I've seen so many ads for splitters that I can't recall which ones I've liked. I recently saw one in a magazine that looked promising. It seemed that it completely sat on the table top (without extending over the back) and was easy to remove without tools. I don't remember the manufacturer. Does anyone have a favorite? Thanks, Mark
"Werlax" wrote in news:tbHvc.83446$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com:
Delta makes such a product for their saws, as part of the overarm guard package, or as a service part, which is how I have it installed on my saw. Pull the throat insert, pull on one knob, and remove the splitter. 15 seconds to crosscut sled. Featured in a Kelly Mehler article in FWW a couple of years ago, available on their website.
Maybe $30, ordered through the local dealer. First installation took more time to remove the factory stock device than to install the new pieces.
You could also DAGS on a UnisawA100-initiated thread on making your own zero clearance insert, with splitter. Cheap project. Funny thread. Watch out for the tongue in cheek parts, but there's truth in there.
And then you can spend your hobby dollars on some fancy wood...
Patriarch More Signal. Less Noise. (tmcharlieb)
The problem with that type of "splitter" is it can't tilt with the blade .
The problem with fixed splitters is that they don't do much for you on shallow cuts - too much room behind the teeth coming up out of the saw table
Euro machine have a riving knife that wraps round the top rear quarter of the saw blade - close - and moves with the blade as you tilt it. Second photo here shows you one. this one's easy to get on and off - loosen a bolt, pull it out, tighten the bolt and cut.
Recently bought a Beisemeyer for a PM66. Easily removable. Excalibur is another one that's pretty good. Mounts through the insert to the main housing and thus turns with the blade. If you want something that is completely on the top, fashion a wooden insert with a finish nail in it at the appropriate spot. To cut at an angle, replace the insert. mahalo, jo4hn
I've been using one of these for a couple of weeks now and have been pleased.
to use on US Tablesaws. Is this still the case?
I like my biesemeyer but it's expensive.
Rob
The professional advise is don't use one. If the wood is binding up on your blade, the splitter is just another friction point. The releasing tension within the wood is going to produce a warp in either one or both boards, but this can be alleviated nine times out of ten. Lift the board out of the saw and restart the cut. The offending twist is eliminated and the secondary board is effectively straightlined in the process.
Wouldn't this assume that you noticed the case hardening and was able to turn off the blade and lift the board out before it binds and kicks back? I'm not that fast. ;)
Its a nice theory that requires a machine shop to implement on an american design saw. Buy a European saw, hire a machine shop, or go with the practical compromise and use a fixed splitter of some sort.
Bob
Bad advice is worse than giving no advice. Most instances of what are called "kickbacks" start at the back of the blade, when, for a variety of reasons, the stock at the back of the blade makes contact with the teeth coming up out of the table. That lifts the stock up into the teeth moving towards YOU.
A riving knife, set close to, and wrapping around the top rear quarter of, the saw blade significantly reduces the area where the rear teeth and the cut stock can come together, and then only during the initial part of the cut when the kerf has not yet reached the riving knife.
As for the friction produced by the riving knife, it's less than the friction between the stock and the table top and the fence if you're ripping.
To stop during a cut, be it a cross cut or a rip, you have to a) control the stock with one hand while the other goes for the OFF button and b) shift your attention from the cutting to the OFF button (OK, so there are knee switches and we probably should all have one but...). Either one of those can make a bad situation even worse.
If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure then a pound of prevention is worth saving a digit or other extremity. Prep the stock correctly, set up the blade and the fence properly, use a riving knife if you can, a splitter if you can't, use hold downs and feather boards to keep the stock down flat on the table and against the fence in front of the cut whenever possible and use a push stick or push block if your hand has to get with 4 or so inches of the spinning sharp carbide things.
There are a lot of things that can cause a "kickback". There are lots of things you can do to minimize the likelyhood of kickback. The most important is knowledge. If you understand the causes you can take steps to protect yourself.
Here's some info that may give you a better understanding of "kickback" and what you can do about it.
As for tension being released and causing "warp", it may close the kerf but not likely enough to actuall warp the board. The possibilities are cup, twist, crook or bow or a combination that perhaps you could call "warped" In any event a feather board holding the fence side down on the table will keep that side of the cut from raising hell.
And if your stock is twisted for whatever reason DO NOT try ripping it. Get the bottom flat, one edge straight and square to the bottom BEFORE trying to rip to width or to get the other edge to parallel the one against the fence.
As for emulating "professionals" Sam Maloof freehands all kinds of ways on a bandsaw. But even he warns against doing it because it's dangerous as hell. And I'm sure there are a few "professionals" named Stubby one shouldn't imitate either.
rant mode off
charlie b
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
No, the splitter is not "just another friction point." The splitter is there to keep the board from contacting the teeth at the rear of the blade, which is the principal cause of kickback.
Boards with significant internal tension are best used for firewood. If one simply must use one, a bandsaw is a far safer choice for rip cuts.
