make and the basket can be locked in place above the blade when not needed.

I certainly feel that I am working safer now with this equipment installed and my wife is a lot happier also.

The Best Blade Guard Made! [Posted on 2003-12-11]
I was tired of taking the standard splitter/guard assembly off my Unisaw. I did the usual research and made a trip to a distant retail woodworking store to check them out in person. I liked the Biesemeyer blade guard system much better than any of the others.

I placed my order with Amazon and the FedEx lady showed up with it in only a few days. I have a Biesemeyer fence/table board on my Unisaw so I was hoping it would be a simple bolt on operation. Nope..I had to drill five (the instructions call for six holes but a cross brace on the Biesemeyer table board obstructed the hole position) holes in the hard Biesemeyer rails. It took less than five minutes to drill the holes and mount the base. Hint: Tighten the bolts down gradually and watch the vertical arm of the base assembly to make sure you don't get it cocked over at an angle. It doesn't effect how it works just looks funny if it canted over a tad.

The rest of the assembly went painlessly. The overall fit and finish was very good. One minor complaint was that the sliding arm was rusted at the unpainted portion where it slides into the
base assembly arm. Only took a minute to clean it up with a wire brush and smear some grease on it.

One pleasant surprise was the inclusion of the dust pickup on the guard assembly! This is usually part of a hundred dollar kit! I figure I can get some 2" plastic hose at a local hardware store for a few dollars and get it hooked up to my
Shop Vac I store under the table board of my Unisaw.

I had to move the spring to the third hole so the guard would stay up in position. The counterbalance weight seems a little light to do much..but the guard stays up nicely when you want to move it up a tad. There is also a handy mechanical latch that is very easy to use to latch it up and out of the way

I had already seen the Biesemeyer splitter that comes with this unit and had already ordered the one Biesemeyer sells as an upgrade for the Unisaw. Contrary to an earlier post these are NOT the same parts! The one that comes with the Biesemeyer guard is a much less impressive unit (came in a Delta box marked made in Taiwan BTW) than the Biesemeyer accessory splitter. I wish Biesemeyer sold the guard without a splitter but having seen the splitter I don't think it would change the price much if it were left out or made an option.

All in all I'm very, very happy with the guard. It wasn't what I'd call cheap, but then keeping all ten fingers intact and avoiding 200mph flying hardwood boards isn't cheap to get fixed either.

Buy one...it will be some of the best woodworking money you'll ever spend.

A case of having my Jet and safety too! [Posted on 2006-09-05]
I probably should not admit this but I bought this guard for my left tilt Jet cabinet saw a few years ago after reading a review on guards in Fine Woodworking. At that time they were for Delta saws only and as far as I can tell still are. I knew going in that where would be fit problems but I like the way it functioned and thought I would take a chance. To mount the guard I had to remove the bottom part of the piece of angle iron that secures the table extension to the saw about 10" so the bracket from the guard that bolts to the table would be low enough for wood to pass over it. Not too bad and once that was done I drilled the required holes and bolted the guard to the table. Next I removed the long screw because I wanted to be able to move the guard rapidly which is hard to do with the screw in place. Now I had a very functional guard. I next paid the extra $100 for the dust collection kit. This is way overpriced but it did go on quickly and allows me to capture the dust that comes off the top of the blade. With my shop dust collection system sucking dust out of the bottom of the saw and the shop vac catching what comes out the top, my table saw is now a reasonably clean operation. Now about that splitter. I looked at the splitter and my saw and decided to give it a try. First the bracket was not an exact match but it did bolt up I felt securely with only one bolt hole not being used. When I slipped the splitter in it was out of align with the blade by around 1/8". The next move was to the vice where with the use of a hammer I made some carefully placed bends. This time when I slipped the splitter in and sited down the blade I had alignment. I have been using this setup for several years now without a glitch.

Woodshop Junkie [Posted on 2007-01-10]
Best investment for the tablesaw. Easy to install and square up. Dead on accuracy.

Over priced, bad finish. [Posted on 2007-01-23]
I bought this guard mainly based on all he good reviews I could find on this product. Given the price, I was expecting a high quality product. Now that I have used it for over a year I would definitively not recommend it.

The good:

I ordered it on amazon and received it promptly. Everything was well packaged and in good condition.
Assembly was overall easy and fast.
The guard is sturdy and doesn't move once installed.

The bad:

The plastic guard itself was covered with a white gooey substance that prooved impossible to remove.

The pastic guard was poorly assembled, there are four screw that connect the guard to the arm, all of them were overtighten causing small cracks in the plastic, they where also not positioned correctly causing the guard to be out of square with the arm. The small flap at the front was also severly out of square with the guard itself.

The mechanism to move the arm out of the way is very very slow to use even with the quick release which only allow you to move the guard by 10 inches or so. If you have some work to do with big vertical pieces it gets very annoying.

Finally, the fact that the dust collection is done through an external pipe is annoying and unefficient. It make moving the arm even more tedious and force you to use a long run of flexible hose which kill the airflow.

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