Bosch, Skil’s parent company, is recalling over 22,000 Skil-branded miter saws due to a faulty blade guard that can present a laceration hazard. During operation, the lower guard can fail and break off, and potentially contact the blade.
A faulty miter saw blade guard is an immense safety hazard, but luckily no incidents or injuries have been reported.
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Affected by the recall are Skil 10-inch miter saws, model 3316, sold at Lowes and OC Tanner stores between January and April 2012. To find out if your saw is included in the recall, look at the name plate on the motor housing for date codes 111, 112, 201, 202, 203, or 204.
If your saw is included in the recall, contact Bosch or Skil for a free lower guard replacement kit.
Oslwald
Isn’t Skil aware that people might call for a guard blade even if there existing blade guard is fine or if they don’t even have a miter saw? Still nice to know that they did a recall, even if it’s entirely their fault.
ESB
Ahhh the last blade guard for my collection, awesome this just made my month. Free too, shooooooot.
Stuart
That’s what serial numbers are for.
Plus, how many people are really going to call up and request blade guards they can’t use just because they can get away with it?
Pink
ESB …. hilarious!!! Exactly what I was going to post!
Limbrick
You never know Stuart, remember with that Irwin recall? I heard a great deal of people called that number just to receive a free case. If it’s free, your bound to get at least a couple people who will order one just for the sake of the item being free.
Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me either, but especially with the younger crowd, you never know what they are going to do.
Larry
What about the older Skil Miter saws? We have one we bought in 93 and have used it many times w/o incident. My wife was using it a few days ago then boom, the guard made contact with the blade and shattered into a hundred pieces. Luckily, she was not hit by any of the pieces. Can’t understand what happened to it unless it was just fatigue on the components that let the guard shift just enough to strike the the blade.
Now we are told the guard is obsolete and we can’t get a replacement, allowing the blade to be exposed on a perfectly good machine. Creating a very dangerous work environment. I don’t want to retire the machine, maybe I can find someone with an old one for parts. Yes I know it over twenty years old, but it still performs like a new one.
Stuart
Who told you the guard is obsolete? If you contacted Skil, or Bosch (former owner), or Chervon (current owner), and that’s what they said, you could try pushing for a replacement saw, although it’s unlikely. In the case they agree, the saw you get might not be as good.
Sorry, it’s unfortunate that a necessary safety feature failed and rendered an otherwise saw unusable.
It was probably the age of the guard that made it brittle. Maybe it had already cracked and was sitting crooked, allowing it to collide with the blade?
Larry
Thanks Stuart for the info. The Skil web site pro advised the part was obsolete and no longer available for my model. I checked with the distributor I bought it from and they advised the same. When I first bought the saw, the guard was crystal clear. Over time it began yellowing, indicating age. You’re most like right about it becoming brittle. The motor specs out good, fittings are tight, it is a keeper. Hopefully I can find a guard on a discarded unit down the road. Funny how we get attached to things and hate to give them up, especially if they still perform well. Thanks again. Keep up the post.