Dangerous and stupid advice. Lifting the board out of the saw is almost guaranteed to produce a kickback.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
Get a copy of my NEW AND IMPROVED TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter by sending email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com You must use your REAL email address to get a response.
I am going to stand by the advise I gave, regardless of the rant. Most binding occurs at the beginning of a rip, and the time to pull it is before the blade has come to a stop, using the leverage that board length allows, and a splitter would only be in the way. This does require an ear tuned to the sound of the cut, which experience will provide. In that regard, perhaps I expect too much of fledgling woodworkers. I can assure you, Charlie, that after thirty-seven years of trade, I can still count ten digits. And, I looked at your $6000 beast...it certainly has all the bells and whistles...with your obvious fear of the machine and kickback experience, it looks to be the machine for you. But, until we can all afford the expense of over designed equipments... The splitter will remain, in my not so humble opinion, to be an unnecessary appendage, that is more apt to interfere with my use of the machine and create an additional hazard to my safety by such interference. We all know, that the safety devices provided with every machine are a matter of litigational coverup. Therefore, when it comes to my personal safety, I will continue to rely upon common sense and manual dexterity over device every time...and will rely upon my professional experience for the production of quality parts.
This is fantastically bad advice. If it works for you, great, but don't go passing it off as good advice for everyone. I'll take my advice from Kelly Mehler, they guy who literally wrote the book on table saws and is very concerned with table saw safety, which is to use a riving knife if you can, or a splitter if you can't.
todd
Not that we don't believe you, but you got any examples of these "quality parts" you've produced that we can look at .. you know, just so as to add further credence to your claim of professional experience and why your professional advice should be heeded?
snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (daclark) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:
But you won't mind if we don't stand by your saw when you're working wood, all right?
Patriarch, who has a healthy respect for high speed projectiles...
I don't understand. If you mean the part between the fence and the fence side of the blade - how? The front teeth are removing the wood, the offset teeth on the blade leave a kerf wider than the thickness of the blade body, the blade body can't grab the wood unless it's rusty as hell or covered in pitch, and the piece being ripped hasn't reached the rear teeth yet. On a 10 inch blade, even at maximum depth of cut, your length of the exposed blade - at the table - isn't much over 7 inches before you reach the rear teeth. On shallower cuts - like 1/2" to 1" thick stock there's even less exposed blade.
Even if the stock did have internal stresses which are released when you begin the cut and the stock tried to "cross its legs" (as opposed to spreading) - BEFORE it got to the riving knife (or splitter) - if you've got a hold down (feather board, Draw-Tite, Board Buddies or whatever their called) to keep the stock down on the table, and a feather board or the like to keep the stock against the fence in front of the blade the board ain't gonna fly. Of course it you're using a 5 tooth blade with no set then all bets are off.
If on the other hand, the board was cupped and you had the concave part down on the table, sure, as you make the cut the part between the blade and the fence can bind - BUT not at the beginning of the cut. If the board is twisted, crooked or bowed the same is likely to happen. BUT you shouldn't be ripping boards like that on a table saw anyway - at least not with a special jig.
So if what you're talking about is ripping a board whose bottom isn't flat and the edge against the fence isn't straight, prefereably with a square corner between the bottom and the edge against the fence, then using a splitter/riving knife or not isn't what you need to worry about
HUH?
If you're using feather boards, they discourage the stock from traveling backwards - by design. If you're not, pulling the board back from the blade WHILE KEEPING IT AGAINST THE FENCE - while the saw's still running - is a high risk proposition. If you're willing to do that - well good luck.
Leverage implies a fulcrum and rotation of the lever on that fulcrum. Rotation in your example is the last thing you want. Rotate the back of the stock up and it's into the rear teeth - not good. Rotate the front up with the back of the stock being the fulcrum and you're pulling the stock up into the rear teeth - also not good. If the fulcrum is the back corner against the fence you're going to ...
If the stock has reached the splitter, the splitter will keep the kerf open and the stock away from the rear teeth. It's "in the way" for exactly that purpose.
I totally agree that one should use ALL your senses to sense when things are as they should be or when things are starting to go wrong. You can hear when the pitch of the saw changes, just as you sometimes can feel and even smell when something's not right, even as a relative newbie.
But it's the precautions you take BEFORE trouble starts which are available to all, even those of us who don't have a mile or two of ripping all kinds of woods under our belts.
Fortunately, we humans have developed the ability to not only learn from others' experiences, but also to use reason to avoid many of the "no one's ever done this before" hazardous situations.
And for that we're all thankful.
Actually, the Robland X31 is pretty primitive, with rough edges where they don't matter and machined surfaces where they do. And three of the five functions - jointer, planer and saw are found in even a fledgling's shop very early on. The shaper often comes along as does a mortiser. When you add up a 3hp table saw - with a sliding table, a 3 hp 12" jointer and planer you're in the $6K range. So the shaper and mortiser are free.
