LeeWay Workshop -Powermatic 2000, Bosch 4000 Shark Mounting Guide

LeeWay Workshop

November 21, 2008

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Installing the Shark Guard
When you receive your Shark Guard, verify that nothing was damaged in shipping. Here is a current list of parts that should be included with a standard PM2000, Bosch 4000 package. The Shark Guard Adjustable Clamp assembly Riving Knife Shark face decal Other accesories you may have ordered

Installation
More info and photo's will be posted as they become available. Lets start with the Shark Riving knife, since this is the heart of this guard system and will be used most often. I suggest you apply some Johnson's Paste wax or Minwax Paste wax to the Splitters. This should be done periodically to clean the splitters and to slick up the surfaces to reduce friction. Disconnect the power source. Never count on your switch alone to control the power when working on machinery. They can fail. Currently, this riving knife is designed to mount very much like your OEM blade guard. It utilizes the mounting clamp just like the original. On the PM 2000, it has a better fit than the OEM knife. For some reason, PM made the top of the mounting slot curved to fit onto a square boss and also made the slot wider than needed. The Shark knife is a good snug fit. Remove your throat plate. It may also be easier initially to remove the saw blade as well. This would be a good time to clean out the inside of your saw. Read your owners manual for installation and riving knife adjustments. The riving knife installation info is on page 13 and the clamp adjustment is on page 18. The manual can be found in PDF here for PM 2000. Page 13. The manual can be found in PDF here for Bosch 4000. Page 32.

Riving knife Alignment
See an above link. Click the image to the right for a Flash File to see how my brass blade shims might be used.

Installing the 8.0 version and better Clamp
Here are a couple exploded diagrams of an 8.0 and better clamps. The larger bushings on an 8.4 go to the left side. The curves on the bottom of the clamp halves are at the front. Plain bronze bushings are on the rear bolts. Machined brass bushings are on the front bolt. It will be basically the same setup without pawls.

Installing the 6.0 version Clamp
You can now install your throat plate. The three small holes on the top of the two largest splitters are used with the clamp. The three steel pins in the lower portion of the clamp lock into these holes when the knobs of the clamp are tightened. There are also set screws in the other clamp half that serve to keep the two clamp halves parallel when tightening regardless of splitter thickness. You loosen the knobs and pull the clamp halves apart some. When the splitter will fit between the clamps up to the bolt, you can then align the three mounting pins in the holes and tighten the clamp. This makes a positive lock of the clamp and the splitter. This allows it to double as a quasi-hold down to aid in kickback prevention. Just over a 1" rip would be possible if you used a good narrow push stick with a standard fence. You can get narrower rips using the guard with an L shaped auxilliary fence and a push shoe with a cleat at the back.

Shark face decal application
I have had two different styles of decals. The first type is self adhesive type. The decals come in two parts. The mouth and the eye. If you are looking at the shark from the front, the decals go in on the left side. I like to use Windex (any glass cleaner) and a soft cotton cloth like a T-shirt to clean the guard first. It may help to look at a photo like this one below. Remember, you are looking at the reverse side in this image. This was done so that you wouldn't have to handle the decal when moving the shark. It also gives is a nice appearance from the outside of the lexan. Next I spray a little pool of Windex where the decal will go. Then I peel the backing off the decal (can be difficult at times) and place the decal on the Windex. I hold it in place and start gently pressing the windex and air bubbles out from under the decal. Once all the air bubbles are out, that one is done. Repeat for the other. If you need to position the decal, it is easy before it's stuck. You can lift a corner and apply more Windex. You should be able to reposition it then. The second type is water slide decals. Below are the instructions for those. These are the newer ones. They have a white opaque backing. You will only be needing to do step 5 and 6. * Step #1: Design your decals using any graphic software program. (Use 8 1/2 " x 11" sheet INK JET Decal Paper or cut sheet into half if desired.) * Step #2: Set your printer as follows: o Resolution = Best o Paper = Photo Gloss o (Print your decal on the glossy side of INK JET Decal Paper.) * Step #3: Spray your printed sheet evenly with Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear High Gloss spray until the sheet has a shine (2-3 coats). Allow 30 to 60 minutes to dry and set. (This product is available at any craft or hardware store such as Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Walmart, etc. Any acrylic clear coat spray will work.) * Step #4: Cut out your image using a standard pair of sharp household scissors. * Step #5: Place decal into a cup of clean water for 45-60 seconds and remove when the thin decal film begins to slip along backing. (Discard backing material after the decal has been removed) * Step #6: Apply decal to clean surface; ceramic, glass, metal, plastic, soap, candles, mylar balloons, model trains, planes, cars, etc. Here is a link to a PDF file that you can print out. It will help you get the proper placement for these. Just print page two. Lay the guard down on the image and then you will be able to place the decals on the inside where they should go.
Decal placement file.

