Wood Shop Safety Add-Ons

Wood Shop Safety Add-Ons Save’Em System products are designed for wood shop safety. Bill Niichel, who has a lifetime of cabinetmaking experience, designed attachments for miter and table saws. “My attachments are an alternative to stop saws,” says Niichel. “They give a woodworker a choice that lets them use their existing equipment, even Saw Stop saws, more safely.” Niichel has designed a system of hold-downs, guards and pushers to keep fingers away from blades. These work on practically any 10-in. table saw or miter saw, as well as tabletop routers and shapers. They provide complete control of the piece being cut or shaped without a push stick. They keep fingers outside what Niichel describes as the danger zone—any place closer to the blade or cutters than 6 in. “With these tools, the left hand starts the cut, but before it enters the danger zone, it’s out of the picture,” says Niichel. “The right hand is always the pusher but never enters the danger zone.” Save’Em System table saw attachments include the Right Hand Pusher ($189), Left Hand Hold Down ($137), Anti-Kick Back Wheel ($189), 3-Bearing Hold Down ($239) and Panel Saw Guide ($197). The Right Hand Pusher rides the rip fence, is spring-loaded to ride above the table and adjusts for the thickness of the stock. The Left Hand Hold Down holds the board to the table and against the rip fence. It’s spring-loaded, so it doesn’t have to move over every time you cut. An entire 3-in. board can be ripped into 1/4-in. wide strips without ever moving the Hold Down. The Anti-Kick Back Wheel mounts on the front end of the rip fence and holds the board down and against the fence. Once the board reaches the wheel, the left hand is no longer needed to hold it down. The wheel automatically adjusts from 1/8 to 1 1/2-in. boards. Pull a pin, and it’ll hold down 1 1/2 to 2 3/4-in. boards. If the stock is larger, the wheel can be moved out of the way. The 3 Bearing Hold Down works as well on the router table and shaper as it does on the table saw. The adjustable spring pressure eliminates bumps and glitches with no vibration from the cut for smooth edges. The Panel Saw Guide allows a small shop to make most of the cuts a regular big panel saw would make in a large, professional shop. “Instead of paying thousands for a large panel saw, you can buy this one for around $200 and make 90 percent of the cuts you could make with the big one,” says Niichel. “Plus, there are a lot of angle and bevel cuts that you can’t make on the big one.” Save’Em System attachments for miter saws include the Left Hand Hold Down ($189) and the Swinging Guard ($197). The Left Hand Hold Down allows the operator to make cuts with the miter saw that are too dangerous to make on a table saw. Very small cuts can be made very precisely and safely. The unit comes on and off in seconds. No knobs to turn; just set it on and lift it off. It ensures there’s always a guard between the saw and the hand. The Swinging Guard keeps the hand away from the blade. Niichel explains that miter saw blades are extremely dangerous because of the direction in which they turn. “It can pull your hand right into the blade,” he says. “If it catches your little finger, you will most likely lose all your fingers or even part of your hand.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Save’Em System, 516 S. Meredith Dr., Pueblo West, Colo. 81007 (ph 719-641-5274; www.savemsystem.com).

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