Riving knife modification

[Karl]

Interesting -they may have changed the riving knife, or mine may have just been a dud. Whichever, mine definitely would not slip further down over the fixing bolts.

Cheers

Karl

 

[devonwoody]

I've made the slot longer on my riving knife (axminster aw10) so the knife is usually below the top of the blade. ( I have to raise it when I want to get maximum cut depth occasionally.

However can anyone say that this modification ruins the effectiveness of a riving knife and some circumstances you will get a kickback because of the lower height of knife?

 

[Krysstel]

They must have changed these riving knives as my 3 yr old Elektra Bekum version of your saw has a knife that can go lower than the blade.

My 2 week old TS250 also has a riving knife that, after I adjusted it slightly, goes just lower than the blade.

Karl - what do you think of the TS250 ?
I've had some problems setting up mine as I mentioned in this post
I eventially tracked the problem down to a combination of the fence rails being out of line with the blade and the sub-fence not being 90 degrees.
The rails are attached to the right hand table extension and it appears to me that if the table extension is not pushed completely to the left after use then the rip fence will not be in line with the blade. Or am I wrong ?
The sub-fence I've decided to dump and make my own accurate and better version. How was yours ?
The rest of the factory settings; blade angle, adjustment stops etc were also way off from the factory - but perhaps that's just normal.

 

[Niki]

However can anyone say that this modification ruins the effectiveness of a riving knife and some circumstances you will get a kickback because of the lower height of knife?

Hi John

I think that the RK is still effective in minimizing the kickback risk (even the riving knife cannot eliminate the kickback totally...according to the Metabo engineers)...

My RK is set 3 mm below the blade level but, when I set the blade height, it's always so that at least the gulls are above the workpiece thickness - some 10~12mm (actually, I usually set the blade to "full height" but, as you know, I'm crazy )...So, the RK is never below the workpiece level...

If you'll have a look at this PDF file
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis16.pdf

You'll see on "Figure 5 - Riving knife fixing"
"For blades greater that 600 mm diameter, E (i.e. the RK) should be at least 225 mm above the table"....that tells me, that the RK might be below the workpiece level when cutting wood thicker than 225 mm and, if it's OK for the guys from the HSE, it's good enough for me

Regards
niki

 

[devonwoody]

Thank you Niki for your comments, its a comfort to have your input.

 

[chippy1970]

Tom

I think the saw is great, if a little noisy. I only paid £330ish, when the alternatives I looked at were closer (or over) £500. It is also useful for me to be able to put it in the back of the car and take it on site if needs be. It seems to be about £330 everywhere now - they must be phasing it out.

Having said that, I haven't used a "proper" table saw. I don't know how it would compare to your old Jet. Not very well, I suspect.

It takes a standard mitre bar - I use an Incra mitre gauge with it.

Alan

Didn't think about making the slots longer - good idea.

Niki

The saw is the Metabo TS250, and uses a 250mm blade. The riving knife just would not sink below the top level of the blade.

Funny you should mention about changing the bristol lever for another locking nut - I was hunting round the 'shop for one tonight. The bristol lever is a bit cumbersome for removing the blade - the lever section can catch on the table if the blade is low. I'm going to change it as soon as I find a suitable nut.

Cheers

Karl

I dont think they are phasing them out. I payed £499 for my EB TS250 but that did come with a stand and dust extract pipes, the price has just dropped by a mile which makes a change for a tool price to come down :lol:

 

[Tim Nott]

I did a similar thing with my Robland combi

The original knife had a hole, rather than a slot at the top, which made it a PITA to remove the guard, so I filed this to a slot - it isn't L-shaped, just straight, but I've never had it come off in 4 1/2 years. I later filed the lower slot so the RK could be lowered beneath the blade for those naughty but nice 'not-all-the-way-through' cuts.

 

[Steve (Correze)]

Hmm... interesting, the riving knife on my SICAR combi has both a L-slot and a hole to attach the guard. The guard has a fixed pin which goes in the slot and a Bristol lever which screws through the hole. The whole assembly is mounted on a parallelogram so that it follows the blade as the height is adjusted (the blade pivots about it's front edge rather than the arbour) and always remains level with the top of the blade regardless of height. To use the full height of the blade, you need to remove the guard, but I'm considering converting to a SUVA type, using the support arm for the planer guard which is perfectly placed.

The riving knife on the works Casadei saw also runs to the full height of the blade (500mm blade), though in this case there is no guard attached as it has a SUVA type guard.

 

[FatFreddysCat]

"For blades greater that 600 mm diameter, E (i.e. the RK) should be at least 225 mm above the table"....that tells me, that the RK might be below the workpiece level when cutting wood thicker than 225 mm and, if it's OK for the guys from the HSE, it's good enough for me

Niki, just bear in mind that a 600mm blade generally has something like a 4.5 to 5mm kerf and that a 26in rip saw often has a depth of cut of around 8 to 9 inches (i.e. 200 to 225mm), so the riving knife will be almost as high as the blade in most cases. You don't often see saws bigger than 26 inches these days.

 

[liam8223]

I have a wadkin 12" AGS and my riving knife is massive- all to fit the crown guard.

I have been pondering chopping it, after a lot of advice from fellow woodworkers, but now i have seen yours, i will be removing and chopping forthwith!

Also if anyone requires a truly 'multipurpose' blade I cannot recommend my GOMEX blades enough!

I bought my latest one and was dubious at first as to wether it would rip large stock easily -- It does!

And the finish whilst ripping is fantastic, very smooth.

The blade that came with my saw was a 30 tooth rough looking thing, but on its return from the sharpeners, it also is a Gomex, and i had been using that for ages with no complaints.

I have a good supplier of these blades, if anyone wants the name/number, pm me.

 

[devonwoody]

I have a wadkin 12" AGS and my riving knife is massive- all to fit the crown guard.

I have been pondering chopping it, after a lot of advice from fellow woodworkers, but now i have seen yours, i will be removing and chopping forthwith!

Also if anyone requires a truly 'multipurpose' blade I cannot recommend my GOMEX blades.

I bought my latest one and was dubious at first as to wether it would rip large stock easily -- It does!

And the finish whilst ripping is fantastic, very smooth.

The blade that came with my saw was a 30 tooth rough looking thing, but on its return from the sharpeners, it also is a Gomex, and i had been using that for ages with no complaints.

I have a good supplier of these blades, if anyone wants the name/number, pm me.

http://www.applegate.co.uk/all-industry ... 082525.htm