Cleanup and riving knife on Delta 36-650 contractor saw - MANY pictures

[Kamil Czuba]

Hold on tight folks. Many pictures in here. 90% of the credit for the riving knife build goes to Sean in his thread....because he came up with the basic concept I used.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?133210-Delta-34-350-12-14-quot-riving-knife-retrofit&p=1348129
Finally upgraded my table saw. I've been using a mastercraft one, which was ok, but not intended for fine woodworking. It was direct drive, underpowered, and as you moved the blade up, you could see it moving from side to side (chewed up the kerft cut on my sled quite a bit).

Needless to say, it was time to move on. I was able to get a delta saw, the 2000 series model 36-650. It has the solid cast extension wings rather than the stamped ones. Overall it's in great shape. Table is nice and clean, and the motor runs silent. I feel I did pretty well for $260, plus whatever I get for selling the mastercraft. Got a decent dewalt blade with it too. It has a spot for attaching a splitter, which is something I'll be making at work.

Here are some pictures of it in the garage. Going to tear it right down and give it a cleaning and tune up.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/saw1.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/saw2.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/saw3.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/saw4.jpg

And what's a new table saw without some nice new blades to go with it. I paid just over $145 after tax for ALL 3 blades. Free shipping and no duties from elitetools.ca. The thin kerf and general blade were on backorder for 2-3 weeks. They split up my order and shipped both orders for free. I had the backorder blades within 1 week. They ship purolator, so it's super fast.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/blade1.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/blade2.jpg

Here are some before and after shots of the surface. Lots of elbow grease, but they cleaned up real nice. Picture shows 1 complete for comparison, but I did them both. Used my random orbit with 220 grit and very light pressure to get the worse stuff off, then wd-40 and 600 wet sand paper for a long time to make it shine.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/wings2.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/wings1.jpg

Flipped what was left of the saw upside down, and removed the tilt/raise wheels.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0193.jpg

Couple shots of the raise/tilt/trunnion mechanics. A little dirty, but it'll all be cleaned by the time it goes back together. They are nice and solid, with zero play.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0188.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0190.jpg

Box removed
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0194.jpg

Another shot of the mechanics.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0195.jpg

Pulley and the shims from the factory under the front trunnion.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0196.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0197.jpg

[Kamil Czuba]

Whole mechanism removed, saw is now officially way out of true, lol. The trunnions are very nice and clean and in beautiful shape.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0199.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0200.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0201.jpg
And the bare table that will be getting the same treatment as the wings did. First a heavy cleaning and polishing on the top, followed by paint on the bottom.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0198.jpg

What do you do when the used saw you bought didn't come with wrenches (pretty important right? lol)...........You grab some steel and make some.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0204.jpg

I took the motor to work with me to take it apart and give it a good cleaning. Pulled off all the covers and stuff, blew it all out, and cleaned it up.
Here it is on my computer cart getting reassembled. Basically got it all back together, just waiting for the cap and electrical covers.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0208.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0209.jpg

Just to be different I painted the bits that attach to the motor.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0211.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0210.jpg

Here's the motor put back together. Still missing the bracket that holds it to the table (will stay black) and the protective shroud which is still getting painted.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0216.jpg

Here are the wings after I cleaned them up. The top surface is protected so that paint will not run onto it.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0240.jpg

Here it is after priming.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0241.jpg

Raise and tilt mechanism before cleaning.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0251.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0252.jpg

[Kamil Czuba]

And after.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0253.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0254.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0255.jpg
Table saw PALs that I made. Only thing I had to buy was the 2" studs (actually carriage bolts with the heads turned down on the lathe at work) because I can only get up to 1.5" studs at work.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0249.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0250.jpg

And check out this little thing-a-ma-jig I made. The UHMW is made to fit in the slot. It's a little undersized, and I have set screws in the front and back to make it nice and snug. The aluminum with all the holes in it can be adjusted to any position at 1/2" intervals (the bigger holes are just to lighten the weight). And at the business end, I can mount my digital indicator. This will be used to make sure everything is perfectly alligned when the saw goes back together.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0246.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0248.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0247.jpg

