DW mitre saw "rear guard" ? Calling all chippies?

[Rusted]

Hi Guys,

I want to saw some big chunks of aluminium on my miter saw. Been there. Done that. Swarf sprayed [literally] everywhere!!
The wood dust collection on the DW780 is absolutely hopeless anyway. So I came up with a DIY answer:
 

My crude swarf guide finds the "rear guard" gets in the way.
Hours of searching have not produced so much as the merest whimper on the absolute necessity of this item.
It seems to be little more than a blade guard. Yet it is hinged and sprung.  But has no "spurs" to suggest a kick-back guard.
It is available as a DW spare in the case of damage.

Any <cough> constructive ideas on the "rear guards" purpose?

Thanks

[pete_l]

2 hours ago, Rusted said:

Any <cough> constructive ideas on the "rear guards" purpose?

My 20 year old Scheppach capas3 compound mitre saw doesn't have such a thing.
Could it be a marketing "feature" perhaps?

[Rusted]

19 hours ago, pete_l said:

My 20 year old Scheppach capas3 compound mitre saw doesn't have such a thing.
Could it be a marketing "feature" perhaps?

Thanks. You may well be right but I'd still like to be sure before its removal.

[StevieDvd]

Does it lower when you have the blade fully down and pushed as far back as possible? It could be an extra safety guard for the exposed part of the blade from the rear.

[Rusted]

1 hour ago, StevieDvd said:

Does it lower when you have the blade fully down and pushed as far back as possible?
It could be an extra safety guard for the exposed part of the blade from the rear.

Thanks. That makes some sense.
It lowers with the saw arm but never comes within inches of the item being cut.
Why make it hinged and sprung? It seems so pointless.

Edit: The second image above shows the guard at full inward travel of the saw blade.
The corrugated hose is my own addition. To replace the sad little DW collection port.

The red detergent bottle didn't work as shown. I needs to be vertical rather than flat.
Otherwise the flying swarf will miss the hose. Smooth hose would be better.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Rusted
Update

[Rusted]

Hi again. Thanks to those who responded.

I have had an email chat with a long experienced [30 year] woodworking machine repairman.

The DeWalt rear guard catches small pieces of wood which might otherwise be caught in the saw blade and flung around.
There was much talk of bloody stumps of fingers amongst wood machinists both amateur and professional.
So it is vital to leave this little guard in place. Safety first! 

I was further advised that larger hoses will slow wood dust extraction. 
I was struggling to guide [potential] flying swarf into entering my crude, DIY collector anyway.

The answer to my flying swarf problem is probably an outer shield of heavy rubber sheeting.
This will supplement the original dust extraction system and will [hopefully] improve containment.

Thanks again.