Riving / splitter safety q

[Kevin Begos]

I just bought my first cabinet saw, a Grizzly 690.
Very happy with purchase and assembly so far - about to fire it up this weekend.

If I'm understanding right, Grizzly recommends using the blade guard and splitter for all normal through cuts; and switching to the riving knife for non-through cuts (+using a tenoning jig).

But what about normal (through cut) ripping?
I had previously gotten the impression that many people use
a riving knife for rip cuts.

Is this a significant safety decision, using one vs. the other?
According to Grizzly, "the blade guard assembly offers far more injury protection and risk reduction than the riving knife. Therefore, We strongly recommend that you use the blade guard assembly instead of the riving knife for through cuts."

[Aaron Wingert]

I just finished assembling my G0691, and will be watching this thread intently.

My understanding is that the riving knife can be used with any cut, but the blade guard is the safest way to use the saw for through cuts. I'll be using the riving knife on my saw primarily I imagine.

[Kevin Begos]

My plan was to use the riving knife primarily, too - until I read the
details of the two in the Grizzly manual.

Nice saws, aren't they!

[Steve Bracken]

I just bought my first cabinet saw, a Grizzly 690.
Very happy with purchase and assembly so far - about to fire it up this weekend.

If I'm understanding right, Grizzly recommends using the blade guard and splitter for all normal through cuts; and switching to the riving knife for non-through cuts (+using a tenoning jig).

But what about normal (through cut) ripping?
I had previously gotten the impression that many people use
a riving knife for rip cuts.

Is this a significant safety decision, using one vs. the other?
According to Grizzly, "the blade guard assembly offers far more injury protection and risk reduction than the riving knife. Therefore, We strongly recommend that you use the blade guard assembly instead of the riving knife for through cuts."

The best combination is likely to be the riving knife with an after-market overhead blade guard.

Not the cheapest option tho.

[Van Huskey]

What you are dealing with is actually a symantic issue. What you have is what many would consider a high and low profile riving knives, not really a splitter and a riving knife. A splitter normally does not raise and lower nor tilt with the blade. What you actually have is a high profile riving knife connected to a blade guard just like most saws and it should be attached on all but non-through cuts. The low profile knife is used for non-through cuts. Again it is just symantics both of them are actually riving knives as they both move with the blade.

[Steve Bracken]

What you are dealing with is actually a symantic issue. What you have is what many would consider a high and low profile riving knives, not really a splitter and a riving knife. A splitter normally does not raise and lower nor tilt with the blade. What you actually have is a high profile riving knife connected to a blade guard just like most saws and it should be attached on all but non-through cuts. The low profile knife is used for non-through cuts. Again it is just symantics both of them are actually riving knives as they both move with the blade.

Well not quite :)

By it's nature, a riving knife is a better *splitter* than a splitter. It is closer to the blade, thus more effective, and there is really no such thing as "high and low" splitters.

Splitters are generally only "high" because they extend upwards to carry the blade guard. The riving knife is usually adjusted to be close to level with the height of the blade, and any extra height is meaningless.

The riving knife is the better option for most because it can remain in place for every cut, whereas the splitter cannot. If the splitter holds the guard too, then both are lost for many TS operations.

The best TS is one which is designed from the outset to remove the operator from the danger zone, rather than one which requires bolt-on extras to reduce danger. Failing this, then a riving knife with an overhead guard is probably the safest practical solution for most of us.

A splitter with attached guard is a poor third, but should still be used if that is the only protection available.

just sayin'

[Joe Leigh]

Actually Van Huskey is right. Look at this pic...
http://cdn9.grizzly.com/pics/jpeg500/g/g0690_det7.jpg

The blade guard attaches to a high profile riving knife, with a second low profile riving knife as an option. Either way you have a true riving knife and not a splitter working for you.

[Kevin Begos]

Ok, thanks all, that helps.

But let me rephrase the question:
How do people with the newer Grizzly 690/91s use them in actual day to day use?

Has anyone done what Steve suggests - using the riving knife with the blade guard?