Here is one of the extension tables with paint on it. The dark grey from rustoleum rust paint is a very close match to the delta grey. It has that slight greenish/greyish tint to it.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0257.jpg

Fence upgrade. I was able to get myself a delta precision saw guide (unifence jr) for $90.
Here are some pictures of the saw guide. It was neglected, left out in the rain. The saw it came from had about an 1/8" layer of deep rust on it. I told the guy to just throw it out, lol.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0258.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0260.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0262.jpg

Here are some of the bits after I was done with them. Cleaned them up on the wire brush wheel at work. I am impressed that the black oxide finish on the parts did not get rubbed off on the wheel.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0264.jpg

And here is everything ready for re-assembly.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0263.jpg

[Kamil Czuba]

Didn't like the rubber handle, so made a new one. Ended up using cumaru for it, covered with spar urethane.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0307.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0308.jpg
And installed on the saw guide.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0358.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0356.jpg

Table nicely painted.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0280_zps5f4be332.jpg

Rear trunnion with the saw PALs installed. The white stuff I use for lube is a chain wax. It dries to a wax (hence chain wax) and is not sticky.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0281_zps080b7a08.jpg

Here it is on the gear/teeth for the raise/tilt mechanism.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0282_zpse444e49a.jpg

Now onto the riving knife work. Let's start by removing the blade arbor assembly. I need to do this to do some pretty custom work. Just loosen the set screw.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0286_zps7eb9cf39.jpg

Pop out the pin.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0287_zps9f24707a.jpg

And remove the assembly. Remember where the shim/spacer goes.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0285_zps467f6971.jpg

Now, since I already have the arbor assembly out, and I'm going to be adding stuff to it, I might as well change the bearings. I know nothing is wrong with the original ones, but for $10 in bearings, might as well change them now.
So start by removing the nut that holds the pulley halves. A spacer will also fall out.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0288_zps318a62bd.jpg

Next with a spanner wrench (or screwdriver) remove the bearing retaining nut. Mine was actually backed out quite a bit. :shock:
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0289_zps8332e8df.jpg

Next tap on the arbor with a mallet to extract it from the bearing in the casting. You will get the arbor, a spring washer, and a spacer.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0290_zps3db5cf56.jpg

Next you need to knock out the bearing that's stuck in the casting, and use a bearing puller to remove the one from the arbor.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0291_zpscbc46575.jpg

Bearings. $5 each plus tax from local distributor.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0292_zpsbfdcfb99.jpg

[Kamil Czuba]

Parts ready to go back together.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0293_zps36ea81a8.jpg
Start by pressing the bearing onto the arbor, tight against the back side of the blade flange. Also press in the bearing into the casting.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0294_zps22f5e1f1.jpg

Load your spring washer, spacer, and arbor to the casting, and press it all together.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0295_zps9d1dd9cd.jpg

I wated to make sure the bearing retaining nut was tight, and I don't have the special wrench for it. So I made one, lol.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0296_zps97faffed.jpg

Here it is all nice and tight.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0297_zpsfd051dcd.jpg

Now, for the riving knife part, I need to add an 'idler bearing' that will hold some tooling. This way the tooling can rotate around the arbor while the saw is running. First, I need to make some spacers. I did not want to cut the original in case I want to go back to non riving knife (although I can't see why I ever would). Original taller spacer and new short one.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0298_zpsfc2eefb6.jpg

Installed spacer, and new additional bearing pressed onto the shaft.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0299_zps8bd71c94.jpg

Another small spacer.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0300_zpscc841331.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0301_zps221f15b4.jpg

And everything put back together. Now I need to design the rest of the riving knife system. Not as easy in my saw, because I don't have nearly the space the guy from smc had in his cabinet saw. But it will get there, lol.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0302_zps3b5956c6.jpg

It was hard to judge the blade travel and all that good stuff with no blade on the arbour. So I needed to flip the table right side up, and jack it up on something so I could still have open access to underneath. So I got some extrusion, with a threaded stud in the end to screw into the tabletop. Now I can work on the riving knife with the blade mounted.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0304.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0305.jpg

