Table saw questions

[Fiddler]

Hi all, I did a deal with a friend and traded a bit of work for a table saw, it's a SIP with a 10" blade. The insert around the blade was broken so I made one up out of plywood. My first question is whether there should be riving knife directly behind the blade or is the one that the blade guard is fixed to sufficient?

My second question is about blades; the saw came with three blades, two of them have teeth which appear to be brazed onto the disc and the other is a flat disc with heat treated tips. What is the difference between the blades? Do they have different applications?

 

[Steve Maskery]

HI Martyn
That "riving knife" is neither use nor ornament like that. It should follow the contours of the blade and be between 3 - 8mm from it. The RK should rise and fall with the blade. The sort you have doesn't do that, it's a poor design from the start. Sorry.
As to the blades. The ones with bits brazed on are Tungsten Carbide (WC). The other is a plain plate blade and might be useful if you want to cut up firewood.
If the teeth are many with small gullets, the blade is designed for cross-cutting. If they are few with big gullets, it is designed for ripping. So, from you photos, it looks like you have a rip blade in the saw and a CC blade in the second picture.
HTH
Steve

 

[Fiddler]

Thanks Steve, that confirms what I thought. Any ideas how on to make good use of this saw? I had thought of making a crosscut and mitre slide for example.

 

[marcros]

it may be possible to make a new riving knife. if you remove the plywood insert are there any bolt holes beneath it for fixing the knife?