[Aaron Wingert]

Nice saws, aren't they!

Yup. I'm really impressed with just about everything with the saw. Major step up from my Jet contractor saw. I fired mine up for the first time last night and just the sound it makes sent chills up my spine!

[Steve Bracken]

Actually Van Huskey is right. Look at this pic...
http://cdn9.grizzly.com/pics/jpeg500/g/g0690_det7.jpg

The blade guard attaches to a high profile riving knife, with a second low profile riving knife as an option. Either way you have a true riving knife and not a splitter working for you.

Gotcha .... I wondered why I was differing with Van Huskey, that doesn't happen very often :)

It might be a bit of a semantic debate, but to save confusion it would also help to not call anything that doesn't allow through cuts a *riving knife*.

With respect to TS guards generally ..... they are all a pita to use and, as a result, too many people, me included, fail to use them when we should.

It is not beyond the wit of man to design effective guards as we can see from the decent after-market options, yet manufacturers have, for decades, done the minimum they have to.

That's something that should concern us all.

[Van Huskey]

Ok, thanks all, that helps.

But let me rephrase the question:
How do people with the newer Grizzly 690/91s use them in actual day to day use?

Has anyone done what Steve suggests - using the riving knife with the blade guard?


First, I don't have a Grizzly TS but my TS has basically the same RK/guard setup. Use the high profile riving knife/splitter and the attached guard anytime you can, use the low profile riving when you can not.

I am a HUGE fan of overarm guards and you will get the added benefit of better dust control. Excaliber, Brett, PSI, Grizzly and others make OAGs, the Excaliber and Brett are better made than the latter but also cost more. The heavy well made ones work as a guard the light weight ones do not have enough rigidity to prevent your hand from moving them out of the way.

[Jim O'Dell]

I have a home made overhead pick up for my 691, and because of that, the low profile riving knife will stay on my saw, and the guard will sit in a drawer. I've thought about taking the guard apart and finding someone that could grind it thinner to make a low profile thin kerf riving knife so I could use my WWII 30 tooth TK on it. I mean, I've ripped a total of 6' of 2X4 with it, and would really like to get some real use out of it! Guess I could throw it on my SCMS, but it wouldn't be the best blade for it. Jim.

[Steve Schoene]

Frankly, the principal advantage of the riving knife over the splitter is that it can be left on virtually all the time. And, personally, I believe blade guards are dangerous, making it difficult to see the operation and interfering with the proper placement of pushing implements.

Frankly I think it is much easier to develop practices that keep yout hands out of the blade without a guard than it is to avoid kickback without a splitter or riving knife. Therefore anything that makes it easy to forget to get the splitter back in place is not good.

[Steve Rowe]

A rip cut is a through cut and if it your desire to follow the Grizzly instructions and recommendations, use the blade guard.

In my thinking, both of these devices are technically riving knives since a splitter is fixed relative to the table whereas, a riving knive goes up and down with the blade. I think this is probably just a manner of semantics on the terminology that Grizzly uses to make a distinction between the two devices in their manual (BTW - Grizzly did a nice job on their manual).

[John Thompson]

Both are definitely riving knives on tha saw. The only difference in the two you have is one is low profile and one is high profile as Van Huskey stated. With a low profile designed for non through cut you cannot attach a guard as there is not enough surface left above the blade to attach it. Simply what Grizzly is saying is to leave the high profile riving knife with the gaurd on when doing all cuts except non through or when your fence is so close to the blade on a very narrow rip cut that it interferes with the fence. Then you would swithch to the low profile to accomodate that cut.

A riving knife goes up and down with that blade.. a splitter doesn't. A riving knife is always the same distance from the back of the rear rising teeth.. A splitter is relatively close to the blade when the blade if fully raised but there is a large gap between the splitter and blade when the blade is lowered. I personally use the plastic shield on any cut it doesn't interfere as non throughs.. tenon jig.. etc. Mine does not obstruct seeing the cut and if set up properly before the cut it matters not if you see it or not anyway.

