Rivving Knife Question

[Brad Wood]

I'm trying to figure out exactly what rivving knife is... I mean, I sort of get it... its a splitter of sorts that is behind the blade. I'm trying to understand if there is something special that makes it a "rivving knife" VS a part that is just the assembly of the blade guard.

I've got the saw in the attached picture. Is the arrow pointing to a rivving knife, or is it just the blade guard assembly?

Thanks

[Rob Cunningham]

What you are pointing to in the picture is a splitter and blade guard. It keeps the wood from closing and pinching the blade causing a kickback. A riving knife serves the same purpose but moves up and down with the blade, and is closer to the blade.

[Prashun Patel]

A riving knife raises and lowers with the blade. By doing this, it maintains a short distance between the rear of the blade and the knife. This minimizes the chance of binding and kickback.

A splitter is what's on most blade guards. The splitter stays at constant height, so it leaves a bigger gap btn the blade and itself when the blade is low. This means higher chance of kickback.

The stock guard with most saws includes a plastic 'guard' that covers the blade, a splitter, and pawls which are the one-way fingers that act to prevent kickback.

Both rknives and splitters can and should tilt with the blade.

Some woodworkers use their saws without the guards in place because they are inconvenient for making some cuts. There exist 'drop in' splitters which can be used without a guard thereby preserving some of the safety. But these splitters are not true rknives.

There is one drop in riving knife that I know of that truly rides with the blade height. But bkz these are more complicated to make, they are few.

[Brad Wood]

ahh, so I know I understand the difference. thanks guys.

Well,, I guess a splitter with the pawls is better than nuttin' :)