The 8.4 model 4" dust port Shark Guard
Here are some initial photo's of the 4" port model. I have offset the port to the left side of the guard. I have also left the clamp where it was and extended the bushings on the left side to get the extra width. This guard is the same distance from the fence as the 8.0. 1" is the distance from the right side of the guard to the blade. The guard in these photo's is actually longer than the typical guards for a 10" saw. The smaller of the two is the typical length. The bigger one is for a new line of 12" saws that I am just finishing up. The Grizzly 5959. There will be an added $15 cost for these larger ports. More material and the 4" polycarbonate is not only much more costly, but also a heck of a lot harder to bend and install. Now I tested this with some mdf and my dust collector. I wasn't really expecting to get that much better result. I typically get a few crumbs after a cut with the 2.5 inch port. I couldn't find ANY crumbs after 4 cuts with a 4" port. So, I guess bigger is better. After quite a few field trials now, some guys have stated that perhaps the dust collection may be too good. It likes to suck up everything including small offcuts. This can be bad because the offcut may want to rattle around inside the guard dancing on the blade. I suggest that if you do use the 4 inch port, you also employ a blast gate to this hose and close it off some if you anticipate having thin strips or small offcuts. Open it fully for larger parts. Some guys have also had trouble getting the hose onto the port. The dust port is kinda confusing. The whole thing is welded in at an angle, but when I cut the top back parallel to the top of the shark, it looks straight again. It really isn't. I have made this illustration to show that you need to attach the hose to the port at an angle. Once the hose is over the port, then you can straighten it back up and install a clamp. It will be a tight fit. The port is welded in there pretty good and can take a little handling. See the illustration below.

Tail Hook
Below are a few photo's of how the tail hooks work. They are fairly simply and serve to keep the guard from coming off when not wanted. Simply raise the hook to remove the guard. Lower it down onto the stud when installing it.

Using the Shark Guard
The Shark Guard has a horizontal hooked slot at the rear and a vertical slot further forward. These slots are the mounting slots for this guard. The hooked slots get hooked on the rear studs of the clamp. There is now a safety hook that slips down over the rear stud to keep the guard from coming off when not intended. You can see in this image that the guard can be left in the upward position by hooking only the rear slots and resting the guard on the front stud. This feature is beneficial when measuring between the fence and blade with a steel rule. The front slots just slip down over the front studs with care taken to use the smaller bearing surfaces. With this done and your red tail hook slide down into place, your blade guard is installed. It will seem to some that the guard isn't clamped down anywhere and only rides or sits on these studs. Can that be right? Yes, the guard itself isn't really fastened to the clamp in the normal sense. What does happen is it's locked onto the studs when you feed stock under the guard or when the blade height is low. In either case the guard can't be lifted up enough to remove it from the clamp while in use. Dust collection can be hooked up to the top of the guard or you can simply cap off the dust port. I suggest that something be done to the port though. If left open, you can get a fountain effect of sawdust right into your face. I will have caps that plug this port available soon. For a good fit with something that is readily available, spray paint tops will serve as a good cap for the dust port. You can even get color coordinated caps this way. Rockler, Woodcraft and other outlets sell a nice 2 1/2 inch clear flex hose that fits this dust port well. It is a fairly snug fit by itself, but can be clamped down as well. I like leaving mine as a slip fit, because I utilize the same overhead hose for my router table. There are numerous ways the you can support the hose for the dust collection. On my Gallery page, you will see some photo's of different setups. On my Review page, you will find links to individual websites where some owners used varied methods of supporting this hose.

If you have any questions about installation, setup or usage of this blade guard or parts associated with it, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks a bunch and I hope that you enjoy using your Shark Guard.