[David Cefai]

Is there a riving knife design where the knife is in 2 parts? The upper part+ guard "plugs in" to the lower part which is the low profile one.

The riving knife on my Ferm EN250 saw needs to be tightened with allen bolts when inserted so it's a pain. I make a lot of cuts with a sled so I (naughty, I admit) tend to leave it off until I come to rip something longer that about 3'.

[Steve Bracken]

Is there a riving knife design where the knife is in 2 parts? The upper part+ guard "plugs in" to the lower part which is the low profile one.

The riving knife on my Ferm EN250 saw needs to be tightened with allen bolts when inserted so it's a pain. I make a lot of cuts with a sled so I (naughty, I admit) tend to leave it off until I come to rip something longer that about 3'.

See this is where we need to be careful about terms.

A riving knife can be left in place when you use your sled. If it can't, it's a splitter:

Riving knives

A riving knife differs from a simple splitter in some important ways:


It doesn't need to be removed from the saw when cross-cutting or doing a blind (non-through) cut as it doesn't extend above the top of the saw blade. If it isn't removed, the operator can't forget to put it back on.
It sits closer to the back edge of the blade, making it much more effective - less space for the stock to shift into the path of the blade
It provides some additional protection for the operator - blocking contact to the back edge of the blade - in those situations where the stock is being pulled from the outfeed side of the saw
It's independent of (and won't interfere with) other blade guards and dust collectors

The way it achieves all of this is that it is mounted on the same mechanism that mounts the blade, allowing it to move with the saw blade as it's raised, lowered and tilted. To work properly, the knife should be just slightly less than the width of the blade, and is just slightly shorter than the blade.

[John Thompson]

Is there a riving knife design where the knife is in 2 parts? The upper part+ guard "plugs in" to the lower part which is the low profile one.

The riving knife on my Ferm EN250 saw needs to be tightened with allen bolts when inserted so it's a pain. I make a lot of cuts with a sled so I (naughty, I admit) tend to leave it off until I come to rip something longer that about 3'.

Not to my knowledge David and I have used TS's with riving knive back in the mid 80's as in Watkins.. I suggest you pinpoint the thread size of your attaching allen head and find a spring loaded handle bolt of the same size at McMaster Carr.. Reid's Tools.. etc. as they carry about every type thread and handle set up made for machines all over the world. With a spring loaded handle getting it on and off is a 2-3 second operation as I have one on my custom made splitter for quick release.

Good luck..

[John Thompson]

See this is where we need to be careful about terms.

A riving knife can be left in place when you use your sled. If it can't, it's a splitter:

Riving knives

A riving knife differs from a simple splitter in some important ways:


It doesn't need to be removed from the saw when cross-cutting or doing a blind (non-through) cut as it doesn't extend above the top of the saw blade. If it isn't removed, the operator can't forget to put it back on.
It sits closer to the back edge of the blade, making it much more effective - less space for the stock to shift into the path of the blade
It provides some additional protection for the operator - blocking contact to the back edge of the blade - in those situations where the stock is being pulled from the outfeed side of the saw
It's independent of (and won't interfere with) other blade guards and dust collectors
The way it achieves all of this is that it is mounted on the same mechanism that mounts the blade, allowing it to move with the saw blade as it's raised, lowered and tilted. To work properly, the knife should be just slightly less than the width of the blade, and is just slightly shorter than the blade.

Not sure where your info came from but.. I will dis-agree with three points in your post I high-lighted in black.

(1) A short splitter can be left in place when you use your sled. As riving knives.. splitters can be of various heights. I made a splitter that sits 1/4" tall from my table top and can be used with non through cuts as long as the cut is no shallower than 1/4". And on my home-made two piece sled I leave the tall splitter on the saw as I modified the plastic gaurd to just tilt back on the crown guard I also made and mounted to the top.

(2) Riving knives are not necessarily independent of the plastic gaurd. Many European riving knives are the tall profile as the one that comes with the Griz along with the low profile. They are designed to sit high so both a crown gaurd and dust collector chute or shield can be attached.

