Right and Left Tilt Table Saws

[Art Travers]

Can anyone tell me why Table Saw Manufactures build right tilt saws?
Everything I read tells us that the left tilt are safer..

Also difference between a riving knife and a splitter ?

Thanks

[Jim O'Dell]

Actually, I think right tilt are supposed to be safer if you are using a sliding table, and making bevelled cuts. Other wise, left tilt is safer. The riving knife automatically goes up and down with the blade. It also tilts with the blade. A splitter doesn't do either of those, but is better for straight 90 rips, and probably cross cuts, than not using anything. Can't use the splitter for bevelled cuts. Jim.

[John Gornall]

In the old days when there were only right tilt saws we were taught that it tilted right away from your hands when using the miter gauge. I used a left tilt saw a few times and it made me uncomfortable having the blade tilted towards me. I'm glad I have a right tilt saw.

[Tim Marks]

The riving knife automatically goes up and down with the blade. It also tilts with the blade. A splitter doesn't do either of those, but is better for straight 90 rips, and probably cross cuts
Not true. The splitter on my TS3650 tilts with the sawblade, which is not unique in design.

The real difference between a riving knife and a splitter as that the splitter goes up and down with the blade, so it always hugs the back of the blade. A splitter is typically an inch or more behind the sawblade, and must be removed for non-through cuts.

Here are some recent threads on riving knives:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=70761
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=731171#post731171

[Kyle Kraft]

This nail has been pounded before. It all boils down to personal preference and what you believe is safest for you. If a left tilt works for you...run it. If it's a right tilt...run it. A left tilt saw is less safe for a woodworker who has used a right tilter his whole life and vice versa.

As far as the splitter tilting with the arbor, it depends on the type of splitter. Some are integral with the table insert, and others may be a part of the blade guard which does tilt with the arbor.

[Simon Dupay]

Why do they call it a "riving knife"? Can't someone come up with a better name then riving knife?

[Joe Jensen]

I've thought about this a lot, and I've owned a right tilt Unisaw, a left tilt PM66, and now a left tilt Sawstop. I think which to buy depends on how you will use it. If you mainly tilt the blade and use a miter guage with relatively short stock, I'd say a right tilt is easier to use. If you miter veneered plywood wider than 12" a left tilt is essential. I personally switched from a right to a left because I was mitering the skirting for cabinets, and some pieces were longer than 6 feet. Doing it on my unisaw meant that I had 6 feet hanging off the left where I only had 12" of table top, or I had to have the good face down and got a lot of tearout. I switched in the late 80s before miter saws. Now I do this job on a miter saw. In fact, I rarely use the miter guage on my TS. I have however mitered wide panels a few times a year, and the only way to do that with the good face up is either a very custom rip fence setup or have the good face down.

[Jim Becker]

Why do they call it a "riving knife"? Can't someone come up with a better name then riving knife?

To add to the fun, "riving" is another way of saying "splitting"... :D

[Simon Dupay]

on a right tilt the blade mounts to the right so the rip scale stays the same no matter what kind of blade your using (dado, tk, fk)

[FRITZ STOOP]

DEPENDS ON FENCE POSITION. A FENCE ON THE RIGHT OF A RIGHT TILT (OR L OF A L) WILL SOON HAVE YOU SINGING SOPRANO, IF YOU LIVE!
MOST TSs HAVE MORE REAL ESTATE RIGHT OF THE BLADE, SO MOST ARE LT.

[Vic Damone]

Riving knife; rive, to wrench open or tear apart, to divide into pieces, to become split.

Rival; companion, one that equals another.

Take you pick.

Am I mistaken or are some manufactures producing riving knife equipped saws with a knife that protrudes higher than the blade? Is it a riving knife if a blade guard is attached to it? Is there a clear definition of a riving knife in the upcoming mandate?

Vic

[Mike Cutler]

Art.

I have both. A right tilt Jet, and a left tilt General. In all honesty, there really isn't an advantage/disadvantage one way or the other for me.
On my right tilt Jet the fence is indexed to the arbor side of the blade, on the left tilt General it's referenced to the non arbor side of the blade. Ergo, the thickness of the blade can affect the fence measurement.
I have a JessEm Mast-R-Slide set to the left side of the General's blade, which I think I will be moving to the Right side of the Jet's blade. I've always liked to use the miter gauge to the right of the blade, not the left. Odd, I know.
I never had a problem working with a fence on either the right, or left side of a blade. It just has to be reset if you move it from one side to another. If you are cutting miters though, I would be darn sure to have that blade tilted away from the fence, no matter what.
I don't feel either safer, or more unsafe, on either saw. It's just different.
Go with what feels most natural, and comfortable for you. It will be safer.

[Jim Becker]

Am I mistaken or are some manufactures producing riving knife equipped saws with a knife that protrudes higher than the blade? Is it a riving knife if a blade guard is attached to it? Is there a clear definition of a riving knife in the upcoming mandate?

This came up in discussion in another recent TS thread. It seems that the "American design" manufacturers are keeping to the same methods for mounting a guard to the riving knife as they already have with the splitters including those "darn pawls", rather than the Euro method. For this reason, you're forced to have a second riving knife for "slightly below the blade" positioning.

[Vic Damone]

Does the American design travel with the blade hight? The actual riving knife "Euro design" will, most likely, be an accessory?

Vic