Also got a chance to test out the micrometer mount. Works really well. And with the saw PALs, I was able to get the blade perfectly parallel to the miter slot within 10 minutes.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0317.jpg

Here is the bracket/case for the idler bearing that will be on the blade arbour.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0331.jpg

And with the bearing pressed in.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0332.jpg

[Kamil Czuba]

So since I was able to see the blade positioning with the top flipped over, I had to go back to the drawing board for the riving knife linear slides. There's just not enough room for what I had going. So I came up with this new design. It's a 90* bracket that holds 2 linear slides in parallel. I went with 2 because it will help stability and make it more solid. Mounted to those 2 slides is a carriage, which holds the horizontal linear slide. This linear slide will have a plate attached to it. That plate will hold the riving knife itself, and connect up to the idler bearing bracket/case shown above. So while the saw is spinning (or still) the rotational movement of the blade raising/lowering will be broken down into a separate vertical and horizontal movement, referenced from the blade's midpoint. This will make the riving knife dead level with the blade in all positions, rather than rotating above the blade as you raise the blade. Here are some pictures of the rails.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0312.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0313.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0314.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0316.jpg

And here is the finished product. Complete, and working like a champ. A riving knife (still missing the actual knife, lol) on a delta contractor saw. Was a very fun project. Love problem solving and engineering like this.

Here's the tooling that joins it all together. The holes in the block are strictly for weight reduction.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0339.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0340.jpg

Here's the idler bearing on the arbour, with the pulley and everything in place.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0349.jpg

Another shot, a little dark. I noticed the bolts sticking out will get in the way of the belt, so everything has to come apart so I can put a counterbore on the slots, to sink the heads down.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0343.jpg

And a few other shots. The riving knife itself will be mounted to the 6 bolts you see. I'll probably eventually design something to allow for quick knife changes, but this will do for now. I'm dying to put this saw back together to finally use it, lol.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0344.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0345.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0346.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/IMG_0347.jpg

And here are a couple of videos of the riving knife mechanism in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQEV0kjz9Ds

[Kamil Czuba]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soxqdN8CjkE

I had to model the riving knife in solid works so that I wouldn't have to make it multiple times. Plus with all the tight tolerances, I didn't want to mess anything up. I found some info online for proper spacing for a riving knife. The gap from blade to knife must be no less than 3mm, and no more than 8mm. The top of the knife should be at least 3mm lower than the top of the blade, and no more than 25mm lower than the top of the blade. So I did a 4mm gap between the blade and knife, and set the knife 3mm lower than the top dead center of the blade. Everything looks great.

Rather than me hacking this all up, I am getting some laser cutting companies to quote cutting one for regular and one for thin kerf.

Here are some pictures. Sorry my solid works is being stupid and showing the holes through the solid part.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/rivingknife2.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l307/kookie_guy/woodworking%20stuff/rivingknife3.jpg

[Kamil Czuba]

Video of the finished product.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV48voPcyOA

[Phil Thien]

Kamil, you're a bit OC (obsessive-compulsive). You will fit in perfectly around here. Very nice work.

[Kamil Czuba]

Kamil, you're a bit OC (obsessive-compulsive). You will fit in perfectly around here. Very nice work.

lol, my wife tells me that all the time. hahaha

[Thomas Hotchkin]

Kamil
Great job and workmanship, you should be very proud of yourself. Great accomplishment. Tom

[scott spencer]

Beautiful and thorough job of the restore and the documentation! Does the splitter move with the blade or is it fixed in place?

[Joseph Tarantino]

i'm absolutely speechless! great job of engineering and fabricating a solution.

[Kamil Czuba]

Beautiful and thorough job of the restore and the documentation! Does the splitter move with the blade or is it fixed in place?

It's a riving knife, not a splitter. If you watch the last video (post #8) you can see it's a true riving knife. The relative position to the top of the blade never changes, despite the blade traveling in an arc as you raise/lower it.

Thanks for the kind comments all.

[scott spencer]

It's a riving knife, not a splitter. If you watch the last video (post #8) you can see it's a true riving knife. The relative position to the top of the blade never changes, despite the blade traveling in an arc as you raise/lower it.

Thanks for the kind comments all.