(3) So.. bottom line is not all riving knives sit just below the blade as evidenced with the tall and low profile of the Grizzly. And the statement about should sit just below the blade to work properly is not correct. It has to sit below the blade on a non through cut only.. otherwise the stock will not clear the top of the knife or splitter.

As far as being thinner than the blade.. that is also true of a splitte which is just common sense. If thicker... the opened keft cut would hit the wider knife or splitter and that's as far as it would travel if the knive or splitter is wider than the kerf.

Simply trying to correct a few points as there seems to be much confusion about riving knives as evidenced here. Most think the riving knife is a Euro idea but.. the first was on an American TS back in the 30's. When the Uni0-saw came along in 37'.. it was the rage in design and about all manufacturers cloned it with it's splitter. Rivng knives got a new life years ago when a European manufacturer took the original idea and added it to their saw. Then it became mandotory law to have them on Euro machines for safety.

Back to the shop on this fine Fathers Day...

Regards...

[Steve Bracken]

Not sure where your info came from but.. I will dis-agree with three points in your post I high-lighted in black.

(1) A short splitter can be left in place when you use your sled. As riving knives.. splitters can be of various heights. I made a splitter that sits 1/4" tall from my table top and can be used with non through cuts as long as the cut is no shallower than 1/4". And on my home-made two piece sled I leave the tall splitter on the saw as I modified the plastic gaurd to just tilt back on the crown guard I also made and mounted to the top.

(2) Riving knives are not necessarily independent of the plastic gaurd. Many European riving knives are the tall profile as the one that comes with the Griz along with the low profile. They are designed to sit high so both a crown gaurd and dust collector chute or shield can be attached.

(3) So.. bottom line is not all riving knives sit just below the blade as evidenced with the tall and low profile of the Grizzly. And the statement about should sit just below the blade to work properly is not correct. It has to sit below the blade on a non through cut only.. otherwise the stock will not clear the top of the knife or splitter.

As far as being thinner than the blade.. that is also true of a splitte which is just common sense. If thicker... the opened keft cut would hit the wider knife or splitter and that's as far as it would travel if the knive or splitter is wider than the kerf.

Simply trying to correct a few points as there seems to be much confusion about riving knives as evidenced here. Most think the riving knife is a Euro idea but.. the first was on an American TS back in the 30's. When the Uni0-saw came along in 37'.. it was the rage in design and about all manufacturers cloned it with it's splitter. Rivng knives got a new life years ago when a European manufacturer took the original idea and added it to their saw. Then it became mandotory law to have them on Euro machines for safety.

Back to the shop on this fine Fathers Day...

Regards...

A true riving knife is independent of any guard, it it very slightly thinner than the blade, and sits just a few thou below the top of the blade.

The front edge is profiled to the blade and the knife does not move in relation to the blade whatever the position of the blade.

That is just how it is, and anything else is a compromise brought about by, usually, some cost saving decisions.

I don't care what Grizzly call thier tall splitter, it's a splitter and the only riving knife offered with Grizzly TSs is the short one.

Grizzly may reasonably claim to have specified a much better splitter than the standard (poor) offerings, but if it has a guard attached then it is not a riving knife.

The only reason I am being so insistent is that so much confusion surrounds riving knives that we really need to be very clear about what constitutes a true riving knife, and we can go from there. It makes it easier to acknowledge and understand what the differences are, and their subsequent implications.

[John Thompson]

A true riving knife is independent of any guard, it it very slightly thinner than the blade, and sits just a few thou below the top of the blade.

The front edge is profiled to the blade and the knife does not move in relation to the blade whatever the position of the blade.

That is just how it is, and anything else is a compromise brought about by, usually, some cost saving decisions.

I don't care what Grizzly call thier tall splitter, it's a splitter and the only riving knife offered with Grizzly TSs is the short one.

Grizzly may reasonably claim to have specified a much better splitter than the standard (poor) offerings, but if it has a guard attached then it is not a riving knife.

