I been watching for awhile and he never uses one? I find on my TS the splitter can be more of a hassle then benefit. It's just too time consuming to keep it set up and straight... but I still use it. For how much longer I don't know. Who uses it, and who doesn't, and why?
going without some form of splitter is insane. I use the Mesa Vista splitter with homemade zero tolerance throat plate - small cheap and effective and unobtrusive.
Bob
I use this.
None of the table saws in my shop have splitters, I've never seen them used in any cabinet shop. In all my 37 years of cabinet making I've never found a use for splitters. b
On Sun 21 Nov 2004 07:42:26a, "Woodchuck" wrote in news:41a08fdf$0$63175$ snipped-for-privacy@reader.city-net.com:
I use a piece of ruler from an old combination square, slighty sharpened at the infeed side, and a slot cut in the bottom so I can loosen the bolt and take it out quick when I want to run a dado.
I don't think I've ripcut anything but plywood where I haven't been thankful that thing is there. I've watched boards come out of a cut and BEFORE the splitter there's a nice 1/8 kerf, and AFTER the splitter the two pieces are against each other so tightly you'd think they were clamped.
Dan
If you want a good deal on an unused splitter, stop by one of the pro shops in your area.
They are likely to have a number of them sitting around gathering dust.
I've never used a splitter in 30 some years. I have at times, had to keep pieces from pinching back together and a splitter would have done that without my efforts, but those have been relatively few. Some wood can have a mind of its own and try to close back up after the cut, but it's manageable in other ways besides a splitter. More often the need for a splitter is disguising the need for a proper table saw setup, or proper use of a tablesaw. I don't really have anything against splitters but my saws have never had one on them and I never installed one. I don't recall there ever being such a focus on splitters in the past, as there is now. It's common to hear that you must use a splitter and a guard today, but for decades people made sawdust without them and those folks are still making it today. My thoughts are use it if it makes you comfortable, don't use it if it doesn't. Just don't fall into believing that it's a must or that you are now safe just because you have the gear installed on your saw. It's still all about technique and setup. Mask one problem and eventually you'll discover another one as a result. Usually in a surprising way.
I kinda find that hard to believe. Well it did take me about 25 years to realize the value of a splitter.
You do, however, have to be willing to stand aside and let the wood go (or have a knee-kick ON/OFF) if you go without. No piece of wood is worth a reach. Been my philosophy on all machines.
Can probably count on my ten fingers the number of times I've had to do that in over thirty years, and most of them were with true poplar or elm, stuff that just doesn't behave. I bandsaw that stuff now.
There are pop-in/pop-out ones to minimize the hassle.
You'll get some who say "I do" and some who say "Pro's don't.". Well, I'm not a pro. I don't have daily experience with the tools or a slew of board feet under my belt. Seems to me a splitter's a little bit like a safety belt. Some wear 'em, some don't. Some folks have accidents with out them and walk away fine.
But there just might come the day, where you're thankful it was there. Personally, I need most of my appendages to earn a living. :)
How about this line of thought: The "cheapening" of power tools has been hashed to death here. In an age where bean counters hold court on par with the lawyers, dontcha think the manufacturers would drop them if they felt they were worthless?
I never use guards on my tablesaw but I always use a splitter. The one I use I made myself and does not have anti kick back teeth. The only thing I care about is that the wood on the backside of the blade does not move over and touch the blade. So my splitter is made from 1/8 inch brass stock 3/4 inch wide and two inches high. It attaches to the single stud behind the blade. I do have to use a wrench to get it out for dado cuts but I have never had a kick back with this splitter. max
I'm a pro and use it. Saves me sanding time. The edges of the wood that likes to move after being cut come out smoother.
It is apparently a well known fact that "pro shops" don't use splitters, and culturally speaking, we are convinced that all pro's have big pricks and large cojones, therefore yours will somehow gain "pro" stature if you also refrain.
What's missing is the fact that most "pro's" learn early the necessity to physically control the wood throughout the cut, something a weekend woodworker may not learn, except the hard way.
(it's also amazing how fast your heretofore manly parts shrivel with blood pouring out of a far removed appendage)
Enter the "well designed" splitter, usually aftermarket, and not the POS that came with the TS.
It is inarguably a good thing for a weekend wooddorker to use one ... it may well protect your appendages (as well as those of a "pro" in the throes of a brain fart) that _one_ time in 40 years of woodworking that it was needed.
Just get/make one that encourages use by being easy to install and remove, that stays.in good working order, and that is not so flimsy as to be an actual danger and therefore better than none.
"Woodchuck" wrote in news:41a08fdf$0$63175$ snipped-for-privacy@reader.city-net.com:
I use the Delta Removeable splitter that comes with the Overarm Guard, orderable as a service part for less than $30. I've had several experiences that remind me to put it in, whenever I'm done with the crosscut sleds. I also seem to get better results on the materials I use.
However...
One evening last week, while watching an older NYW on the TiVo, my eldest son was giving me unmitigated crap for 'instructing Norm on technique', while he built some project or another.
Do things the way that makes you comfortable. Be willing to learn from others. Smile as you enter, and leave, your workspace.
Patriarch
Elm doesn't behave ? I've not much experience with it (thanks to Dutch elm disease), but our UK elms seem fairly benign.
Do you ever work larch ? Now big rips in larch are where I find the stuff hotmelt-gluing itself onto the splitter. I'm just glad it's not the blade.
My impression was that hardly anyone in the USA used them. Here in Europe we're beyond splitters and into riving knives.
My own saw just has several inserts. Some have splitters, some are short ones, some are penetrating splitters with a guard on top.
I don't think that's true ... I know a number of "pro" woodworkers/cabinet makers of many years experience and it may surprise you to find that a good many of them use splitters on their cabinet saws in the shop. And just about everyone I know with a cabinet saw in their garage/ship uses one.
Where I rarely see a splitter is on a contractor's saws on a job site.
"patrick conroy" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@armada.sprintco.bbn.net...
I'm not trying to persuade for or against the use of them - like I said in my previous posts, use 'em if you like 'em... but as a side conversation, these kinds of things seem to take on a life of their own. Certainly, they come about only because there really is an underlying issue (kickback), and at some point the solution (splitters) gets introduced. Generally, if the solution works more than it inhibits, it gains a foothold. After a while it seems there develops a certain urban legend nature about them. Not that they don't add value, but the degree of value tends to get exagerated and a whole generation comes to honestly believe that work can't practically or safely be done without them. It really does not present such a big problem for that misunderstanding to exist, so it's not such a big deal, but that belief is bigger than the reality of the matter. What tends to be forgotten is that the accident rate associated with these things is not dramatically different before and after the acceptance of them. But... since they look like such a good idea what quickly follows is the belief that before the things came about, everyone was killing and maiming themselves in large numbers. It does do something of a disservice though if that belief is perpetuated. It creates a false security in the safety device and can (note... *can*) result in not learning the more important cause and effect issues associated with using the tool.
Not completely. Lots of things are out there today only because of the public's perceived value. Remember that a big part of manufacturing a consumer product is producing what the consumer wants. Not that there is always any good reason for it.
If you're really having trouble keeping your splitter "straight", a damn good argument can be made that it may well be doing its job.
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