Setting up this critter takes a lot more care and time than the equivalent stand alones. Since it's from Belgium the "manuals" are nearly useless so I wrote my own and put it on my site. Laguna Tools, who sells the unit in the USA, refers customers to my site for set up instructions and I get questions about the X31 from many counties. I know my unit a lot better than my car.
If you want whistles and bells in a combi you better go with a Felder - digital read out depth of cut on the planer, tilting shaper head, linear sliding table and real pretty paint and lots of shiny stuff. It'll set you back another $10K but if you've got the money and it makes you feel good - good for you.
Please note that caution and respect are not fear. I'm not afraid of the X31 or any other tool in my shop - I just understand that they can hurt me and so I study them to find out how and then take precautions. And I always try to stay alert for that little voice in the back of my head that says "HEY! You're about to do something stupid and dangerous!" And when the hair on the back of my neck stands up, or I sense myself tensing up I stop and figure out why.
Forget that I spent $6K all at once and others may spread it out over a year or two or three - you're going to need a jointer and a planer early on. Your's may all be Craftsman and only got $3000, if it works for you that's great. It's using them - SAFELY to make stuff out of wood that's the objective.
The only time my riving knife isn't on the saw is when I'm doing blind cuts. Then it gets in the way so it comes off. Like Yogi says about insurance "You only need it when you need it". Better to have it and not use it than to need it and not have it.
Now if you want to talk about blade "guards" -well that's a different issue.
To each his own. But advising someone whose knowledge, skills abilities and experience you know little or nothing about to do what you do with all your knowledge, skills and abilities is what got me to jump into this thread. We are not all born gifted or lucky. Some of us, myself included, have to do what we can to improve our odds. For me, a riving knife is a hedge bet - and a good one IMHO.
That's wonderful. Just be aware that not all of us are gifted - or lucky ....
Let's agree to disagree on this one.
For the others, they'll make up their own mind.
respectfully
charlie b
"I'm sane - the rest of you are nuts!"
Oh geez louise. Would you stop? I'm using Outlook and I think you're pushing the limits of my killfile.
"What a maroon!"
Mark,
Despite what I have seen here, I have a Biesmeyer snap in splitter installed in my JTAS left tilt saw. It tilts along with the blade, is easy to put in and pop out. It installed relatively easily. Took me about 30 to 40 mins of twiddling with the bolt/nuts to get it aligned with the blade (it needs a 1/8" blade - wont work with thin kerf).
This splitter performs well. I have had several instances of wood reacting after the rip was beyond the blade and without this splitter it would be just a steady hand and some luck to keep that wood from firing back.
No matter what anyone else says about avoiding kickback by pulling back early or any other means, I for one feel much better knowing that the wood is not going to bind on that blade. If the wood reacts it may get tight and hard to push, but at that point I am able to easily reach down and turn off the saw and then pull it out when it stops. I am not a pro but I sure feel safer with the splitter in there.
This splitter was about 120 and I think they have one to fit the major cabinet saws. I dont know about the contractor styles, but its worth checking out.
Werlax wrote:
Well, I guess I've caused quite a stir in this little pot; which is not what I wanted to do. I cannot demonstrate a physical action and reaction over a keyboard...it reminds me of one of my wives, who was always trying to get her brother to fix her car over the phone...and I am not going to defend myself against the guy who happened to read a book on the subject. I am going to try and put it into a context that we can all understand, and it is really quite simple. It is your responsiblity as the craftsman to control the machine and not let the machine control you. It is also your sole responsibility as the craftsman to have total control over the piece of wood in your hands. Featherboards and board buddies be damned...they just get in the way of your controlling the entire situation; they come between you and your responsibility. You as craftsman are the most significant safety device you have at your disposal. About two hundred years ago, a man named Eli Terry began utilizing a circular blade in the production of clockcases. This was one of the first production items ever made; and coincided with the advent of interchangable brass parts for the internal clockworks...before this, clockworks were individually hand made by the cabinetmaker. A man named Seth Thomas was an apprentice in Terry's shop. So, men have been using a tablesaw for some two-hundred years...without all the geegaws. Back in the seventies, I was offered a shop in Memphis that had been in business for over a century. It was fully equipped to make windows and doors, lineal moldings, cabinets, whatever...there was a molding machine that could make a six-inch crown, a platen sander that could finish a 42-inch door, an automated dovetailing machine...all the equipment was dated 1906. What I am trying to tell you here is, that every invention we use in shop today has been around since the industrial revolution...and ever since then, the yuppies of the day have tried to reinvent the wheel, just to sell you something; only, a lot of times that wheel is square. It's a big joke; when you as craftsmen should be concentrating on technique and skill, derived from manual dexterity and common sense; the marketing plan of the major industrialists is to sell you their new invention. The first principles of working wood, to cut, to shape, to fasten, are the same as they have always been...it is a simple process that requires simplicity in the basic approach...don't overwork it. The finest detail in wood is still only accomplished with a single edge of steel and by hand. Let's move on to another topic...
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