HTC 10A-M30P Brett-Guard Table Saw Guard

by HTC

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Brett-Guard model 10A-M30P is designed for use on 10" saws, with 30" fence systems. The cantilever mounting system allows full unobstructed cutting capacities to the right and left of the saw blade. The clear dust ported shield is firmly suspended over your work piece, and is easily adjusted to cover virtually all cutting operations. The fixed/adjustable crank mechanism, is rigid by design, which enables the Brett-Guard to function as a reliable work hold down device - something gravity acting guards are unable to do. The retractable anti-kick back fingers are in the shield, so you have protection for non-through cuts like rabbits and dados. The guard also pivots out of the way for easy blade access or machine maintenance

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 59.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0001LQXI6
• Item model number: 10A-M30P
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,466 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Safety First, April 3, 2006

By 

Daniel J. Parlagreco "Pit Boss" (Millersville, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HTC 10A-M30P Brett-Guard Table Saw Guard (Tools & Home Improvement)

I decided to invest in safety this year, and since the table saw is one of the most used machines in my shop, I started with this over-arm brett guard. I liked the design in that it acts both as a guard and a hold-down with anti-kickback built in.

I ordered this from Amazon at a very attractive price, in spite of the other review that had some problems. The unit arrived in two boxes. In mine, only a minor part was missing (the crank handle to adjust the height with). I e-mailed Amazon customer service right away, and got a somewhat confusing e-mail, probably from India. It did have the number for HTC Customer Service hidden between what looked like a disjointed cut-and-paste from some canned answers. I called HTC and got a very friendly customer service agent who took down my name and address. She was new, so it was somewhat difficult to explain the part I was missing, but she figured it out in the end. She did not ask for any other information, and I got the missing part about two weeks later.

As for the device itself, I was somewhat disappointed by what I consider some major flaws:

1. The parts, while heavy duty steel and very solid, were painted after the holes were threaded, resulting in a very difficult assembly process. This is just plain sloppy manufacturing.

2. The leveling screws in the overarm attachment are too long, resulting in difficult adjustment. Its important to level the guard to a parallel plane with your saw table because the guard also acts like a hold-down. The leveling process was made more difficult by the length of these screws.

3. The overarm support fits on the L-bracket that came with my Biesemeyer fence system (standard on the Sears 22124 table saw that I have). Unfortunately, the extension arm slides inside this support and is held in place by interference fit between some nylon screw inserts (held in place by nylon nuts and threaded connections in the steel support) and one threaded knob. It is extremely difficult to get this arrangement straight; at least I had to make five or six attempts. Combine this with the long leveling screws and, well, lets just say "words were said" and leave it at that.

On the plus side:

1. The design of the gurad allows it to flip up and out of the way for blade changes.

2. The stock splitter on the 22124 can no longer be used, so I was forced finally to buy an aftermarket splitter. The one that comes with the guard doesn't fit the 22124 and is standard thickness (I use a thin kerf blade), making it useless for me. This is only a plus in that the stock splitter/guard on the 22124 is, in my opinion, a safety issue by itself.

3. All the parts are heavy steel (except the nylon inserts/nuts) and the guard itself is a heavy acrylic clear plastic. The guard with mine had a connection (2.5 inch) for a dust collection system.

4. The crank mechanism is easy to adjust to the workpiece height. Max height is about 4 inches, which is higher than the max height of my blade on the 22124.

5. Its made in the USA. Maybe you don't care, but I'd rather employ Americans than others if the design/quality/price allows it.

Overall, I'd recommend the guard, but caution you to expect some problems along the way.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Missing a few parts....for now....Update, June 6, 2004

By 

R. Haight "rhaight1" (Cannon Falls, Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HTC 10A-M30P Brett-Guard Table Saw Guard (Tools & Home Improvement)

I ordered this blade guard about a month and a half ago after researching all available options. The ability to directly mount it to the rear rail on my table saw (Jet 3HP) and the hold-down design of the shield are what appealed to me.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to fully assemble the guard yet. Only half of the guard has arrived so far: the mounting brackets and a small bag with some of the hardware. The dust shield, cantilever mounting system...oh, and the directions, haven't arrived yet. Whether it is a packaging problem with HTC or a shipping issue with Amazon, I'm not yet sure. I will follow up with an updated review as the situation unfolds.

It appears to be well made, sturdy and the perfect size for my 30" fence system. But until the rest of the parts arrive, I have to give it one star.

UPDATE
After sending emails to nearly half a dozen customer service representatives at Amazon, the entire order finally arrived nearly two and a half weeks later.

This is a well-built, easy to assemble blade guard. Set-up took maybe a total of two hours, but I took my time. Once set up, adjustment is easy and straight forward.

The included splitter is fairly worthless. In fact, I just took a hacksaw to the splitter included with my JET 3HP tablesaw and "made" my own. In fact, I took a calipers to the HTC splitter and it was wider than the kerf made by my standard width saw blade. Let's just say this helped test the hold down capabilities on a few cuts of plywood --the blade guard did its job, but I was not impressed with the splitter.

Overall, this is an excellent addition to my tablesaw setup.

For HTC, I would award 4 STARS.

Amazon gets 2 STARS...
for taking so long to correct an obvious problem ("Please recheck the contents of the box for the missing parts..." According to HTC I was missing one of two boxes.) I would have given one star to Amazon, but eventually a customer service manager took care of everything in one day, that previous reps. bounced around for a week and a half.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Depends on what you paid for it..., November 14, 2009

By 

Wade Lippman - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HTC 10A-M30P Brett-Guard Table Saw Guard (Tools & Home Improvement)

I bought this and found it conflicted with the router table built into the right side of my table saw. I emailed HTC about how I should install it on the left side and they told me it couldn't be done.

Actually it was pretty easy. The hardest part was that that the fence rail on my Grizzly 1023 wasn't long enough to hit one of the mounting holes. To solve that I had to drill and tap two new holes in the bracket and rail. Just to be on the safe side, I also attached the bracket to the table with a small angle bracket using the original hole. I don't know about other saws, but you would have to do all this on the Grizzly, even on the recommended right side.

Other than that it went together pretty easy, though the instructions are completely worthless; you better be mechanical or your will have a tough time trying to follow them.

Dust collection isn't as good as I hoped, but that might be my fault. I have 6' of 2.5" hose twisting around, and that might be too much for good air flow. I will have to work on it.

BUT... I only paid $170 for it. I don't know why it was so cheap, but if I paid $550 for it; well, I wouldn't have bought it for any more than what I paid.