Table saw safety

yellowpine | Posted in General Discussion on October 23, 2019 08:44am

This has likely been asked many times, but here goes. I bought my first table saw. A used Jet JTAS 10XL 1. The motor plate is stamped 7/11. It has no riving knife, splitter or blade guard. The mount for those is in place. I’m new to woodworking. What should I put on this saw for safety? I see MJ splitters, after market guards and other things, but I’d like to get it right the first time. Thanks.

Replies

ctsjr | Oct 23, 2019 10:31am | #1
I would contact Jet directly and see if you can purchase the original blade guard/splitter for the saw. MJ splitters are good and certainly better than nothing.
_mj_ | Oct 23, 2019 10:35am | #2
Start by finding a manual and then find all of the original safety gear for the saw. The mount is likely for a splitter / blade guard combination unit.

If it did not come with the saw it is probably because the original owner got fed up with the trouble of taking it off for non-through cuts and putting it back on. Not very safe but all too common, but a very bad idea for someone starting out.

Aftermarket solutions can be great, but until you know the issues you are trying to improve upon you might not know what to buy, so save your money until you've used the saw as designed for a while.
segrzesik | Oct 23, 2019 02:30pm | #3
Both responses #1 and #2 are excellent advice. If the educated guess in paragraph 2 of response #2 is correct, and that makes sense to me also, there is one other route. I had a 2004 Delta table saw that was a real pain to remove and reinstall the blade guard, requiring using a socket inside the throat. I talked with a dealer and found that Delta made a splitter w/anti-kickback pawls that was easily removable and replaced for non-through cuts via a spring-loaded pin. You might want to check with a Jet dealer or Jet direct to see if this is an option.
yellowpine | Oct 24, 2019 07:24am | #4
Thanks. You're answers make perfectly good sense. Jet's replacement part is $158. It just seems very steep for a piece of metal with a plastic guard screwed to it. I was hoping to find an aftermarket device for much less.
_mj_ | Oct 24, 2019 08:08am | #5
Not to be dramatic, BUT...

The photo is my right thumb. I had that old saw for about 10 years and was just ripping some pine for a small project when my back foot slipped out in some sawdust and my body pivoted forward.

Older saw with an asspain guard that had been hanging on the wall for years.

It was "over before it even happened" and could easily have been far worse in the same tiny time span. 15 years later it cracks open every winter and I can't use it to work my phone. (no 'letric in scar tissue) A copy of the pic is tacked to the wall over my new Sawstop.

Spend the $158 or do SOMETHING before you become "accustomed" to the saw with no guard. Hold out your hand, lower a finger, do the math.
user-3405227 | Oct 24, 2019 08:57am | #6
Sell the darn dangerous thing and build a flat table covered with MDF and get a track saw, a bandsaw and a couple of good hand saws. My woodworking shop burned down recently and while replacing my equipment I found I don't need a table saw. For a person making one of furniture projects my old SawStop cabinet saw was a beautiful machine but took up a lot of space and money. I need my fingers more and I'm in no hurry. "The journey is the destination".