Riving knife alignment

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jaustin

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Hi
I have just bought my first table saw - a Ryobi ETS-1525. I have started setting it up and have a question regarding the riving knife: should it be perfectly aligned with the blade? Mine is very slightly off to the right. Not a huge amount - probably less than 1mm - but visible to the naked eye. If I run a piece of wood tightly down the right hand side of the blade it hits the knife edge.
Unfortunately the design makes it impossible (I think) to move it to the left by adding a washer, for instance.
Could/should I try adding a washer to the blade mounting in order to move the blade to the right to be more in line with the knife?
Perhaps I should, very carefully, run a test piece through it to see if it snags?
Any advice (to a complete beginner) would be appreciated.
Thanks
Jason
 
Welcome to the forum Jason. Remove the cover around the blade and check if the knife is aligned at the clamping point. If it is you may be able to gently push bend the knife to align. It should not stick out either side of the blade.

Les
 
Please dont add a washer to the cutting blade . The riving knife is the problem and if not send the machine back . have you checked that the angle of the saw is on zero ? Not just as far as it will go , there should be a mark to where it should be at zero .
 
The design may not permit a washer but it might permit a piece of paper, card or plastic to be slipped between the knife and its mount to act as a shim.
 
Welcome, Jason.

I have one of these as well. The riving knife is just a bit of pressed steel. Mine was also out slightly and on inspection it was bent slightly. Rather than send it back, I straightened it myself.

My one concern regarding this knife is the thickness compared to that of the saw blade. See this thread https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6797&highlight=riving
I have to confess that I've not had time to check the thickness compared to my blade.

One other point to watch out for is that you do need to put some sort of dust extraction on the saw (my Wet'n'Dry vacuum hose fits well). If you don't then the pipe gets blocked very quickly as it has a very tight bend in it.

I also removed the undercover plate so that dust etc could drop out into a box mounted underneath the stand (I'm assuming that you got a stand with yours).

I also found that the scales on the saw weren't accurately placed. Other than that it does cut OK although I'm looking to get something a tad better. I've had mine for nearly two years.
 
Hi Jason

Riving knives are supposed to be slightly thicker than the body of the blade, but slightly thinner than the tips, so for example a typical 300mm blade has a 2.8mm thick body with 3.2mm tips, the riving knife would therefore need to be around 3.0mm thick. The front edges of the knife should both be slightly tapered and it needs to be aligned with the blade - 1mm out is way too much. Rather than shimming the blade I'd suggest trying to shim the riving knife if at all possible (with paper, card, etc) if this is possible

Scrit
 
Thank you for all your replies.
Upon closer inspection, the knife is actually out of alignment at the clamping point. I found a number for Ryobi UK Tech Support and spoke to a very helpful guy there. We have decided that the best course of action is to get the whole machine swapped (no doubt that will be fun and games with the online store!)
Thanks again.
Jason
 
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