The only reason I am being so insistent is that so much confusion surrounds riving knives that we really need to be very clear about what constitutes a true riving knife, and we can go from there. It makes it easier to acknowledge and understand what the differences are, and their subsequent implications.

Steve... the list you posted is from Wiki-pedia. I'm sorry but the points I brought up are wrong in Wik-pedia. The front edge is indeed curved to fit the profile of the blade but... it definitely doesn't have to be a tad shorter than the blade to be a true riving knife. I have worked both on a Watkins and a Start-right which have to have riving knives by law as they are made in England. Both had riving knives taller than the blade to mount a Euro crown gaurd. If you look in Furniture and Cabinet-making (Englishd WW mag equilavent to FWW) you will see Euro saws with both short and tall riving knives from the manufacturer which is the manufacturers call. But European safety laws state all TS's must have a riving knife. Again.. the only difference is the short one cannot be used to mount a crown gaurd nor can it be used to mount a dust shield. Other than that the funciton is the same.

Grizzlies tall riving knife is a riving knife. Why" Because it moves up and down with the blade is sits at a stationary distance from the rear of the rear rising teeth which is what distinquishes a riving knife from a splitter. Throw out the erroneous info on "must sit below the blade" Sorry... but that is simply not true as evidenced by the many.. many Euro saws that have tall riving knives as all Euro saws are mandated to have them and have been so for 20 + years.

And yes.. I agree that there is much confusion about them which is obvious from what has already been said here and our exchange information. When they were frist mandated to be used on any new designed U. S. TS the Grizzly mentionded is a new design after the mandate so it has to have a riving knife just as the new Uni-saw design which was designed after the Grandfather clause. Any machine designed before that date the manufacturer could still use the old splitter system until 2017 I believe. So... the 1023 can use a splitter due to old design.

Not trying to raise your feathers.. I have just been around riving knives since the mid 80's and what I state is well known with the majority of Euro WW's who have to have riving knifes.. When these were mandated for U.S. saws... FWW did a video in which it was stated.... "a riving knife eliminates kick-back". That is not true either as I have had a kick-back with a riving knife and so have many others. It helps eliminate kick-back would be the correct terminology.

Regards...

[Aaron Berk]

Mine is a 2009 G0605X 12" 5hp. My blade guard and anti kick back pawls are under the work bench. I've only EVER used the riving knife. This is the ONLY saw I've ever used with a safety device. I've had 6 other table saws and the only thing sticking out of the table top was a blade, period.

I'm REALLY liking this riving knife thing though. And I'll never go back:cool:

[Steve Bracken]

Steve... the list you posted is from Wiki-pedia. I'm sorry but the points I brought up are wrong in Wik-pedia. The front edge is indeed curved to fit the profile of the blade but... it definitely doesn't have to be a tad shorter than the blade to be a true riving knife. I have worked both on a Watkins and a Start-right which have to have riving knives by law as they are made in England. Both had riving knives taller than the blade to mount a Euro crown gaurd. If you look in Furniture and Cabinet-making (Englishd WW mag equilavent to FWW) you will see Euro saws with both short and tall riving knives from the manufacturer which is the manufacturers call. But European safety laws state all TS's must have a riving knife. Again.. the only difference is the short one cannot be used to mount a crown gaurd nor can it be used to mount a dust shield. Other than that the funciton is the same.

Grizzlies tall riving knife is a riving knife. Why" Because it moves up and down with the blade is sits at a stationary distance from the rear of the rear rising teeth which is what distinquishes a riving knife from a splitter. Throw out the erroneous info on "must sit below the blade" Sorry... but that is simply not true as evidenced by the many.. many Euro saws that have tall riving knives as all Euro saws are mandated to have them and have been so for 20 + years.

And yes.. I agree that there is much confusion about them which is obvious from what has already been said here and our exchange information. When they were frist mandated to be used on any new designed U. S. TS the Grizzly mentionded is a new design after the mandate so it has to have a riving knife just as the new Uni-saw design which was designed after the Grandfather clause. Any machine designed before that date the manufacturer could still use the old splitter system until 2017 I believe. So... the 1023 can use a splitter due to old design.

