Biesmeyer Spreader

[Bob Michaels]

Just installed a Bies Spreader on my PM 66. In testing the safety value of this device, I use a 4' strip of 3/4" plywood about 4" wide to see how it actually worked. With the saw not turned on, I simply slid the 4' long strip of plywood under the spreader pawl and then stopped and pulled back on it to simulate a kick-back. The pawl caught right away when doing this on the right side (between blade and fence). The pawl immediately dug in and I could see that a kick-back would be avoided. HOWEVER, when doing this on the left side of the blade the pawl DID NOT dig in until I pulled the board ALL THE WAY BACK and the very last tooth of the pawl dropped slightly and then dug in. Problem is, if this were an 8' strip of plywood, that is much more than the distance that we stand behind the blade, so I would have been speared by the plywood because that pawl doesn't catch until the end, as described above. I would appreciate knowing if anyone experiences this same thing. Without getting ugly about it, suffice it to say that a call to the manufacturer resulted in a "ho-hum" response.

[Chris McDowell]

Bob I have had the Biesmeyer splitter on my saw for years. After a little use I removed the anti-kick back pawls. I found them to be too much aggravation to deal with on a daily basis. Besides the great danger on a table saw is when the stock pivots away from the fence and kick back occurs. The splitter obviously prevents this from happening. I sure don't miss them on mine but eveyone has their own preferences.

[Bob Michaels]

Chris, could you elaborate on the aggravation.

[Jim Becker]

I also removed the pawls...I found no value in them as the spitter, itself prevents the kickback when used properly and I got tired of them damaging stock...especially the thin veneers on sheet goods. If you look at any of the Euro machines, you will not find the pawls on their riving knives, either.

[Hoa Dinh]

Some problems with the so-called "anti-kickback" pawls:

1. Thin pieces may get trapped between a pawl and the splitter, creating a dangerous situation.

2. If you are using a sled, or a sliding table, the pawls don't allow you to pull the sled or the sliding table back.

In case of a kickback, the pawls won't be able to keep the piece back anyway.

[Jim DeLaney]

I pulled back the pawls on mine, then drilled a #25 hole through the splitter - up high, near the top - for a short piece of eighth inch dowel. Now, when I don't want the pawls, I just lift them up and put the dowel through the hole to hold them up and out of the way.

[Chris McDowell]

Bob it has a lot to do with what Jim said. I use my unisaw in a commercial setting so time is money. Everytime I had to make a cut that wasn't a complete through cut, for example if I was cutting a notch out for something, I either had to lift up the pawls of shut the saw off to pull the stock back.
In my opinion the pawls were only good for tearing up the surface of your material. People tend to get a little over excited on safety items and think more is better and that's not necessarily the case. You can't have kickback if your stock is held tight against the fence. That is what the splitter does.
The other thing I hated was the pawls prevented me from moving the fence as close as I needed to the blade for small rips like 1/4"or so. To me there was no advantage to the pawls and a few disadvantages so I removed them. Hope this helps, but remember to do what makes you comfortable.

[Bob Michaels]

Thanks guys, I'll probably just remove the pawls. Simple solution.

[Chris Jenkins]

Bob,

Really thinking about putting in a Bies on 66. If you put the Bies splitter in, is it still possible to switch back to the original guard?

[Jim Becker]

Chris, if you keep all the parts you take off from the original guard, yes, you could reinstall it. But once you use the Beisemeyer splitter...you'll never want to see the OEM splitter/guard again. ;)

[Darrin Davis]

If any of you'll out there that have removed your pawls from from beismeyer splitter and don't need the pawl springs anymore and would like to sell or donate them to my high school woodshop class we would love to have them. One side of our spring broke and the pawl is not forced down. I agree that the pawls really don't do the job intended but in the high school scene we keep ALL safety features attached. I sure you'll can understand why! Anyway, if there are any extras out there and you would like to get rid of them just send me a PM. It would be greatly appreciated. I was about to contact beismeyer about a replacement and still might if I don't get a response.

Thanks, Darrin