Adding some safety

About a year ago I added an extension table and fence to my table saw. When I did that, the blade guard could no longer be mounted on the saw. Along with that went the splitter and anti-kickback pawls.

After paying my friends at my local Woodcraft a visit, I ordered the Excalibur Over Arm Blade Cover. The arm mounts to the end of my table extension and reaches over to suspend the guard over the blade. It includes a connection to my dust collector to remove dust from the area of the blade.







The support bracket mounts on the end of the extension table. There is an unpublished requirement that the table top be a minimum of three inches thick. I rabbeted a 2x6 to fit the end of the table to expand the thickness. The six mounting bolts go through the end of the table top and the added board.








The mounting bracket includes a lock mechanism. When unlocked, the arm can swing to the back of the table to be completely out of the way. When in the locked position, there is an adjustment to make sure the arm returns to be in alignment with the blade. The vacuum system attaches to the bottom of the arm at this point.







Installed, the arm has plenty or reach and strength to be over the blade. Support arms under the table provide adjustment to get the arm parallel to the table top. A flexible pipe delivers the suction from the overhead arm to the guard.






















Parallel arms keep guard level to the table.













 A handle locks the guard out of the way.

Next stop, a zero clearance insert and splitter.

Turning Duck Calls

Something I have been making a few of here and there is duck calls.  Using an insert from Woodcraft, I turn the body using the included instructions.

In this particular case I wanted to use some wood from my property and I was looking for wood with plenty of figure.  I selected a knotty area of this black walnut branch.

After cutting the needed length, I squared up the blanks and cut them to final length.  As I had hoped, the grain in the blanks was wonderful.






The hardest part of making the duck calls is drilling the necessary holes.  The smaller one, at 31/64ths, is only 2 inches long and pretty easy. On the other hand, you also need to drill a 3/4 inch hole 4 inches long.  Both holes need to be centered and relatively straight.

Mounting the blanks is slightly different than some turning. The kits sold by Woodcraft use an expanding foam chuck that passes through the drilled holes.  Turning is done one piece at a time.

The shape of the call be almost anything you want.  I like to make mine easy to handle.

As planned, the grain has a lot of movement to it and is enhanced by the finish. This is the mouthpiece. The large tenon will hold a brass ring that will protect the call from a lanyard.




























The finished call.