Not trying to raise your feathers.. I have just been around riving knives since the mid 80's and what I state is well known with the majority of Euro WW's who have to have riving knifes.. When these were mandated for U.S. saws... FWW did a video in which it was stated.... "a riving knife eliminates kick-back". That is not true either as I have had a kick-back with a riving knife and so have many others. It helps eliminate kick-back would be the correct terminology.

Regards...

Consider my feathers to be completely unruffled :)

I guess that as the debate has progressed, then it has at least become very easy to understand the main essential difference between a riving knife and a splitter ..... that is, the riving knife doesn't only tilt with the blade, a la splitter, but also rises and falls with it too.

I accept the points about guards and tall blades, and I still think that is a cheap, bad practise that encourages sloppy dangerous work.

If TS manufacturers took safety seriously, they would all include overhead guards as standard, but they compromise for cost.

Oh well ... we are all better informed when differences are aired in a civil manner. Thanks for your comments :)

[Kevin Begos]

And I thought I was the only one with questions!

Thanks all for the info - very helpful.

Best of all, I've been using both the blade guard/splitter
and the riving knife on my new G 690.
Love the saw and determined to use both safety features -
which I didn't always do with past saws.....

I find it very easy to change between the two on the 690.

[John Thompson]

Consider my feathers to be completely unruffled :)

I guess that as the debate has progressed, then it has at least become very easy to understand the main essential difference between a riving knife and a splitter ..... that is, the riving knife doesn't only tilt with the blade, a la splitter, but also rises and falls with it too.

I accept the points about guards and tall blades, and I still think that is a cheap, bad practise that encourages sloppy dangerous work.

If TS manufacturers took safety seriously, they would all include overhead guards as standard, but they compromise for cost.

Oh well ... we are all better informed when differences are aired in a civil manner. Thanks for your comments :)

Thanks for listening Steve. If you get a chance.. I demonstrated machines for a manufacturer at the International WW Fair in Atlanta in 2008. I hope to again this year. I have gone to the IWF show to see machines from all over the world for years. If you get a chance to Google Start-rite.. Felder.. Hammer.. Mini-Max.. Laguna (not the platinum but higher lines).. Rojek.. you will see what I mean. Most of those have crown guards on top of the knife with dust colletction.

Martin and Altendorf do have independent dust collectors on their saws but... those machines start at about $20,000 and well over $40,000 on some. :) But.. in both cases their riving knives sit just above the blade and not below even with the over-head system. I would guess they have a low profile knife available also but cannot truly say! And to correct myself.. yes... the riving knife is an individual component in itself. When it carries a crown and shield it is called a riving knife assembly. Most manufacturers do make the assembly so it is quick release just as the knife attachment to the carriage itself. Takes a few seconds to pop it off when you need to get the fence close for a narrow rip.

Have a good day...

[John Thompson]

And I thought I was the only one with questions!

Thanks all for the info - very helpful.

Best of all, I've been using both the blade guard/splitter
and the riving knife on my new G 690.
Love the saw and determined to use both safety features -
which I didn't always do with past saws.....

I find it very easy to change between the two on the 690.

IMO Kevin... you are wise to use the assembly with dust collection. I have been butchering wood for 39 years and I can tell you the fine saw-dust will catch up to you eventually. When young we think we are invincible so... what's breathing a little saw-dust? Or.. just don't know any better. Ask the guys who have been doing this for a living for a long time that end up with emphysema. I bet they would suggest dust collection! ;)

[Prashun Patel]

FWIW, the G0690 got excellent marks in the May issue of Wood Magazine. One of the great points was the quick-changeability between the riving knife and the the blade guard. IMHO, this feature (also on my Sawstop) is a big (albeit unfortunate) factor in encouraging safety.

I'm with John that the only meaningful distinction btn riving knife and splitter is the fixed vs variable distance between the knife and the back of the blade.

