Aftermarket options for upgrading splitter / riving?

[Michael Drew]

I’ve been searching this forum for a while now today and on numerous occasions, folks talk about “drop in splitters”, “riving knife retrofits”, and overhead guards. I’d like to upgrade my Unisaw. I did not worry about splitters or guards with the contractor TS it is replacing. The motor didn’t have enough torque to throw anything at me that I had my hands on and I could always just hit the power button as the motor bogged down. I doubt I can do that, or would even want to with a three belt, 3 HP motor. There’s no way I’m using the POS guard or splitter that came with the saw.

In regards to this, I have a couple questions for you guys who’ve already been down this road.

1) What options are available to me for installing an aftermarket riving knife or retro fitting this machine with one?? I’m not sure how this can be done without retrofitting a different arbor assembly onto the machine to carry the knife with the blade??
2) If there are no options for a riving knife retro-fit, who makes a splitter that is convenient enough and works well enough that I’d actually use it?
3) Who makes the best zero clearance inserts for the Unisaw? I see several, but I’m sure some are better than others.

I’d ask for guard options, but to be honest, I’m fairly certain I’d not use it. I prefer to see the blade and where my fingers are in relation to the blade.

[David Peterson MN]

Even though you say you wouldn't use a guard, check out the sharkguard. It is awesome and has great dust collection. It acts as a splitter and a guard and is very easy to remove/install. I have been very pleased with mine and it is a durable product. Otherwise, you could check out the bies splitter (but that alone is almost as much in cost as a sharkguard and included splitter).

[Rod Sheridan]

As David indicated there is the Shark Guard, which is splitter mounted guard.

The Shark Guard is a good guard, however it has one problem that makes it a no go for me.

The Shark Guard cannot be used for non through cuts, so I wouldn't reccomend it.

I have an Excalibur overarm guard and a Merlin removable splitter mounted on a General 650. I would purchase them again for a cabinet saw.

Regards, Rod.

[jim sauterer]

i put the shark on my uni.works great.

[Jason White]

I have a Grizzly cabinet saw, which is basically a clone of the Unisaw. At least in terms of its anatomy...

I replaced the stock splitter with a "Shark splitter" made and sold by Lee Styron. Basically, just a 1/8" thick piece of steel stamped in the shape of a European riving knife. People on this forum generally rave about Lee's products, but my experience is a little different.

Despite the fact that the Shark splitters come with a ratchet type lever for wrench-less installation and removal of the splitter, I haven't been thrilled with it. Removal is fairly simple, but getting it in perfectly takes some fussing (getting it in the right position so the throat plate fits back on, alignment with the blade, etc.). Also, I have the splitter package with the 3 different sizes for different stock thicknesses/blade heights. The shorter splitters tend to work OK, especially with 3/4" stock. The taller ones, however, give me headaches. Getting the taller ones aligned perfectly with the blade is difficult, despite repeated attempts using arbor shims and "bending" and "twisting" of the splitter. Not sure these are really that much better or easier than the stock splitter that came with my saw (which I don't like, either).

If I had to do it again, I'd go with a Biesemeyer snap-in type splitter (if you can still even get them). I think there are a couple of other similar options on the market.

As far as a real riving knife goes, you're out of luck. Retrofits are not available.

Jason



I’ve been searching this forum for a while now today and on numerous occasions, folks talk about “drop in splitters”, “riving knife retrofits”, and overhead guards. I’d like to upgrade my Unisaw. I did not worry about splitters or guards with the contractor TS it is replacing. The motor didn’t have enough torque to throw anything at me that I had my hands on and I could always just hit the power button as the motor bogged down. I doubt I can do that, or would even want to with a three belt, 3 HP motor. There’s no way I’m using the POS guard or splitter that came with the saw.

In regards to this, I have a couple questions for you guys who’ve already been down this road.

1) What options are available to me for installing an aftermarket riving knife or retro fitting this machine with one?? I’m not sure how this can be done without retrofitting a different arbor assembly onto the machine to carry the knife with the blade??
2) If there are no options for a riving knife retro-fit, who makes a splitter that is convenient enough and works well enough that I’d actually use it?
3) Who makes the best zero clearance inserts for the Unisaw? I see several, but I’m sure some are better than others.

I’d ask for guard options, but to be honest, I’m fairly certain I’d not use it. I prefer to see the blade and where my fingers are in relation to the blade.

[Dave Cav]

I did not worry about splitters or guards with the contractor TS it is replacing. The motor didn’t have enough torque to throw anything at me that I had my hands on and I could always just hit the power button as the motor bogged down.

Well, years ago I was ripping a short piece of oak. It was about 5" by 3/4" by 3/4". I was using a Delta contractor saw, no splitter, no guard. I think I was using an old style push stick (or just a piece of lath). I got a kickback that resulted in about five stitches in my upper lip (first impact) and about five in my forehead (second impact). An inch lower and it might have taken out a couple of front teeth and an eye. It happened in an instant and I never had a chance to react. I DID have a chance to bleed a lot.