Really impressive job.

[Jenine Handley]

WOW! Bookmarked this thread for the day I have to replace my bearings! I have this same saw and I really like it! But, I would like it much more with a riving knife... :) Are you considering selling these? If so, please let me know because I would be a customer of yours!! AMAZING post!!

[Kamil Czuba]

WOW! Bookmarked this thread for the day I have to replace my bearings! I have this same saw and I really like it! But, I would like it much more with a riving knife... :) Are you considering selling these? If so, please let me know because I would be a customer of yours!! AMAZING post!!

Hey,
The problem with trying to market and sell one of these is that people will not pay the price for it. There's several hundred dollars worth of THK rails in my setup, so for the money you'd be into, might as well just upgrade your saw to one with a factory riving knife. I only did it becaue I have access to resources like THK slides for free. If I had to pay for it, I'd just buy a new saw.

[Bill White]

Great work well done.
Just think, you could have had the machine work done elsewhere for about $20,000. :)
Bill

[Julie Moriarty]

My TS is 20 years old. This is the only solution I've seen for modifying it to accept a true riving knife. Looking at all the factors involved in modifying what I have vs. buying new, I can't come up with definitive answer as to what the best solution is.

I have a DeWalt 10" portable TS I use for general around-the-house work that I just bought last year. It has a riving knife and great dust collection. Every time I use it I wish that old Delta in my workshop had those features. My Delta has a sliding table on the left and a router built in on the right. I've added drawers, a saw blade holder, miter slots for the router, etc. Starting with a new TS would mean modifying what I have or starting from scratch. And if I went with a European TS, I'd have to replace all my blades too.

Kamil, you mentioned the parts cost several hundred dollars if purchased. All total, would you know the cost of all the parts necessary to make the modification?

[Bill Huber]

My TS is 20 years old. This is the only solution I've seen for modifying it to accept a true riving knife. Looking at all the factors involved in modifying what I have vs. buying new, I can't come up with definitive answer as to what the best solution is.

I have a DeWalt 10" portable TS I use for general around-the-house work that I just bought last year. It has a riving knife and great dust collection. Every time I use it I wish that old Delta in my workshop had those features. My Delta has a sliding table on the left and a router built in on the right. I've added drawers, a saw blade holder, miter slots for the router, etc. Starting with a new TS would mean modifying what I have or starting from scratch. And if I went with a European TS, I'd have to replace all my blades too.

Kamil, you mentioned the parts cost several hundred dollars if purchased. All total, would you know the cost of all the parts necessary to make the modification?

Julie, you have a good set up and it works for you so, it is not a riving knife but I went with the Micro Jig. I have a jet contractor saw and it had no riving knife so I put on a Micro Jig and have been very happy with it.

http://www.microjig.com/products/mj-splitter-steel-pro/index.shtml

On the DC, I would think if you did a little inclosing of the saw you could improve the DC on the old saw. I used a 50+ year old Craftsman for a long time, I inclosed it and that made all the difference in the world, even with a Ridgid shop vac on it.

But then again you could just get a new saw and have the fun of building it up like you want.

[Kamil Czuba]

Julie,
The THK linear bearings will run you about $300. That's JUST the linear bearings. Then you have several pieces that need to be machined. If your saw is the same as mine, I can supply the drawings. Then you have the machining, don't know how much that would run you at a local shop. Then you have to rip apart your saw to get it all installed. I think $600+ is a very safe estimate.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks Bill. The microjig is something to consider. As for the enclosure, I drew up some plans that would pretty much take care of the dust and create a nice extension table but forgot about it. :o But what I like about the dust collection on the DeWalt is it keeps the dust away from all the mechanical parts. So you're not cleaning sawdust off them all the time.

Kamil, thanks for the information and the offer. That's quite a setup you built!

Yes, I have pretty much the same saw as yours. $600 is quite an investment in a saw as old as mine. Half that I could justify. After my last post here I found myself looking at a Hammer K3. :rolleyes: Yesterday I was ripping some 5/4 sapele and the saw was straining a bit. Maybe if I keep talking to myself I'll convince myself that a new TS is a vital necessity, second only to food and water. ;)