I think blade guards (which I think are good practice) would be much more usable if manufacturers simply made them narrower - just wider than the blade. In fact, a nice feature would be a blade guard where the right (or left) side could be flipped up and out of the way on very narrow cuts, so you could still use it on narrow cuts and at least get half of the protection/dust collection.

[Van Huskey]

Any machine designed before that date the manufacturer could still use the old splitter system until 2017 I believe.
Regards...

I think it is 2014 but it may have changed.


Just curious does the G0690/1 use a hand bend to adjust RK parallelism with the blade like the SS ICS (not sure about the PCS) and G0651 or does it use set screws to adjust parallelism like the Uni and PM2000?

[Rod Sheridan]

I think blade guards (which I think are good practice) would be much more usable if manufacturers simply made them narrower - just wider than the blade. .

I agree, I have a Hammer B3 and it has a narrow guard with dust collection.

Coupled with the 3 position fence assembly even ripping narrow strips is no problem.

Regards, Rod.

[Steve Bracken]

Thanks for listening Steve. If you get a chance.. I demonstrated machines for a manufacturer at the International WW Fair in Atlanta in 2008. I hope to again this year. I have gone to the IWF show to see machines from all over the world for years. If you get a chance to Google Start-rite.. Felder.. Hammer.. Mini-Max.. Laguna (not the platinum but higher lines).. Rojek.. you will see what I mean. Most of those have crown guards on top of the knife with dust colletction.

Martin and Altendorf do have independent dust collectors on their saws but... those machines start at about $20,000 and well over $40,000 on some. :) But.. in both cases their riving knives sit just above the blade and not below even with the over-head system. I would guess they have a low profile knife available also but cannot truly say! And to correct myself.. yes... the riving knife is an individual component in itself. When it carries a crown and shield it is called a riving knife assembly. Most manufacturers do make the assembly so it is quick release just as the knife attachment to the carriage itself. Takes a few seconds to pop it off when you need to get the fence close for a narrow rip.

Have a good day...

It seems that decent overhead guards retail for around $400 to $500. Contained in that cost is manufacture, distribution, marketing and profit (for several folk).

The reality is that such a system would probably add no more than about $150 to the actual cost of making a cabinet saw, yet they all want to offer those systems as an expensive option, rather than a standard fitting.

There is something not quite right about that!

just sayin'

[David Cefai]

John Thompson. thanks for the suggestion.

The main pain in removing/replacing the knife is the 8 screws holding down the insert. I have plans for this which involve magnets. I also intend to find somebody who will make me a knife which will sit just below blade level - a"real" riving knife for some. :) Most of my cuts are made on a sled.

I'm still getting accustomed to the saw, having ripped maybe 30' in total.

Incidentally the saw is European, like me.

[John Thompson]

John Thompson. thanks for the suggestion.

The main pain in removing/replacing the knife is the 8 screws holding down the insert. I have plans for this which involve magnets. I also intend to find somebody who will make me a knife which will sit just below blade level - a"real" riving knife for some. :) Most of my cuts are made on a sled.

I'm still getting accustomed to the saw, having ripped maybe 30' in total.

Incidentally the saw is European, like me.

I agree about the PITA in the 8 hold down screws. Unless the insert is very thin I don't see the need as gravity and a tight fitting home-made ZCI plate works fine. But.. it is indeed a pleasure to be able to mount and dis-mount my gaurd assembly in a matter of seconds. I use a fence forward two piece sled which means I can run the high profile splitter with gaurd.

I am in the shop at least 5 hours daily and change blades on average of 4-5 times. Having to unscrew my insert that often would have me looking for a better way also. I probably don't have a machine that I haven't modified to make it work the way I won't. Those spring loaded quick bolts are time savers and make the job of mount-dismount no problem at all.

Good luck with your set-up.. BTW.. what type saw have you got and where are you? Got a WW'ing friend who teachs the craft and design at Wyncotte College in the U.K. Richard Jones and if you read Furniture and Cabinet-making you might recognize the name. He has been published in Wood.. FWW and several others for that matter.

Regards...