[scott spencer]

I've been using a retrofit riving knife from Walnutacrewoodworking.com (http://shop.walnutacrewoodworking.com/product.sc?productId=6&categoryId=1) called the Bolt On Ripping Knife (************). It was designed by a fellow woodworker named Bob Ross, who frequents many of these forums. Once fitted with a custom ZCI it works quite well. It sits in close proximity to the blade, and rises, falls, and tilts with the blade. The biggest different between it and the modern traditional splitters is that traditional splitters generally travel straight up and down, while the ************ is on the end of the arbor's swing arm, so it's height is either slightly emphasized or under emphasized in relation to the blade due to it being farther down the swing arm than the arbor. I just set it even with the blade at ~ 1", and rarely ever adjust it.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/sawparts/B_O_R_K014-2-1.jpg http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/hewood/RT/rt001-1.jpg

[Dave Cav]

3) Who makes the best zero clearance inserts for the Unisaw? I see several, but I’m sure some are better than others.

You do. They are really easy to make. The last few I have made were made from scrap tempered hardboard stacked up and glued to the appropriate thickness then bandsawed to rough size and finished on the disc sander. Works fine.

[Jamie Buxton]

Here's a thread about the splitter I use. (And you were asking about a ZCI, which this is also.)

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=19664&highlight=splitter

[Ryan Fee]

@Jamie Buxton: That looks like a vey slick operation. How did you go about ensuring that the ZCI was level with the tabletop. Since you flip the insert over, I imagine the traditional method of set-screws tapped through the ZCI wouldn't work.

[Michael Drew]

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve been looking at them this morning. The shark guard looks promising, but if it’s that difficult to adjust or if I can’t do non-threw cuts, I won’t use it. Why can’t you do non-threw cuts with it anyway? Looks to me that you just pull the pals off and you can. Am I missing something?

The Bies’ snap in cutter looks like something I’d actually use. I found one at Amazon for $138. I might just buy it……

The ************ looks pretty cool too.

Is there a preferred ZCI manufacture? I don’t want to make them. My time is valuable to me and I can see myself spending hours making one.

[Nelson Howe]

I use the Sharkguard on my PM66, and am quite happy with it. After the initial alignment of the splitter, I have had no problems switching out the three different sized splitters. The dust collection of the guard is superb. Although it's true, you can't used the guard for non-through cuts, I find its greatest attribute to be its ease of use. It pops on and off so quickly that I have no excuse not to use it when dropping my crosscut sled on the saw, or returning to normal operations. I use a couple bungies to hold the guard in place on my crosscut sled so I have dust collection and some protection while using it.

Nelson

[Curt Harms]

The ************ looks pretty cool too. [/FONT]

Is there a preferred ZCI manufacture? I don’t want to make them. My time is valuable to me and I can see myself spending hours making one.

Don't make one, make several. Get stock (plywood, MDF, whatever) and plane or sand it the same thickness as the stock insert. Cut out slightly oversized blanks. Double stick tape the original insert to the roughed out blanks. Use a pattern trimming router bit in a table to trim the blanks to precisely the shape of the original insert. The saws that ARE a pain to make inserts for are the Craftsman/Ridgid saws with thin inserts. It can be done with a rabbeting bit but it'd take longer.

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve been looking at them this morning. The shark guard looks promising, but if it’s that difficult to adjust or if I can’t do non-threw cuts, I won’t use it. Why can’t you do non-threw cuts with it anyway? Looks to me that you just pull the pals off and you can. Am I missing something?

The Bies’ snap in cutter looks like something I’d actually use. I found one at Amazon for $138. I might just buy it……

The ************ looks pretty cool too.

Is there a preferred ZCI manufacture? I don’t want to make them. My time is valuable to me and I can see myself spending hours making one.

Hi Michael, you can't use the Shark guard for non through cuts because it's mounted to the splitter, which obviously can't stick above the wood on a non through cut.

The only guards that can be used on non through cuts are overarm types.

Regards, Rod.

[Michael Drew]

Oh, duh…. I had not thought about the splitter needing to be removed for non-threw cuts. I had a total brain fart on that one.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. After pondering the options presented to me, I decided to buy the Bies’ splitter and have one on order. If I can remove it and install it with relative ease, I’ll use it instead of throwing it in a drawer. I just know that I’ll get irritated with the guard; even though I know it’s a good idea to use one. I am very good at keeping my fingers away from the blade. Having a guard in place bugs me as I tend to do more miter work with the TS than ripping and the guard hinders this too much for me. (although the Shark Guard does look to be a very good compromise) When I do rip, I use board buddies.

I like the ZCI fabrication idea. I had not thought to make them using a router template bit. I’ll give that a try.

Again, thank you all for your time.

[Josh Reet]

The Bies’ snap in cutter looks like something I’d actually use. I found one at Amazon for $138. I might just buy it……


Bah, I should really get one of those as well. But I find them really quite expensive for what they are.