Jamie Buxton
04-27-2005, 11:27 PM
Here's the splitter I use in my Unisaw.
The first photo shows the splitter in the splitter mode. It is a steel pin right behind the saw blade. The pin diameter is the kerf width. The splitter prevents the kerf from closing on the rear of the saw blade, which is a primary cause of kickbacks.
The second photo shows the splitter when it is disabled -- for instance to cut a dado. To disable the splitter, I flip the table saw insert over. You can barely see the bottom of the steel pin, left of the blade. The great thing about this design is that it takes only two seconds to enable or disable the splitter, and it takes no tools. Somehow, safety devices that require tools to install, or have loose pieces to get lost, or take too long to install -- well, they eventually stop being used. This splitter, because it is so quick, does get used.
The first photo shows the splitter in the splitter mode. It is a steel pin right behind the saw blade. The pin diameter is the kerf width. The splitter prevents the kerf from closing on the rear of the saw blade, which is a primary cause of kickbacks.
The second photo shows the splitter when it is disabled -- for instance to cut a dado. To disable the splitter, I flip the table saw insert over. You can barely see the bottom of the steel pin, left of the blade. The great thing about this design is that it takes only two seconds to enable or disable the splitter, and it takes no tools. Somehow, safety devices that require tools to install, or have loose pieces to get lost, or take too long to install -- well, they eventually stop being used. This splitter, because it is so quick, does get used.