Axminster Trade Shark S-12 Overhead Blade Guard Review

[@anynomous2024]

Wow it’s almost as big as your shop! It’s the Cadillac of over arm. I don’t want to buy anything that is more expensive than my table saw. Great review…

[@harrisedgar]

This is exactky what I need...!! Great video..!!

[@dbnoho]

I built one and it works and it’s clunky and it’s $50. Now this is on sale for $799. However this falls into the forever tool category that I can justify. But this was a great review as this tool is lacking them.

[@SteveRuggMastermarketeer]

Would love to have this, but as a hobby woodworker they are priced more for the professional. Great Video. Looks like a high quality setup.

[@mikesanchez9654]

Love your videos! I'm from Texas and I have a garage wood shop. Dust is always an issue when working in such a small shop and I have tried dozens of overhead dust collectors over the years. I have to admit, your video is the reason I'm going to purchase the Axminster. Thank you for all the details I probably wouldn't have seen anywhere else.

[@GTWoodshop]

Hi Mike, thank you, make sure you check out the update to the shark guard video first. 👍👍

[@raymontella2251]

I agree I have one. It is a beast. But thanks to your video I realized I have those stops where you can pull the guard out of the way on the wrong side.

[@GTWoodshop]

Hi Ray, glad it was helpful. 😁👍

[@ericanderson8786]

Thank you! my router table ( built into the far wing of the saw) is right where the support leg for these overarm extractors are. I need to do something to stop my lungs sampling everything I run through my blades!

[@GTWoodshop]

Hi Eric, absolutely that was my driver as well.

[@benovations7055]

Excellent review, just subbed to your channel, nice shop..

[@GTWoodshop]

Hi Benovations, thank you. 👍😊

[@tcbridges]

This was very helpful. I'm thinking of getting the Shark wanted to ask you how difficult is it to put togeather. I have a Harvey 2HP model and want to put the cast Iron Router end on. You thing it would be hard to use a router on the end with his beast on it .TY

[@GTWoodshop]

Hi Thomas, I think careful placement will be the key to success and joyful working, or a very frustrating time indeed. Its not an addition that you would take down easily when its in the way. Hope that helps. 👍👍

[@nickmastropietro377]

First I would like to say the production of this video was nicely done. I've recently purchased the same overhead guard and an Incra TS-LS positionar. I've received the guard however the positioner isn's expected to arrive for a while yet. I noticed that you didn't install the counter ballance leg assembly for the guard, could you go into some detail as to how you mounted the verticle column to your table?

[@GTWoodshop]

Hi Nick, firstly thank you. 👍. I didn't go into that much detail on the installation as I deviated from the instructions so much. However, if you pause the vid at 1.18, directly underneath the vertical column is an MDF cabinet I made years ago to support the end of the Incra rails and of course provide storage. I took a piece of 28mm MDF and bolted it to the top of the cabinet, then bolted the column to the 28mm MDF. It is holding but it nots ideal as the column is gradually starting to lean I will be changing the installation quite dramatically in the next few weeks (hopefully) so I've planned to film the install in more detail. Hope that helps. Kind Regards 😎

[@nickmastropietro377]

@@GTWoodshop Thank you for your timely response. I will be looking for the posting of your video detailing your redesigned mounting system. Would I be correct in assuming that you were unable to use the supplied leg support due to the Incra rail system? I really appreciate your videos. Nick

[@GTWoodshop]

@@nickmastropietro377 Hi Nick, hit the nail on the head sir.

[@papparocket]

Well it is only money and my fingers are worth far more than even 750 or so quid. Table saws scare me enough that I am trying to see if I can achieve the same results as a table saw with a track saw and an MFT workbench along with a router table, a well tuned and adjusted miter saw built into a wide worktop with fences with stops and everything, and nice big band saw, which by the way ends up being more expensive than a good hybrid table saw, so it isn't about saving money. But if those other tools can't give me the level of accuracy and capabilities that a table saw will, then I'll just have to break open my piggy bank and get a SawStop and this overhead guard. And yes I understand that the SawStop will sacrifice itself, or at least a cartridge and whatever blade happened to be in the saw at the time, should my finger find itself going into the blades. But I don't want to depend on some fancy bit of kit working exactly right in a fraction of a second as the only thing keeping my fingers attached to my hand when my ADHD kicks in. So having something physically between me and the blades so I don't ever have to find out if the Sawstop is everything it claims it is is money well spent in my book. After all it is just money and people spend far more than this on far less useful things. My neighbor just dropped 40k on a boat that I guarantee he will only use about 3-4 times a year and spend the vast majority of its time under a tarp being an eyesore to the neighborhood.

[@GTWoodshop]

Was there a planer in there to clean up the bandsaw cut, if so then I think you're going to achieve your goal. 👍👍

[@papparocket]

@@GTWoodshop Yes, and I am going to splurge and get planer/thicknesser with a helical cutting head. With a sled jig, I can also use the planer as a jointer to get a true flat face and then flip it over and run it through without the sled and flatten the other side while keeping it parallel to the first side. The one thing that I am having trouble seeing how to accomplish without a table saw is how to joint the long edge of boards so that they are straight AND parallel with each other. The track saw is great to get a nice straight edge on the first edge.What I am having trouble seeing is how, without the tablesaw and its fence, to get the other edge to be both straight and parallel to the first. Any suggestions?

[@GTWoodshop]

@@papparocketConsider a planer thicknesser ?

[@papparocket]

@@GTWoodshop Do you mean to run the boards through the planer on edge to plane the second edge to be parallel to the first edge cut straight with the tracksaw? I didn't think you could do that. But then I thought about it. If you are jointing a board to be used by itself, say in the frame of a dresser, having the two edges to be within a mm (~1/32") or so across the length of the board is likely all that is necessary. I would think that using an accurate combination square and a marking knife to put two cuts the same distance from the first cut edge and then setting the track saw track so the edge strip is right on the cut marks would give a second edge that is straight and parallel _enough_ to the first edge. And if there is a tiny bit of a gap against the perpendicular end of another board, well then isn't filling tiny gaps what saw dust and a bit of glue was made for. If you are using the board as part of a panel that is gluing several boards, then use the method above to get the two edges as close to parallel with each other as possible. Then put two boards up against each other. If the edges are tight against each other already, then you are good to go. If they don't then put the edges against each other and clamp them to your workbench so they don't shift around. Then run the track saw along the joint between the boards so the blade cuts some out of each board. The two edges will be by definition mirror images of each other and fit perfectly. To keep the panel from drifting as you fit each board to the previous board such that the two outside edges don't end up terribly parallel to each other, I would try to position the two boards such that they are in contact and the outside edges of the two boards are as close to parallel as you can get them before cutting the joint between them. This, I think, then accomplishes with sufficient accuracy everything that using a table saw to cut the second edge parallel to the jointed edge. Does that sound about right?

[@GTWoodshop]

@@papparocketSo the answer is yes you can totally find multiple ways to achieve the same end without using a table saw, and if thats what you want to do then you should do it, without a doubt. Its your workshop so its yoour decision. You are the only person that can decide if its right. 👍👍

[@larrymarano5956]

how do i unlock the head so it moves up an down with the piston?

[@GTWoodshop]

Hi Larry, there isn't a lock, you just push. 👍