Table saw w/o riving knife ... newb question

[Doug Garson]

Hey, no problem, I've learned a lot on this forum, it's nice to give back. It won't take long before you can pass it forward.

[John ToddJr]

At least ten characters.

[Pat Barry]

I have never had a riving knife on my saw. I have had a couple kickback problems, but I keep an awareness about what can and will go wrong and then take precautions (ie. Don't stand in the line of fire when doing rip cuts). I have considered adding a riving knife but, so far, haven't acted on the task.

[Wayne Lomman]

Not all riving knives are below the top of the saw blade. If you have a saw with the guard bolted to the riving knife, that is when you make another knife or bolt an alternative guard in place. And no need to apologise for being new. Everyone was new at this game once. Cheers

[John ToddJr]

I think I'll make a special pushblock for this, similar to this technique:

http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodwork...lesaw-resawing

My board will be bigger.

[Brian Holcombe]

I resaw constantly (using a bandsaw) and can say from experience that the kerf pinches more often than not. I think you're taking considerable unnecessary risk even if using that gimmick shown in the link.

Use a safer tool or find a friend with that tool.

Before I had my bandsaw I resawed everything by hand. A 4-5 ppi handsaw can handle 4-5" material and the cut goes quickly.

[Darcy Warner]

Personally, riving knives are treated like an end all be all. I have owned almost 40 table saws and 3 had riving knives. Been no difference in any operation in any of those, ok the unisaws and pm66 don't compare to a Whitney, greenlee, moak, wadkin, etc.

[David Kumm]

I'm with Darcy. I've got several saws, with and without riving knives. My favorite set up is a home made splitter sticking up 1/2" with a wide kerf blade. Riving knives and splitters need to be thicker than the blade plate and as stiff as possible. Riving knives are great but also have inherent flaws. When a blade is protruding only an inch or so, the attachment point of the knife is far down so a wide board can push the knife to one side enough for the board to contact the plate or pinch if the knife is thin enough. A well designed splitter is often attached close to the underside of the table so if properly sized, is less likely to deflect. Depends on a bunch of factors but as Darcy said, just having a riving knife doesn't make it work correctly. Blades of similar plate thickness, as wide as the saw will handle ( especially for the 12-18" sizes ) and a stiff knife or splitter, as long as possible from front to back are about equal in safety and better than either if poorly sized or designed. Dave

[Pat Barry]

I resaw constantly (using a bandsaw) and can say from experience that the kerf pinches more often than not. I think you're taking considerable unnecessary risk even if using that gimmick shown in the link.

Use a safer tool or find a friend with that tool.

Before I had my bandsaw I resawed everything by hand. A 4-5 ppi handsaw can handle 4-5" material and the cut goes quickly.

It's surprising you see the blade getting pinched on a bandsaw. I would suspect something else is going on, like maybe the blade us not tracking straight or the blade isn't tight enough. Are you using really wide blades?

[Jim Morgan]

It's surprising you see the blade getting pinched on a bandsaw. I would suspect something else is going on, like maybe the blade us not tracking straight or the blade isn't tight enough. Are you using really wide blades?

Brian is certainly capable of speaking for himself, but I don't believe that is what he was saying. It is quite common for the kerf to close up beyond the blade when resawing, but I have never seen it happen with such force that the blade is actually impeded. Every part of the bandsaw blade is moving downward so the worst things that could happen would be burning on one side or the other of the kerf, overheating (thus, reduced life) of the blade, or some slowing of the blade. Table saw blades are rotating, so that when kerfs close up, they pinch the teeth at the back of the blade that are moving upwards, causing kickbacks.

[Wayne Lomman]

As expected there are those who are prepared to go on the record as recommending to someone new that they ignore basic safe work practices. It it is neither good sense nor ethically sound to recommend removing safety features designed to reduce injury.

For the record, those of you with riving knives that don't reach to the top of the blade, either set it up properly or get one that is the correct configuration. Both of these are simple engineering solutions.

As I have said before, what you do in your own workshop is your freedom. However, what you write on this forum reflects on the credibility of Sawmill Creek Woodworking Community and has real impact on the safety of others. Cheers

[John ToddJr]

OK, now I am confused.

Clearly, I am willing to take a risk - because I use a table saw. But I don't want to take a super-stupid Johnny Knoxville type of risk. I'm not the guy from "Ow! My Balls!" - Kevin Klee, Idiocracy, 2006.

But is this risk a matter of opinion? Is it being a matter of opinion also a matter of opinion? Is the fact that the matter of opinion being a matter of opinion also a matter of opinion? "Is that you, John Wayne? Is this me?" - Matthew Modine, Full Metal Jacket, 1987.

If I go super slow and with monk-like patience will the risk be minimized?
-John

[Wayne Lomman]

John, using any industrial machine has inherent risk. This is why there is a mandatory minimum level of guarding on new machines. The approach to take is to look at what you are thinking about removing to get the job done, and substitute some other form of protection in its place that allows you to do the job.

You said earlier that your riving knife height can be adjusted. This means you can lower it until the topmost point of the riving knife is about 2mm below the top height of the sawblade. This let's you rip a wider timber, flip it and do the other half. This set up will be handy for other techniques later. Cheers

[John ToddJr]

Cool, thanks.

As we say in the south: " 'preciate it, ya'll!"

Thanks again;
-John

[Brian Holcombe]

It's surprising you see the blade getting pinched on a bandsaw. I would suspect something else is going on, like maybe the blade us not tracking straight or the blade isn't tight enough. Are you using really wide blades?

Exactly as James said; the blade is not pinching instead the kerf is closing past the cut.