Replies

1. 
   jako17 | Oct 19, 2005 05:15am | #1

   I have found the excaliber guard ok for a number of years.Of course for ripping narrow stock it has to go.Working with MDF and MCP I find it great and reduces the airbourne dust  a lot.I look forward with great relish to your experiences with the ceiling mounted splitter a novel concept indeed !    ;-)

2. 
   dm | Oct 19, 2005 06:09am | #2

   Jene:

   I recently installed the Excalibur guard/dust collector on the side of my extension table.  I did not really experience any great amount of installation problems.  The instructions are not great, but I was able to learn a lot from reading posts from people who have had problems installing the unit.  For me, the key to a successful installation is to have 3" wide aprons on the extension table as suggested in the instructions and to first clamp the mount bracket on the apron for positioning before you even think about drilling any holes.  This facilitates a fairly easy installation from that point forward.

   I know nothing about the ceiling mount of the Excalibur.  However, I can tell you that they recently improved the design of my type of side mount unit, making the entire upper assembly, from the mount bracket to the hood, a continuous round interconnecting telescoping tube.  I think this greatly improves the maneuverability of the assembly.  You can easily swing the assembly out of the way with little effort. Also, I can remove the entire assemble from the mount very easily by folding in the telescoping tube to it's most compact state, removing the dust collection hose, and lifting it off the mount.  The unit is heavy duty, but if I fold it in, I have no problem lifting it off and moving it away. 

   I agree with the comment about the dust collection benefits afforded by the Excalibur.  Sure, you must get it out of the way for narrow cuts, but I use it as often as I can, especially when I have to cut MDF.  I have both the Excalibur and my saw on 4" hose that "Y" connects to one 4" duct to my collector.  Works great.  With the hood in place and the collector on, I get almost no visible airborne leftovers.

   I think most aftermarket splitters may work with the Excalibur.  However, I found it to be necessary to have your splitter mounted when you make your alignment and adjustments of the Excalibur hood.  I have a couple of different splitters, but if you go with a Merlin splitter, you will need to get you hood adjusted (and consequently your mounting hardware) to accommodate the clearance requirements.  I did not find this to be a problem, but, again, I side mounted using my "clamp it up first" method on the wide apron. Once everything looked perfect, I marked the drill holes, removed everything, and drilled.  The screws passed thru my drill holes into slots on the metal mounting piece.  So, the drill hold location is more critical for height preference, since you have some slide adjustment available for fine tuning forward and backward.

   If you decide to go with the Excalibur, you may want to call them about your ceiling mount application.  I found them to be nice to deal with and helpful.

   Hope this helps some.