General Riving Knife Retrofit Kit Installed

[Scot Ferraro]

Hi everyone,

I bit the bullet and bought the new riving knife retro-fit kit for my General 350 this weekend. The cost was $549 from Eagle Tools (down from the $899 initial cost estimates). This might still be expensive for some, but I feel it is worth it for the added measure of safety. I have a attached a picture of the kit contents. All in all it was a pretty straight-forward install -- you replace a lot of the internal components of the saw and there is a lot of cast iron -- the kit probably weighs in close to 60 pounds! I did not post step-by-step pictures of the install as the manual is pretty explicit and there is an accompanying DVD that walks you through the process. I believe that these kits will fit previous model saws too. Hopefully other manufacturers will jump on board and develop their own retrofit kits in the near future.

If anyone has any specific questions let me know.

Thanks!

[michael flay]

Do you know if this will fit the 650 as well?

[Mark Carlson]

There is a kit for the 650.

[Robert Chapman]

Scot - what's the web site for Eagle Tools? Thanks

[Kevin Davis]

http://www.eagle-tools.com/ Ask for Jesse or Raul.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Would be nice if Delta got on board with a kit for the Unisaw.

Greg

[John Ricci]

Scot, when you did the conversion did you get a good side by side look at the new pieces with the old ones? I have a 650R and looking at the parts breakdown of the new and old machines it looked like (aside from the additional bits) the parts in the new one were the same as the old one with a bit of extra machining involved.

J.R.

[Scot Ferraro]

Hi John,

The parts are very similar. The new chute (the big piece in the picture) is the same with the exception of the drilled and tapped hole for the screw that keeps the riving knife mechanism in place. The saw arbor and pulley is the main change as this houses the new riving knife mechanism and holder). Of course the throat plate is different too since it accomodates the riving knife (the back is square as opposed to a slot on the old throat plate). I plan to make some zero-clearance inserts and I will have to mortise the back so that it clears at a 45 degree angle and so that it can travel the full 3 1/8 inches of travel. Other than these three parts everything else is the same.

[Scot Ferraro]

Robert,

I would call Eagle Tools and talk to Jesse or Raul -- the website has not really been updated for some time and you cannot access much about the products they sell. I can tell you that customer service is top-notch and they are a great company to deal with. I bought the first kit they sold and I know that they had ordered another one (not sure if for a 650 or a 350) so I think that one is in stock.

Scot