Riving knives
#20
My unisaw is a "Great White" edition, made in the late 90's, and I bought one of these:

https://www.toolpartspro.com/delta-parts...ssy-cmplte

It is a splitter for use with an overhead Uniguard/dust collection system; slides right in to the slot where the guard goes under the existing knurled tightening nut, and this assembly also has the pawls.  Lemme take some pics to post.

EDIT:  I forgot to note that it moves with the blade, up, down and bevel.  Pics


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#21
That looks like it will tilt but, I don't see how it raises and lowers with the blade. In the first pic the splitter appears to be nearly touching the table top and the blade is still proud(?). The trunnion is built for a riving knife or it's not. Add-ons have to fasten to the trunnion in order to raise / lower. Maybe I'm just not seeing it? This is where the BORK got into trouble every now and again because there wasn't anywhere to attach on some models. Metal straps were tried on some models but, stability was a problem.

If your saw is not designed for a riving knife a good splitter is your next best bet. The closer it can ride the blades profile the better but, constant adjustment can be taxing. I ran with an MJ Splitter back when they were plastic and worked well with them for many years. One thing is for sure, anything is better than nothing as long as adds safety and doesn't add a hazard ;-)
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#22
Only one i know of that raises and lowers with the blade is the BORK. I have one on my uisaw, unfortunately the person that made them has since passed on.
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#23
(07-07-2020, 04:06 PM)GNP Wrote: Only one i know of that raises and lowers with the blade is the BORK. I have one on my uisaw, unfortunately  the person  that made them has since passed  on.

Ahggg, I stand corrected, only tilts.  Got carried away.... <slap upside my head>
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#24
(07-06-2020, 09:18 PM)RogerD Wrote: Check out the Delta ARK adjustable riving knife at,

https://www.thesharkguard.com/product/de...k-package/

That looks like a good solution to me.
Years ago I had looked into retrofitting my dewalt TS with a riving knife from the UK but it would have been cost prohibitive.
So I designed an adjustable riving knife/splitter much like this one for the Delta with some nuances, but I never got around to making it.
I still use that saw and seeing that Delta adjustable riving knife gets me thinking about making that for myself finally.
Ray
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#25
(07-06-2020, 10:55 AM)weelis Wrote: I have a 25 yr old Delta nisaw and want to install a riviing knife if possible.  Does anyone out there know if this is even possible?  CS at Delta not much help.  Do the knives just attach to the blade arbor?  Thanks.

I just posted this last week, https://forums.woodnet.net/showthread.php?tid=7356374.  I took a circular saw blade and cut it to shape, then bolted it where the old combination splitter/blade guard bolted up.  It's working absolutely perfectly for me.

My Jet is about as old as your Delta, in fact I strongly considered the Delta when I bought it.  At any rate, there is no bolt on kit for either saw to put a riving knife on it, I've seen a youtuber do it with an entirely different type of saw but it's one of those "if you own a machine shop and have an engineering degree, you could do this but I don't recommend it" kind of videos.  

My solution is something in-between a splitter and riving knife, it's a splitter that tilts with the blade but doesn't raise or lower with the blade.  To me it's better than puttling splitters on zero clearance inserts, but that's just one guy's opinion.


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#26
(07-07-2020, 06:14 PM)DogwoodTales Wrote: That looks like a good solution to me.
Years ago I had looked into retrofitting my dewalt TS with a riving knife from the UK but it would have been cost prohibitive.
So I designed an adjustable riving knife/splitter much like this one for the Delta with some nuances, but I never got around to making it.
I still use that saw and seeing that Delta adjustable riving knife gets me thinking about making that for myself finally.

No different than what I did, just hundreds of dollars more expensive.  It's not a riving knife, it's a splitter that will tilt with the blade, but it won't raise or lower with the blade.  It does have the anti-kickback pawls, but they make it so you can lock them out!  I could easily have transferred the pawls to the splitter I made, but I hated those things, they are one of the reasons I took the original splitter/blade guard assembly off two decades ago.  

Don't get me wrong, this is a slick looking piece of equipment, with dust collection to boot.  For a ready out of the box solution I think it's brilliant, but pricey.  The cam lock to raise or lower the splitter is nice, but mine can be adjusted by loosening the bolt and tilting the splitter forward or backward, no cam lock needed.  I only need to adjust it if I have my saw blade raised to its absolute limit, which I only do very rarely (almost never).  I can cut three inch thick stock without moving it.  

One thing about my design, which which will be true about any bolt on splitter that isn't a real riving knife:  you have to take it off if you are not making a full thickness cut.  For example, if you install your dado blade to cut a half inch dado, obviously you'll have to take off the splitter.  I just did that when I installed my awesome molding head (love it), took all of maybe ten seconds in addition to the steps I always take when changing a blade (unplug, take out zero clearance insert, take off blade, install new blade, then maybe ten seconds to take off splitter).  Just my two bits.
"Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped." Andy Weir (in his book The Martian)
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#27
   
Thought I'd share a pic of what my splitter looks like without the throat plate installed.  Pretty simple, it's just a flat piece of metal that's slightly thinner than a thin kerf saw blade, bolted to where the original blade guard bolted.  Easy on, easy off when necessary.
"Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped." Andy Weir (in his book The Martian)
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#28
(07-07-2020, 08:16 AM)Admiral Wrote: My unisaw is a "Great White" edition, made in the late 90's, and I bought one of these:

https://www.toolpartspro.com/delta-parts...ssy-cmplte

It is a splitter for use with an overhead Uniguard/dust collection system; slides right in to the slot where the guard goes under the existing knurled tightening nut, and this assembly also has the pawls.  Lemme take some pics to post.

EDIT:  I forgot to note that it moves with the blade, up, down and bevel.  Pics


[Image: 50086980472_84184aba2d_b.jpg]

I have this same setup.  Mine tilts with the blade but does not move up or down. This fits all Unisaws (with the possible exception of the newest version).

Overall, a really good budget setup. It would be easy to make a non-through cut blade to replace the stock one if needed.
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